Sam Phelps – Hunter Springs Road EP (Self-Released) Sam Phelps turned to some pretty relevant themes of the past year for inspiration behind his latest four-song EP, singing about loneliness, restlessness and being homesick. He manages to flawlessly capture each feeling on Hunter Springs Road with a relatability that is as sad as it is […]
Clifford/Wright – For All The Money In The World (Cosmo’s Vault/Cliffsong Records) It may have taken 35 years, but CCR drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford’s supergroup, Clifford/Wright, is finally seeing the light of day. His concept was to assemble a mix of brilliant musicians, write an album’s worth of original songs, then record, mix and master […]
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Mercy Bell – Golden Child (Self-Released) The first line of the first song off of Mercy Bell’s latest EP tells you everything you need to know about this stellar record. “Plan B and a Gatorade, another Walgreens on a Sunday/Blonde hair driving getaway, so no one has to know,” – from the title track – […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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