Chuck Prophet has always seemed to be operating on a completely different wavelength than the rest of us. The prolific songwriter has made 15 (yes, you read that right) solo records, all singular, each special. His energy for writing and […]
Some might be surprised to learn that The Mavericks have never in their 30 years as a band released an all-Spanish album, but it makes some sense when you know their story. Mavericks co-founder Raul Malo is a first-generation American […]
The debut record, Sluff, from Seattle-based trio Naked Giants arrived like a bat out of hell in 2018, with a series of infamously rambunctious, sweaty live shows close on its heels. And while those thrashing dance parties may now be […]
The heart of Kris Delmhorst’s Long Day in the Milky Way is, fittingly, in the middle of the record when, on “Skyscraper,” she softly sings: “You could be an open door. What are you waiting for?” Across her eighth album, […]
If there’s one lesson to take away from Arlo McKinley’s Die Midwestern, it’s the importance of getting back to basics. Musically, the 40-year-old’s solo debut — released on the late John Prine’s Oh Boy label and championed by Prine himself […]
Valentine grows out of two years of performances by the Bill Frisell Trio, wrapping up with a two-week engagement at New York City’s Village Vanguard. Over this time, guitarist Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Rudy Royston performed Frisell’s originals […]
Xavier Dphrepaulezz’s latest album title is not a catchphrase, but a genuine inquiry into how folks have been coping with the coronavirus and all the other broken things in our everyday lives. He asked people around the world to send […]
With navigating the current world becoming more challenging every day, Twisted Pine delivers the kind of album that makes it feel like everything is going to be okay. Instrumental virtuosity — the band’s calling card — abounds on their latest […]
Can a record of cover songs ever be new? Oh yes. Bob Dylan lends himself to this pursuit on both sides, having released many albums on which he performs the songs of others for nearly 60 years — most notably Good […]
The most striking moment on No Time for Enemies, the fifth studio album from bluegrass/hip-hop trailblazers Gangstagrass, comes toward the end, during a reimagining of the Stephen Foster standard “Hard Times Come Again No More.” After a faithful first verse […]
