I don’t watch a lot of television; when I do it’s mostly the news. A busy family life plus a lot of time away on the road certainly puts a kink in being able to keep up with a series-based drama, so I’ve missed most of the likes of Justified and Sons Of Anarchy. When I do catch an episode, it’s clear many of these shows have a pretty cool music policy. Among the likes of Good Luck Mountain, White Buffalo and Dolorean,…

Ukelele-meister Manitoba Hal has wasted no time since his 2012 release Flirting with the Mermaids in dropping another album of curiously infectious music upon the unsuspecting public. Devil on the Wall is somewhat less ukelele-centric than the previous release, showcasing instead his mastery of the slide and electric guitar.

Devil on the Wall is a very bluesy album. A couple of fine covers of blues standards appear amongst the rollicking original…

On episode 144 of the Americana Music Show, Kenny Roby talks about the characters in Memories & Birds, singing in a natural voice, cowboy movie music, and “doing the Prince thing.”  

Plus rock and roll from I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House, Brooklyn honkytonk from Maynard and the Musties, classic soul from Swamp Dogg, evangelical stomp from Guthrie Kennard, indie rock from Massy Ferguson, a…

FTB podcast #215 features 2 fine new independent albums from THE WARREN HOOD BAND and RED TAIL RING. Also new music from KATHY GREENHOLDT, QUIET HOLLERS and WAITING FOR HENRY.

Here's the direct link to listen…

By Ken Paulson

Like Kris Kristofferson’s recent Feeling Mortal, Guy Clark’s  My Favorite Picture of You reflects the years.

On the new album,  due July 23 on Dualtone,  Clark’s voice is softer and weathered. But if time has  taken a physical toll, it’s made the music matter more. This…

I hate large stadium arenas but I adore Bruce Springsteen. I’m with the purists who argue that shows in such venues are much less satisfying than in smaller, intimate venues but, but, but….Springsteen is one of those artists who make a large venue seem small. For him it’s all about the music and the energy of the performance – no laser beams, no pyrotechnics, no circus – just a blacked out stage with three huge video screens and an E Street Band, most of whom have been playing with him since…

Ever since his 1986 debut (and, in some ways, even before that), Steve Earle has been one of the most prolific and distinctive singer-songwriters on the Amerciana/alt/country/rock scene. His 15 studio albums have encompassed political protest music, bluegrass, rock and roll, Townes Van Zandt covers, and just flat-out, darn-good genre-defying music. His work was covered by no less than 20 articles in…

One of the pleasures of being of a certain age is that you can literally rack up decades of seeing great musicians and attending gigs of all shapes and sizes. A recent BBC documentary about The Eagles jarred my memory about one such event in (gulp) 1976. 

I was a Brit newbie in America and was taken to a political fund raiser for then (and now) California Governor Jerry Brown. It was at the Capital Centre outside Washington DC , which is now called something odiously…

The Human Experience, an artist I’ve come to know much about recently, will be releasing a new album on Monday, featuring sisters Leah and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia. The album is called Soul Visions, and, upon listening, truly resonates as the vision of three creative souls collaborating to produce something highly elevated.

David Block, the mind behind The Human Experience, is a classically trained, multi-instrumentalist who has…

I've always remembered a great line from a wonderful little film called The Commitments, which tells the story of a ragtag assortment of Dubliners who form a soul band. A character named Jimmy Rabbitte says, "The Irish are the blacks of Europe." To me, that says a lot. Like African Americans, the Irish have lived The Blues for centuries. And it shows…in their soul-fire poetry, prose, and music. So, you're probably thinking "Van Morrison." But today I want you to think…