If you're like me, you're missing the heck out of HBO's medieval epic series Game of Thrones at the moment. Season Two just ended and Season 3 isn't due until March 31, 2012!! You're missing hating on Joffrey Baratheon, pining over the trials and travails of Daenerys Targaryen, and cheering openly for The Imp (Tyrion Lannister) and Rob Stark. And if you've read the…

In celebration of Johnny Cash’s 80th birthday, Sony’s Legacy division has released a tributary live show (We Walk the Line) and a quartet of compilations covering his #1 hits,…

All-star tribute to Johnny Cash on the 80th anniversary of his birth

This CD+DVD set documents an all-star tribute to Johnny Cash that was held in April 2012 in Austin, Texas. The lineup includes Cash’s outlaw peers, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, and a lengthy list of No Depression favorites that includes Buddy Miller, Rhett Miller and the…

I first heard of these guys when they were working clubs and coffeehouses as Jesse Dee & Jacquie B.  Their CD Our Ghosts Will Fill These Walls came across my desk and made its way into my player and the ghosts filled not only walls but my ears and my head and I wrote a favorable review.  They were mostly acoustic but drifted into the electric, they had an intriguing sense of what a song was, and they had that certain something I describe as…

Before the second song of her showcase at The Living Room on August 14, Kath Buckell took the time to give the packed lounge an Australian history lesson.

“I don’t know if many of you are familiar with a term in Australia called ‘The Stolen Generation,’” Kath reflected to the audience. “It’s about the indigenous children in Australia that were stolen from their homes by the government, and this song is inspired by one woman’s account of it.…

Associations between places, people, events and particular albums litter the landscape of my past, and probably yours.  Take for example the summer between my junior and senior year in high school, the summer of 1979.  I'm in a dorm at the University of Alabama in some honors program (before they found out my test scores were a fluke) with exactly two tapes, Dire Straits Communique and Molly Hatchet's self-titled first record.  Back then I was a two- or three-record kinda guy, I'd…

In what seems to be my style lately, I’m going to review Ian Tyson’s album Raven somewhere in this post.  When I started, I realized I couldn’t do a straight-up review.  Anyway, what’s the point – I think he’s doing okay without my take on it – but it made me revisit the subject that has been on my mind since the spring: western music.

So as soon as I put the disc on, I was reminded of a ‘discussion’ my husband and I had the other night.  I scare quote discussion because it…

When Johnny and I first moved into our house, our friend, bassist Rick DeVol, and his wife brought us a house warming gift.  It was a tiny Russian Sage plant with lace foliage and delicate purple flowers upon pale stalks.  Rick told us that Russian Sage would do well here.  It was the first plant in our garden. 

A few months ago I read a glowing review of Neil Young's new album "Americana."  A friend, musician…

Where I muse about Old Sledge, the band Chance McCoy was in prior to joining Old Crow Medicine Show. Originally posted at http://atruersound.com/?p=2728

Old Sledge was a band I discovered last year after they had already split up. Now that may not seem so bad, but the cruel irony is that for a time they were based just over the ridge from me and played many frequent shows at local fine dining and fine…

No matter how young or old you are, if you’re a guitar fan, this is an essential acquisition. It’s a tribute, a tutorial, a testimonial and a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. The artists gathered here to honor Les Paul’s work are as diverse a group as ever assembled, including Keith Richards, Jose…

Lucero (Sp., trans. "bright star") transformed from their twang-punk origins (in response to and reaction against their country roots) to their full-fledged Memphis rock and roll band status over eight albums and fourteen years, although it's seemed like an overnight extreme makeover to some of their fans.

As music fans, many of us have our go-to favorites and the rest of our playlists meander through other favorites and…

As I said in an earlier post the first time I saw the Muscle Shoals, Alabama’s Secret Sisters ( Laura Rogers Lydia Rogers) was at a GRAMMY event for the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers honoring T…

Dear [independent music artist],

First, I apologize for addressing you as a faceless, nameless entity lumped among all the other faceless, nameless entities whose attention I'd like to get but whom I haven't taken the time to learn more about on an individual basis. I know that makes it feel like this letter isn't actually aimed at you. I know you're probably already thinking that, If I'd figured out who you are and what you're interested in before I contacted you, we could already be…

A definite highlight of many people’s Calgary Folk Music Festival, Pokey himself seemed an honest gentleman, through and through. His commute on Prince’s Island Park would be stymied by fans who easily spotted his iconic 30s attire – I can honestly say that his willingness to engage conversations of any kind is rare like hens teeth.…

This Lady sings the Blues and plays them better than most

For one so young Joanne Shaw Taylor is not only treat as an equal in what might be the most snobbish of musical genres but genuinely revered by many much older guitarists and this, her third album could well be the one that attracts the ears of Big League Promoters across the Atlantic Ocean.

Joanne’s last album; DIAMONDS IN THE DIRT was generally perceived to be ‘career defining’ but ALMOST ALWAYS…

Now that I'm completely nauseated by the Republican Convention, It's time to write about a true American hero. His name was Phil Ochs...and he was a real Commie! 

The best document to check out for Phil Ochs is the documentary "There But For Fortune." It was realeased  in 2010 and was Directed by Kenneth Bowser.

Phil was the second fiddle to Bob Dylan which is kinda sad. Who really could take on Dylan in the 60's? No one. Thus was the demise of Phil Ochs.

He had great…

Hayes Carll is a Texan singer-songwriter cut from the same cloth as acclaimed troubadours Jerry Jeff Walker, Townes Van Zandt and Lyle Lovett. His publicity describes him as an odd mix. Wildly literate, utterly slackerly, impossibly romantic, absolutely a slave to the music, completely committed to the truth and unafraid to skewer pomposity, hypocrisy and small-minded thinking. Hayes is touring Australia this month and spoke with Unpaved Music in advance of his brief but very…

Here's the best Americana and roots-type music releases for the week of August 28th, 2012 from Americana Boogie. Click the artist or album links to find out more. The artist's names link to their websites and the CD title links go either Amazon or…

Some Dark Holler first grabbed my attention when I saw their video on Couch by Couchwest. If you watch it, you'll be able to see why.

Hollow Chestis the band's first full-length album, and it is certainly a harbinger of great things to come. Some Dark Holler's stories of shattered souls and redemption are enough to give us all pause as we go about the course of our busy day. The album shows an extensive emotional range,…

Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom first crossed my radar in 2006 when I heard I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) on the car radio. For a young woman, Sandi’s voice was incredible and already showing signs of ‘a life well lived.’ The song itself was sort of soft-rock meets folk with references to the Sex Pistols, Procol Harum and record shops that only stocked vinyl; so it ‘ticked all of my boxes.’ I spent the next hour looking for a shop to buy the album;…