Soundtracks often suffer from their heavy reliance on a visual context; remove that and you’re left with anything from awkward segues to a schizophrenic mess. But music is at the heart of PBS’ The Appalachians documentary, which may help explain […]
These days everyone with a capo and a four-track recorder is making music and calling it a record. Heres a trio with a portable DAT machine, a single stereo microphone and a living room in Wisconsin thats actually made a […]
This unaffected, smart, honky-tonking West Texan is the latest in a new generation of country singers who’ve got the right stuff to appeal to “both sides” of the far-from-ironclad “mainstream country vs. alt-country” divide. Son of a conservative cattle-ranching dad […]
Humility! The word is so often lost on modern artists — but former Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner is a near master of it. Turner made his debut as a solo act last year with Searching For Melody, a humble affair […]
The Steep Canyon Rangers are among the younger crop of blue-grassers whose vocals sound like they cut their teeth on equal parts James Taylor and Jim & Jesse. Which, of course, they probably did with a bit of newgrass, rock […]
Melonie Cannon didn’t have to make this record. With her model good looks, husky vocals, and strong Nashville ties (her father, songwriter and producer Buddy Cannon, has worked with Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire and John Michael Montgomery), Cannon’s debut album […]
Youve got to ride on/Let the people say what they want, Charlie Mars sings on Gather The Horses, the opening track on his self-titled major-label debut. Over nearly a decades time and through three independent releases, Mars has taken his […]
In the 1980s, Rodney Crowell, keyboardist Tony Brown, bassist Emory Gordy Jr. (all ex-Emmylou Harris Hot Band members), then-rising star Vince Gill, and ex-Elvis drummer Larrie Londin backed Crowell and his then-wife Rosanne Cash on tours under the name the […]
The myth of the supergroup is one of rock’s most enduring, which is surprising, since just about every celebrity conglomeration has proven to be something less than the sum of its parts. The Unintended’s self-titled debut is different. While the […]
Alabama mandolin player David Davis has been leading the Warrior River Boys for a couple of decades, but it’s been a long while since they were in the studio. For fans drawn to the genre only in the past few […]
