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Steve Leftridge

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Album Review: Patty Griffin's Downtown Church

Patty Griffin--Downtown Church--EMI

It’s hard to think of an artist in a more enviable position than Patty Griffin. Fifteen years ago, she had a guitar, a sweet voice, and a crush on Bruce Springsteen, but no recording contract. Today she’s perched among the elite singer-songwriters of her generation. She has released five critically acclaimed records, each more accomplished than the last, won over a legion

… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on February 5, 2010 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

Album Review: Emmitt-Nershi Band--New Country Blues

Emmitt-Nershi Band--New Country Blues--SCI Fidelity

Few musical styles are quite as polarizing as that of jam bands. The haters deplore the never-ending and meandering solos, the emphasis on instrumental improvisation over singing and melody, and th

… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on February 5, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Album Review: Caroline Herring--Golden Apples of the Sun

I'm late on this one, but I wrote a short review for this record, originially published over at PopMatters.

Caroline Herring Golden Apples of the Sun (Signature Sounds; US: 10 Nov 2009; UK: 14 Dec 2009) Folk singer-songwriter Caroline Herring’s keening alto… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on January 4, 2010 at 6:40am — 1 Comment

Best Bluegrass Albums of 2009

Here a piece I cowrote with Juli Thanki for PopMatters year-end lists. Check ou the article with audio/video links here. For bluegrass fans, 2009 was a great year for music, a bad year for frugality. Though we’re only listing the Top Ten, there are many excellent artists and albums worthy of an honorable mention, including Donna Ulisse’s Walk This Mountain Down, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver’s… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on December 31, 2009 at 10:22am — 4 Comments

PopMatters' Top Ten Americana Albums of 2009

Hi, folks. As a staff writer for PopMatters, I was asked to write that magazine's Top Ten list this year for Americana. Here's what I came up with. You can see the actual article here along with audio/video clips. 10. Greg Koons and the Misbegotten Welcome to the Nowhere Motel (Kealon; US: 23 Jun 2009; UK: 23 Jun 2009) This Pennsylvania-bred songwriter is the dark horse contender on this year’s l… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on December 30, 2009 at 12:59pm — 2 Comments

Album Review: John Cowan--Comfort and Joy

John Cowan--Comfort and Joy--Koch Other singers would crawl through broken glass to borrow John Cowan’s larynx for 15 minutes. While Cowan has always remained loyal to the progressive bluegrass he helped define in the ‘70s as the singer/bassist for New Grass Revival, fans of the genre and the pilgrims who… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on December 18, 2009 at 6:00am — 8 Comments

Album Review: Catie Curtis--Hello, Stranger

As of this writing, there have been 46,837 rootsy singer-songwriter album releases in 2009. So what is veteran folk-rocker Catie Curtis to do to stand out among the overwhelming glut of strumming and emoting? Not by going back to the drawing board for a new set of originals, which she has done nine other… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 19, 2009 at 10:33am — No Comments

Album Review: Phonograph--OKNO

There’s a nice song deep on Phonograph’s sophomore album, OKNO, that drifts along in a euphonious swirl of ambient-roosty, quiet-noisy, mainstream-indie, organic-electronic, Brit-influenced Americana. The song is called “American Music”, and ain’t it the truth. Indie-rock is a head-swimmingly dense s… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 16, 2009 at 7:35pm — 4 Comments

Album Review: Brandi Carlile's Give Up the Ghost

Brandi Carlile’s third full-length album, Give Up the Ghost, opens with a single strum and then the cuffed chugging of her acoustic guitar as the 28-year-old Seattle native starts singing in her warm alto. The song, “Looking Out”, builds to a soaring pre-chorus that shows off Carlile’s remarkable power a… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 10, 2009 at 6:24am — 1 Comment

Album Review: David Mead's Almost and Always

The tendency among rock fans might be to dismiss David Mead as a lightweight on his new album, not with respect to his obvious prodigious ability, but for the softness of his music. One can imagine, for instance, the indie-rock community disparaging Mead’s winsome piano-and-acoustic-guitar ballads as too pr… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 9, 2009 at 2:22pm — No Comments

Album Review: Kris Kristofferson's Closer to the Bone

Contuining a collaboration with producer Don Was that began with A Moment of Forever (1995) and This Old Road (2006), Kris Kristofferson went back into the studio this year with Was to make Closer to the Bone, a spare, mostly solo set of new original songs. Major kudos to Was, whose work wi… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 9, 2009 at 2:11pm — 3 Comments

Album Review: Lyle Lovett's Natural Forces

Attention, Lyle Lovers: Your man is back with a new album, Natural Forces, his tenth studio album, and third consecutive for the Lost Highway label. Although, as you’ve no doubt learned, if he were always the man that you wanted, he would not be the man that he is. Let’s review how we got here. From 1… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 9, 2009 at 2:00pm — 4 Comments

Album Review: Carly Simon's Never Been Gone

The obvious question is, “Why?” That is, why would a legendary artist go back into the studio and re-cut her best-loved hits for a new release? What makes Carly Simon’s new project especially confusing is that no one thinks her classic singles need the least bit of tinkering with; those mellow-groove adult-conte… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on November 9, 2009 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

Live Review: Farm Aid 2009

Something unusual was present at the press conference before the Farm Aid 2009 concert in St. Louis: a sense of optimism. Obviously, the situation in which family farmers in America find themselves is bleak, but the activists, farmers, and artists—including Farm Aid’s musical board members, Willie Nelson, Neil… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on October 16, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Album Review: The Avett Brothers--I and Love and You

The Avett Brothers--I and Love and You--American/Columbia--September 2009 Are the Avett Brothers the Next Big Thing? They certainly bring formidable weapons to the sweepstakes. The Avetts, guitarist Seth and banjoist Scott, are two sweet-singing, super-handsome bros who harmonize on idiosyncratic… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on September 29, 2009 at 3:39am — 2 Comments

Album Review: The Black Crowes--Before the Frost...After the Freeze

The Black Crowes--Before the Frost...After the Freeze--Megaforce--September 2009 Two decades after the Black Crowes debuted with Shake Your Money Maker in 1990, the band is hitting a new stride with Before the Frost…Until the Freeze, a double-album o… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on September 18, 2009 at 12:40pm — 2 Comments

Album Review: Phish--Joy

Phish--Joy--Jemp--September 2009 The 14th studio album from Phish, and their first after a five-year hiatus that ended with a series of reunion shows in March, starts with “Backwards Down the Number Line”, a Dead-style piece of sunny roots-rock that finds singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio’s vocals t… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on September 12, 2009 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Album Reviews: Grant Langston; Greg Koons

Here are a couple of short reviews of recent roots records. Grant Langston--Stand Up Man--MSG--June 2009

It would be easy to dismiss Grant Langston as a trad-country parodist if he didn’t write such unfailingly infectious tunes and weren’t such a skilled singer (though his nasal vocals might wake… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on September 10, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Live Review: Memories of Elvis w/ Steve Davis & the TCB Band

Memories of Elvis w/Steve Davis & the TCB Band--Blueberry Hill's Duck Room--St. Louis, MO--August 18, 2009 The King is gone/Long live his name. Ronnie McDowell (you know, Ronnie, you sound just like Elvis) sang those words back in 1977 after Elvis was found slumped up against the drain wi… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on September 4, 2009 at 12:42pm — 2 Comments

Album Review: Joshua James--Build Me This

Joshua James—Build Me This—Intelligent Noise—2009 Yes, I know it’s hard to get past that album cover. Is that Noxema? Has he rolled himself in flour? If this reverse minstrelsy? Is he covering his face with curdled milk like Halle in Beloved? Or is he just trying to illustrate that he’s mo… Continue

Added by Steve Leftridge on August 28, 2009 at 5:57am — 2 Comments

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