There’s an otherworldliness that inhabits the deserts of California. It’s not just the inhospitable environment, it’s also a sense of realness that comes to the improbable. From the conspiracy theorists outside China Lake to the mystics in Joshua Tree, some of the inhabitants embrace that difference in life. With their roots in the high desert […]
Cashavelly Morrison – Metamorphosis
Someone once said, maybe it was Ray Wylie Hubbard, that, “good poets didn’t have good childhoods.” I don’t know about her childhood, but Cashavelly Morrison has had her share of traumatic experiences and the emotional journey of acceptance is reflected in her new album, Metamorphosis. Morrison started her professional career as a dancer, but after […]
Jacob Groopman – Through the Gates
I love it when musicians do musical side projects. It usually means they’re passionate enough about something they’ve made time for it despite all the other demands for their attention, and the result generally reflects that passion. Such is the case with the album from Front Country multi-instrumentalist guitar player Jacob Groopman, entitled Through the […]
Curtis Grimes Premiere – Miles Don’t Matter
My preferences in country music tend to lean to gravelly voices over a Bakersfield beat. Every now and then I come across a velvet voice and mainstream country sound that restores a little of my faith in the hits side of country music. Such was the case with Curtis Grimes. You could fill an entire […]
Nobody’s Girl – Nobody’s Girl
Back in 2017 three friends (BettySoo, Grace Pettis & Rebecca Loebe) decided to do a tour together as set of singer-songwriters, you know, just a few weeks, a one-time shot. Long story short, they had so much fun the trio decided to temporarily set aside their personal projects and form a group, Nobody’s Girl. They […]
John R. Miller – Depreciated
“Lookin’ over my shoulder, hopin’ nobody told her, I’m back in town.” So goes the chorus on the opening track of John R. Miller’s new album, Depreciated. It’s a good introduction to a loose theme that you can’t go home. And even if you could, maybe you shouldn’t. He wraps those observations up in a […]
Jeremy James Meyer – Alive & OK
Listening to the new album from Jeremy James Meyer, Alive & OK, I realized that not only have I missed live music, but I’ve missed the sound of an entire band in a studio. During the pandemic, when bands recorded material, everyone did their own piece and then software assembled it all together. It sounds […]
Ben Reddell Band – ¡LA Baby!
After coming to LA almost 20 years ago, having been raised in Texas, Ben Reddell has become a common sight in the LA country and roots community. Whether playing in another band, running sound, or just pitching in, he’s always around. So it’s a little surprising that’s he’s just released his first EP since 2012. […]
Afton Wolfe – Kings For Sale
It’s burned in my memory, the exact moment I first heard Afton Wolfe. Coming down out of the mountains on an impossibly bright day in southern Utah, I hit play on his new album, Kings For Sale. Like when you flip down a pair of polarized lenses after squinting into the sun, the textures hidden […]
Stoney LaRue – Double Live 25
Virtually all the new records that have crossed my speakers in the last year were studio albums. They were material that was semi-finished and just needed some polish, or were new songs inspired by elements of the pandemic. Leave it up to Stoney LaRue to find a third path. LaRue is a road warrior, typically […]