The back story for this enchanting debut is all about words, about how singer and principal songwriter Mark Ray Lewis was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and how he won an O. Henry and a Pushcart for his fiction. The […]
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Like a skilled short-story writer, Ben Reynolds knows how to use opening lines to get your attention and set a scene. For instance, Reynolds, formerly half of the stomping Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, starts out the gorgeous Joan Of Arkansas with […]
Picture NRBQ with a metallic pop edge and an expanded horn section, fronted by a singer who looks a bit like Julia Louis Dreyfus, sounds a bit like Sarah Vowell, and writes a bit like Amy Rigby only much nastier. […]
Considering what a musical melting pot New York City is, its not remarkable that a promising bluegrass band like the Dixie Bee-Liners would assemble there. New York was actually where Kentucky native Brandi Hart first began performing the music of […]
Wisely ditching the name Vagenius for the more commercially palatable Hello Stranger, this Los Angeles trio (recently expanded to a four-piece) coolly navigates classic femme-pop waters on its own eclectic terms. Vocalist Juliet Commagere never turns in a rote performance […]
Generally panned at the time of its release, Etta James’ 1973 self-titled album for Chess comes off somewhat better today. Perhaps we’re more accustomed to the concept of a raging R&B star paired with a hit-minded rock producer, in this […]
When his first two virtually interchangeable albums were released in 1970 and ’71, Loudon Wainwright III was touted as one of the many Next Dylans of the era, which was hard to fathom even then. Sure, he was in his […]
An elusive, private and troubled man, Fred Neil created only a handful of albums. Right in the middle of that seven-year run (1964-1971) stands his most fully realized work. So completely unforced and organic in its execution, it seems apt […]
A self-described jamgrass acoustic power trio, Three Ring Circle consists of Blue Highways resonator guitarist Rob Ickes, Ricky Skaggs fiddler and mandolin player Andy Leftwich, and Nashville bassist-about-town Dave Pomeroy. The trio have been making regular appearances in Nashville for […]
Once again, Scott McCaughey has assembled an impressive list of musicians for a new album by his Minus Five collective. This self-titled effort — a.k.a. “The Gun Album” thanks to its stark cover art of a revolver against a black […]
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