When Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris began singing together in mutual admiration well before the release of the first Trio album in 1987, there was no Americana, no O Brother, no conventional category into which this music fit. […]
If there’s a honky-tonk heaven, the Time Jumpers could fill its dance floor through eternity, as attested by the band’s third album, Kid Sister (out Sept. 9 on Rounder). One of the finest vocalists and guitars ever to come through […]
At the intersection of bluegrass instrumentation and folk earnestness, this quartet from Raleigh has found a tidy niche for itself. With the exception of an uptempo, banjo-driven instrumental (“Bull City Strut”), this music sounds like it would be more at […]
Anyone still mourning the loss of the Civil Wars or wondering why a duo so successful couldn’t manage to stay together can just stop it now. A subtle stunner of a return to solo artistry, Beulah (out August 19 on […]
Lydia Loveless once seemed to embody the hard-core punk urgency of alternative twang, pulling no punches with in-your-face attitude. On Real (out August 19 on Bloodshot Records), she appears to have matured into fellow Ohioan Chrissie Hynde, tempering that attitude […]
On the self-titled Sadler Vaden (out August 12 through Sadler Vaden), the guitarist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit evokes an era of Southern-rock riffing and arena-rock anthems, with cuts echoing the soaring harmonies of the Eagles (“Get You High,” “Into […]
On The Bird & The Rifle (out July 29 on CN Records/Thirty Tigers), Lori McKenna continues to occupy a niche once shared by a lot more country music. Before it bro’d down, country prided itself on writing about real relationships […]
More than three decades ago, fledgling folkie John Gorka shelved a fully completed debut album that he has belatedly decided to release as Before Beginning (out July 22 on Red House). Both decisions were the right ones. There was nothing […]
Aaron Neville has spent much of his musical career harkening back to the classic eras of soul, doo-wop, gospel and crooning. But never has he fused the past and present in as galvanizing fashion as he does on Apache (out July […]
It’s hard to believe that Sara Watkins is 35 years old; she seems perennially the kid-sister violin prodigy and secret-weapon vocalist who came of age in Nickel Creek. Yet Young in All the Wrong Ways (out July 1 on New West) […]
