Newcomer to the dark roots and folk blues scene, one Joakim Malmborg, who goes by the moniker Old Kerry McKee, has recently released his debut full-length album, titled "Wooden Songs." For this album, which is remarkably good for his first, Old Kerry McKee has given outsider music fans nine raw and layered songs which occupy a small portion of the space between haunting old-timey roots and gritty blues. While his sound may exist between the two aforementioned styles, it also exists…

Albums of cover songs too often fail to impress, since the versions, if not carbon copies of the originals, are usually poorly done. Of course, that is not always the case, and it certainly isn't so with the new Alive Naturalsound  Records release, "Painkillers," a collaborative effort between members of two of today's more notable two-piece bands, guitarist and singer Fredrick "Joe" Evans IV and drummer Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck of Left Lane Cruiser and keys specialist and vocalist…

When a split recording is released in the world of one-man bands, it is usually something more than a little worthwhile. In the case of the new split between Scottish bluesman Sleepy Eyes Nelson and American singer/songwriter Slate Dump, "Covered in Blues, Vol. II," that is doubly so. Both artists are well known and highly regarded in the scene. Each of them has his own sound -…

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Menic, whose solo debut was recently released by Voodoo Rhythm Records, is probably one of those artists that you have never heard of, despite his level of talent, and despite his long held and highly regarded place in the international roots scene. The reason you may have never heard of him, apart from the fact the he is part of a rather obscure scene that exists a great…