There can be plenty of skepticism around joy, like it’s too pure, too earnest a feeling to be real. But when you give yourself over to it, as Detroit trio Bonny Doon seem to on their new album, the reward […]
It’s now been nearly two decades since Bettye LaVette’s debut, I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, on the indie behemoth ANTI- Records, which revitalized the R&B singer’s mostly thwarted recording career and sent her on a late-career hot streak […]
Brennen Leigh is a retro country true believer. For two decades, she’s celebrated the music of Nashville’s various golden ages, releasing tribute discs to The Carter Family and Lefty Frizzell and penning her own songs in the spirit of countrypolitan […]
The roots of this album stretch back even further than Uncle Tupelo’s 1993 swan song Anodyne, which featured a glorious cover of Doug Sahm’s “Give Back the Key to My Heart” that helped introduce Sahm to legions of younger fans. […]
With his new album Blood Brothers, Dallas Burrow offers folk ditties, country anthems, and campfire singalongs. Throughout the 13-song set, he shifts effortlessly from airy vocals appropriate for a Sunday-morning church service to gritty deliveries more congruent with a Saturday-night […]
With Tim O’Brien’s expansive career, one would expect few remaining firsts, but Cup of Sugar marks his first album of all original songs, either written or co-written by the award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist. The album presents a variety of perspectives […]
It wasn’t until the members of Gov’t Mule needed to come up with a name for their latest project that guitarist/singer/songwriter Warren Haynes discovered there was a consistent theme running throughout the lyrics. “The River Only Flows One Way,” “Made […]
Listening to Tracy Nelson sing is like being inside a pipe organ. Her magnificent instrument makes your whole body vibrate. It’s churchy as all get out, but there’s plenty of sinner loose in there as well. Whether looking out of […]
Jess Williamson has always flirted with spiritualism in her songwriting, but also in the way she sings, her voice often vaporizing into the breathy whisper of a mystic about to divulge your destiny. The songs on her latest album, Time […]
Selwyn Birchwood’s latest release wouldn’t meet with approval from the Florida chamber of commerce. “Florida Man,” from the Orlando, Florida, native’s latest, Exorcist, features many Florida denizens who apparently have more than a viewing familiarity with the TV show COPS. […]
