So the name reminds you of an ’80s metal band. The harder you try to remember, the more you’re sure you’ve never heard of them before. If you’re a bluegrass fan, though, you’ve certainly heard of some of the players […]
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Most of today’s bluegrass musicians seek to achieve a well-balanced tension between tradition, vitality and fresh interpretation. Few recent bands have accomplished this as well as Rock County on its self-titled CD. Rock County is a collection of bluegrass veterans. […]
Hillbilly Idol draws from an abundance of musical styles encircling (albeit at some geographic distance) their Great Lakes home of Cleveland, Ohio. Honky-tonk, western swing, bluegrass, and even polka are woven through the music played by this quintet. More than […]
When twentysomething Californians find country music, it’s generally through identifiable local heroes such as the Byrds and Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. That must have seemed like the long way to get to the country for the Weary […]
The only record the Rising Sons released during their brief tenure — a single — certainly belies the band’s considerable musical legacy, or at least that of its members. Frontman Taj Mahal went on to become an ambassador for virtually […]
Similar in tone and texture to Washington state’s late, lamented Picketts, the Honky Tonk Chateau shuffles and flaunts a plethora of styles with convincing, infectious passion. Three of the four write, while the fourth, drummer Chris Appleby, is an atomic […]
The aesthetic of amateurism isn’t the unique provenance of alternative country, but it’s certainly found a home there. With the exception of punk, few musical movements have been so willing, from the get-go, to embrace creaky, quirky, and happenstance sounds […]
Frame of reference is the conundrum of alternative country, this loose grouping of artists simultaneously celebrated as radically ahead of the times and dismissed as studied anachronism. That issue really hit home for me with the first album billed equally […]
I must confess to generally having little use for instrumental music; perhaps those of us who write for a living have an overly developed dependence on words. So it came as a bit of a surprise when I found myself […]
He came from the country and his name was Williams. He performed in a cowboy hat, sang about railroads and lost love and jails — and emerged as a professional performer after being released from the pen, having served time […]
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