At first blush, this seems a bit presumptuous: An artist compiling a tribute album to himself? That appears to be the case with Wounded Knee, which collects Tom Russell songs rendered by the likes of Johnny Cash, Dave Van Ronk, […]
At first blush, this seems a bit presumptuous: An artist compiling a tribute album to himself? That appears to be the case with Wounded Knee, which collects Tom Russell songs rendered by the likes of Johnny Cash, Dave Van Ronk, […]
So it wasn’t enough that we went and put a chart-topping (well, #2 on the pop charts, anyhow) indie-rock band on our cover a couple issues ago. We had to go follow it up by putting a chart-topping mainstream-country artist […]
The second Barsuk release from Seattles Rocky Votolato follows in-step with his 2005 disc Makers, an engaging small-scale slice of acoustic/roots-based rock n roll. There are echoes of a lot of other voices in Votolatos crooning Ryan Adams strains on […]
It all starts, and ends, with the voices. Shorthand attempts to classify the Avett Brothers usually go something along the lines of “punk bluegrass” or “thrash folk” or “high-energy hillbilly.” None of which are necessarily improper; Scott and Seth Avett […]
If there’s one thing pretty much guaranteed at a Raul Malo live show — besides being treated to perhaps the finest vocal instrument in all of contemporary popular music — it’s an overarching demonstration of stylistic variety. Never a natural […]
The Cowboy Junkies’ early efforts were distinguished in large part by their internal consistency in tone and content: the bluesy urgency of Whites Off Earth Now, the hushed tones of The Trinity Session, the countryish charm of The Caution Horses. […]
Having first garnered attention with Azure Ray and then her 2005 solo debut 11:11, Maria Taylor reaches full bloom on Lynn Teeter Flower, though it’s a gracefully understated beauty. Foremost is Taylor’s innate sense for beguiling melodies, which she weaves […]
“We’ll know when we get there/If we find mercy,” Jay Farrar sings in “The Picture”, the second track on The Search, Son Volt’s fifth album. If in fact the record’s title is a clue as to its journey, that lyric […]
Occasionally my wife Lisa helps me update the logs I keep of all the music that arrives in the mail day after day, sometimes piling up until it’s hard to find a clear pathway to my desk. This weekend she […]
A six-song postscript to their recent long-player Four Thieves Gone, this EP shows only the softer side of the fast-rising North Carolina acoustic trio, but to splendid effect. While in concert the Avetts catch fire largely on the spark of […]
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