Harvest (50th Anniversary Edition) — Neil Young As we approach the holidays, we find ourselves awash in reissues. And, while each one will find its niche, it takes not just great source material but exceptional bonus, “new-to-us” music to rise above the glut of old-white-guy box sets. Neil Young’s 1972 essential Harvest has received the […]
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Dan Israel – Seriously This set starts immediately with an expressive vocal fused with fluent mainstream finesse on “Happy For Now,” with all the right ingredients. A somewhat wild guitar solo is a nice contrast to the melodic drive & it works well. I like this. There are moments when Dan Israel sounds like a […]
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Tip Jar – Songs About Love & Life On the Hippie Side of Country This is the band’s sixth CD & recorded in Austin, TX & Eindhoven, Netherlands. The band is influenced heavily by a mix of 70s musical heroes. Track 2 sounds like a follow-up to Rick Nelson’s hit “Garden Party,” which it was […]
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Melissa Carper’s new album, Ramblin’ Soul, is a breath of fresh mountain air and will put you right there in a country honkytonk back porch, smelling the breeze while listening to music perfect for that setting. Produced by Andrea Tokic and Dennis Crouch, this one has smooth mountaintop country strings to match Carper’s twangy vocals […]
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Peggy Lee – Norma Deloris Egstrom From Jamestown, North Dakota Released Nov. 18 this CD isn’t only essential to fans but a fine introduction to an artist with class. If an aspiring female singer wonders about her own style she must start by studying Peggy Lee. Exciting without flamboyance, with a seductive tone that’s not […]
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Take the Southern rock fandom you’ll find every October during Jason Isbell’s week-plus run at the Ryman Auditorium, mix in the recent ticket frenzy over Taylor Swift’s stadium tour, and you might get a wisp of an idea of the fuss over Tom Petty’s 20-show stand at San Francisco’s Fillmore. Nearly a month of seatless […]
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Zach Phillips – Goddaughters What if you could take the dynamics of progressive rock & marry it smoothly with Americana? You’d have an intense melodic mix of instrumental muscle. Most Americana has strength, but this is muscular in how it’s produced, performed & realized. At first, I didn’t think this would qualify as roots music. […]
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Bern Kelly has a new album of all original, deep and introspective songs, Garden City. The title track is rich, clear acoustic guitar and Kelly’s nostalgic ruminations. Skipping stones, and she didn’t want to be a cliché, working double shifts til sunlight. It’s all working toward the American dream. But, “I liked our campsite but […]
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Billy Strings — Me/And/Dad One of the things I have always loved about bluegrass music as a genre is that it is up-front and direct. By that I mean the artists who perform it either live or in the studio and do it well, by definition, have to have a mastery of the instruments […]
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Sicard Hollow – Brightest of Days This effort came a little late but it’s worth noting since they at least brave some tricky waters. The performances throughout are excellent by each featured musician. The songs themselves lyrically are somewhat Spam when they should be salami — compared to their exceptional playing. The melodies do the […]
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