Karen Pittelman returns to her roots on Guaranteed Broken Heart: gothic summonings and Jewish country music. Pittelman, the frontwoman for Karen & the Sorrows, has been a leading light in the queer country movement. Her long-standing concert series, the Gay […]
The evening birds punctuated the silence as Kelsey Waldon spoke to me from her back porch just outside of Nashville. For Waldon, it was a time to catch her breath before launching the tour to support her new album, White […]
You don’t get to play on 29 albums within six years on flash alone. John Calvin Abney’s greatest asset — as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter — is his ability to surrender to the song. It’s what’s paired him with […]
Here’s my one-sentence review of Easy Keeper: Del Barber has really hit the sweet spot. It’s not just his songwriting, or even his performance, on this album. It’s that Barber’s sense of himself is so secure, and joyful, that it […]
I’d like to describe Elaina Kay’s debut album, Issues, like a rocket ship — but I think a galloping horse but might be more apt in this case. Kay grew up near the Texas-Oklahoma border, waking up each day at […]
It seems to have become a dirty word, but if anyone embodies “alt-country,” it’s Massy Ferguson. On their fifth album, Great Divides, Massy Ferguson confronts a life well-lived and hard-won. The Seattle-based band combines the desolate, impactful lyrics of Seattle’s […]
Traditionalism doesn’t have to come burdened with a troubling nostalgia. Just ask Akron, Ohio’s The Shootouts, who have created a witch’s brew in their country-western, swing, and rock-and-roll potion Quick Draw. It’s a rollicking romp through the past half-century of […]
In the midst of the ever-present cycle of controversy about authenticity in country music, we all know that sincerity is the key that unlocks the whole mystery. Being an actual cowboy like An American Forrest sure doesn’t hurt. On O […]
Anna Tivel’s voice is like the cutting wind of the Pacific Northwest, her homeland — or at least how I imagine it to be. Tivel’s singing has an unflinching clarity matched only by her literary lyrics. Each song on Tivel’s […]
From the first bent string on “Pinkville,” you’ll find yourself drawn into Rod Melancon’s world. Pinkville is a not-so-alternate universe of desperation, perspiration, and a little bit of perseverance. Melancon’s raspy vocals suit his cover of Tom Waits’ “Goin’ Out […]
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