Carolyn Wonderland is the sound of Texas. But don’t try to fence her in. Even though her boots are firmly planted in the Lone Star State, she’s a free-ranger, lassoing a variety of styles she hogties into her own inimitable […]
Mostly a solo guitar venture, Laurel Premo’s new album Golden Loam is an austere set compared to 2019’s The Iron Trios, which highlighted the Michigan-based artist’s multi-instrumental prowess and skills as a collaborator. While Premo’s latest release underscores her talents […]
Santa Cruz, California, native Taylor Rae’s debut album, Mad Twenties, unfolds cinematically, evolving dreamily as it traverses an emotional landscape littered with the shards of a broken relationship. Rae’s edgy vocals slide easily from tender to tough, from gentle whisper […]
Brandi Carlile’s new album, In These Silent Days, is uncomfortable. Don’t worry — she sets us up for it from the jump with “Right on Time,” a sparse ballad about recovering from a fight with her wife of nine years, […]
A project like Miko Marks’ thunderous EP Race Records would have been the high-water mark of most any artist’s year. But for Marks, it’s just one tile in a mosaic of recent greatness that includes a single with fellow Californian […]
Strand of Oaks’ In Heaven is dramatic, the songs serious and filled with anthemic hooks. Band mastermind Tim Showalter channels ’90s angst, but also reaches back to the 1980s for a little bit of chime. Strand of Oaks is singer-songwriter-guitarist […]
Pondering some kind of central theme that links the 10 songs on I’ll Meet You Here, her first album release in six years, Dar Williams finally settled on “acceptance.” Not in a passive sense, but an acknowledgement that being true […]
At some point in quarantine, the rest of the music world caught up with a truth the bluegrass community already knew: Billy Strings is an unparalleled talent. Following the late-2019 release of the Grammy award-winning Home, with planned spring (and […]
Now’s as good a time as any to ask the question “what do you need a song for?”: After a good 10 days or so this June, when American life looked like it might go back to normal, the country […]
On her 11th studio album, KISS OFF KISS, Erin McKeown stays true to her genre-bending artistic identity, combining her observations of love with reminders of the power of independence. Across 13 songs, the beloved singer-songwriter captures both sides of the […]
