The English language has some very captivating words. A friend of mine likes “shenanigans”. I’ve always been partial to “gobsmacked”. Then there’s “hootenanny”. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s sort of like open mic night at the square dance. Think string bands and dancing; raw, fast-paced, and open to anyone. That’s the spirit […]
Non Duo – In Your Eyes
I’ve been writing reviews for over a decade, and I listen to a bunch of things I never write about. Plus, stints on the radio and owning too many records. In all that time, I’ve never heard an album start and end with the same song, only in English and Russian. I have now. Better […]
Greg Felden Premiere – Back of the Line
Back last summer I ran across the debut album from LA-based Greg Felden. I noted at the time he set an emotional tone with the songs and several of them were driven by a rock and roll guitar sound. He also did a bit of introspection on some of the acoustic numbers. Well, he’s turned […]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2020
I already knew the Hellman family had challenged the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass staff to come up with a worthy alternative to the annual musical gathering in Golden Gate Park the first weekend in October. I knew they had been shooting video with various artists in music towns like Austin, Nashville, and of course San Francisco. […]
Thriving Roots 2020 – Shawn’s Highlights
One of the highlights of my year is the annual Americana Music Association conference and awards show in Nashville in September. Needless to say, it didn’t go on this year. The AMA brain trust had enough time, and common sense pragmatism, to realize this was going to happen. So they put on an alternate, virtual […]
Brendan & the Strangest Ways – Are We Sure the Dawn Is Coming?
As documented by everyone from Ken Burns on down, country music came out of the fields of the South and the mountains of Appalachia. Alt-country, on the other hand, has its roots in the urban centers of the Rust Belt, like St. Louis, Chicago, and Pittsburg. Based on the new album from Brendan & the […]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Preview
Twenty years ago next week a San Francisco musician and financier, Warren Hellman, arranged a birthday concert for his sister, a big bluegrass fan. The next year, as part of a bid to get Emmylou to play, Hellman included a modifier to the concert’s name, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was official. Since then the event […]
Erinn Peet Lukes Video Premiere – Small Town Hero
I was fortunate enough to come across Erinn Peet Lukes when she came out with her first EP a couple of years ago. Since then I learned she’d been with a band for several years and they gained some notoriety with a cover of a Guns ‘n’ Roses hit. Last year they put out an […]
Suzi Ragsdale Premiere – Live Until You Die Video
Sometimes you just have to give in to temptation and root for the favorite. That’s kind of how I felt when I heard Suzi Ragsdale’s new EP, Ghost Town. Suzi has toured with Guy Clark and Darrell Scott. She’s sang on over 60 albums from a who’s who of Nashville, and had her songs recorded […]
Curtis Grimes Premiere – Still A Little Country Left
Curtis Grimes is an interesting guy. Besides being Male Vocalist Of the Year a couple of years ago for the Texas Country Music Association, he models jeans, sells bibles, and acts in national TV commercials. I guess that makes him kind of an all-American kid. A lot of his music reflects that idea of a […]