Richard Hell & the Voidoids – Destiny Street Complete – 2 CD For some, this may seem out of place but if assessed closely the punk aesthetic here is rooted more in American music than just an aggressive 3-chord progression of mindless entertaining junk. Kentucky’s Richard Hell (Richard Lester Meyers) is a singer-songwriter/bassist/writer & former […]
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Continuing with artists under the radar with Chris Rea – a musician that average Americans still say “who?” Despite recording & performing since 1973 & having sold more than 30 million records worldwide. “Never heard of him…” but Elton John did. He recorded a duet with Chris who had a prior hit in the US […]
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On first listen, LA’s Emily Zuzik is impressive as an early Sheryl Crow/Carly Simon prior to commercial corrosion. Her engaging qualities are what Crow & Simon lost. Today “country, Americana” is a pop/roots hybrid. Songwriters seldom adhere to qualities of Country without indulging pop clichés. The 10-cut Ted Russell Kamp produced Torch & Trouble (released Aug 2020 […]
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Nickel Creek – 3 Long Out of Print Early Progressive Bluegrass Vinyl – Now Audiophile Quality These 3-vinyl audiophile/high-resolution Nickel Creek releases celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the progressive bluegrass trio’s official debut. The self-titled 2000 release, the Grammy Award winner This Side (2002) both produced by bluegrass master Alison Krauss & Why Should the […]
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Little Richard – Southern Child – The Never-Released Reprise LP Little Richard had a tentative run at Reprise Records. The Rill Thing (August 1970) with “Freedom Blues,” broke the Billboard Top 50, however, despite good reviews, & other singles charting the great LP did not. The King of Rock & Roll followed (Oct. 1971) but […]
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GROOVES & CUTS – John Apice Artists Under the Radar Part 2 will appear in December. This month — new Christmas/Holiday music. It’s hard to beat the classic Christmas songs but there are indeed many great holiday songs produced today. An ideal open is British singer-songwriter Leigh Haggerwood’s emotionally uplifting vocals on his song “My […]
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Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – The Reckless One With a nice muscular vocal by Canadian vocalist Samantha Martin & subdued but punchy horns & soulful Hammond organ the band Delta Sugar is superb. It’s planted in rich retro-sounding soil but infused with generous doses of modern Stax-Soulfinger notes. A pinch of 70s powerhouse horn-driven […]
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Ward Davis – Black Cats and Crows Black Cats and Crows (drops Nov 20 – Thirty Tigers) is a 14-track with enough originality to keep it interesting. Davis’ vocals are unique, the band’s tight & experienced. While I found the opening cut to be dismissive – a good dual-sounding guitar-driven song that’s been done to […]
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Chris Hillman – Time Between – My Life As a Byrd, Burrito Brother & Beyond It isn’t safe to assume that everyone who enjoys music in the 21st Century knows who Chris Hillman is. Though the name may be familiar, it’s never been as recognizable as Bob Dylan, David Crosby, or Leonard Cohen, unless you […]
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Katarina Pejak – Outside Looking In While I’m not a big fan of electric pianos & their annoying notes I do like the tone of Katarina Pejak’s voice – a tone that is powerful enough to be an effective jazz/easy listening vocalist if she would just embrace more acoustic instruments. The horns are fine & […]
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