Joe Troop is a poly-polyglot. He speaks several languages, notably English, Spanish and Japanese but also Arabic and French. He plays many instruments, most frequently banjo and fiddle. He also mastered, among other things, the Moroccan kamancheh and the Japanese shamisen. His musical style favors folk music from around the world, from bluegrass (U.S.) to […]
Sam Lewis – Everything’s Fine
Is everything OK? Everything’s fine. Uh-oh. Your interpretive skills are just about to be put to the test. That kind of verbal misdirection became an anchor point for Nashville’s Sam Lewis’ 7th studio album, Everything’s Fine. It can be equally true and false at the same time, like when you’re having a bad day but […]
Paula Boggs Band – Sumatra
I suppose it’s only natural that a musician from Seattle would use a region’s coffee as a metaphor for the style of one of their albums. Sumatran coffee is generally considered to be bold and full-bodied, with notes of earthiness, spice and chocolate. That’s actually not too bad of a one-line review for Paula Boggs […]
Andy Thomas – Highway Junkie
You know the saying: you gotta dance with the one who brung ya. Having spent years being the frontman and/or guitarist for a few outlaw honky tonk southern rock bands, that was the obvious choice of style for Andy Thomas’ newest record, Highway Junkie. As you might have intimated from the album’s title, he had […]
Tedeschi Trucks Band – Future Soul
If you’re reading this, it’s a safe bet you know about the Tedeschi Trucks Band: a couple of hotshot solo artists who merged their bands and their lives and have proven the idiom that one plus one can equal three. They have a new studio album out next week, Future Soul. There’s an important piece […]
Alan Williams – Floating On the Dreamline
If Alan Williams’ life-to-date was a Hollywood movie, it would be one of those where it starts at the end. In this case, it’s his combination retirement/record release party later this month. The album is his third solo release, Floating On the Dreamline. The retirement is from being a professor of music at the University […]
Tim Easton – fIREHORSE
I’m a sucker for a good story. Sure, there are plenty of great songs that aren’t much beyond a chant and a chord progression. But the ones that germinate in your mind to become a part of your worldview; they’re relatable in a way that goes all the way back Aesop. Someone who’s a master […]
CJ Hooper – Over Yonder
CJ Hooper. That just sounds like the name of a country musician. Or maybe a high school football star being recruited by every school in the SEC. I don’t know if Hooper played football in high school, but he was Texas-raised before moving to his now-home in Washington state. More to the point, he just […]
The Sky Chiefs – The Sky Chiefs
You’ve no doubt heard about artists, or their families, who’ve found a trove of lost recordings buried in the back of a closet in some nearly forgotten studio. Springsteen and Jennings come immediately to mind. Typically these are extra tunes that get cut from a record or demos that never really found a home and […]
Clay Street Unit – Sin & Squalor
I have no doubt the first secular song ever written was a love ballad. I’m equally certain the second tune was about being away from home and longing to return. Denver’s Clay Street Unit just released their debut full length album, and while they don’t call that out as any kind of unifying theme, a […]