Shannon McNally – The Waylon Sessions (Compass Records) It takes a lot of courage to try and tackle an entire album’s worth of Waylon Jennings classics. But Shannon McNally’s pulls off the deed beautifully on The Waylon Sessions, managing to rework a number of Hoss’s songs into her own style while still holding true to […]
Continue Reading
Oliver Wood – Always Smilin’ (Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers) By John B. Moore Oliver Wood, co-founder of The Wood Brothers, didn’t intentionally set out to make his first solo record during the midst of the global pandemic lock downs. “The year before the pandemic, people would come through Nashville where I live and I’d set up […]
Continue Reading
Riley Downing – Start It Over (New West Records) Somewhere between Johnny Cash’s Tennessee whiskey vocals and Tom Waits’ gargling with gravel sound, you’ll find Riley Downing’s vocal range. On Start It Over, his first solo outing, the guitarist for The Deslondes turns in a remarkably satisfying mix of Americana, rock, folk and R&B, all wrapped […]
Continue Reading
Nashville’s Elise Davis wrote the bulk of her latest album, Anxious. Happy. Chill. not long after her wedding last year. And while the lyrics tend to trumpet that feeling of finding true love – especially on the single “Yellow Bed” – that doesn’t mean the record is entirely rainbows and puppies. Thanks to her powerfully emotive […]
Continue Reading
Jillette Johnson – It’s A Beautiful Day And I Love You (Moss Rose Records) Lyrically, Nashville-based Jillette Johnson’s latest, It’s A Beautiful Day And I Love You, sounds like it could have been written by Joni Mitchell or Harry Nilsson. Not only are the songs here remarkably smart, each word carefully thought out for just the right impact, but the record […]
Continue Reading
Garrett Owen’s aptly titled new release, Quiet Lives, is almost reverent at times. His unrushed vocals, as earnest as they are beautiful, is sometimes accompanied by little more than an acoustic guitar which serves the songs well putting the lyrics front and center. But even when he brings in more instruments – synths and even […]
Continue Reading
Thomas Csorba – Self-Titled (Highway Kid) “I want,” the opening track off of Thomas Csorba’s eponymous new album, is as beautiful in its simplicity as it is earnest. Backed by little more than a humming organ and acoustic strums, Csorba reels off a list of life goals in a seemingly autobiographical mantra. He talk about […]
Continue Reading
By John B. Moore While not specifically billed as a concept album, Justin Wells’ latest, The United State (out Aug 28 on Singular Recordings), has a consistent theme running throughout the dozen tracks. The album opener, “You’ll Never Know, Dear, How Much I Love You,” followed by “The Screaming Song,” tracks life from the beginning, […]
Continue Reading
The Harmed Brothers – Across The Waves (Fluff & Gravy Records) By John B. Moore It’s taken 10 years and five albums, but The Harmed Brothers have evolved from a solid, but niche banjo-based Americana/Bluegrass band into a group that draws in more influences, and plays full-bodied indie rock, that’s part folk, part Americana, […]
Continue Reading
Reagan and Thatcher helped launch a 1,000 punk bands throughout the 1980s. And Trump is on track to help to be the unintentional muse to a 1,000 more. And Leslie Mendelson is likely another one, though she just so happens to be influenced more by some the great ‘70s singer songwriters like Carol King rather […]
Continue Reading
