Todd Snider used to say that some of the best advice he got about being a songwriter was to live your life to where you could pack up and be gone in 15 minutes. I don’t think that was so much recommending a vagabond life, but rather that you’re prepared to easily take advantage of […]
Pharis & Jason Romero – Bet On Love
When we last checked in with our intrepid heros, musicians and banjo builders Pharis and Jason Romero, they were celebrating the release of a new album two years after losing their shop and cabin to a fire. The trauma had helped them appreciate some of the simpler things in life and they put that feeling […]
Marshall Chapman – Songs I Can’t Live Without
Less is more. People talk a lot about that, but I find more often less is simply less. Not so for the new record from Marshall Chapman, Songs I Can’t Live Without. These aren’t her songs, but they’re all meaningful to her from various points in her life. Some of them so interwoven into her […]
EP Two-For – Kyle LaLone & Dead Winter Carpenters
From Boston to New York City to Los Angeles, Kyle LaLone has played lead guitar and been a sought-after session man for bands probably too numerous to count. Along the way he’s mastered numerous styles and played everything from dive bars to stadiums. All those life experiences have finally pushed LaLone to release an EP […]
James Hyland – Western
There’s something about driving cross country at night that focuses your mind. A big part of it probably is the lack of distraction from the landscape. There’s also a heightened awareness that comes from the lack of visual queues. The result is a very different radio experience. That’s the premise of the new album from […]
Watkins Family Hour – brother sister
I realized recently that I think maybe a duo is the optimum configuration for a “band”. I’m sure some psychologist could explain it, but it just seems the shared sound comes through more purely. Bands tend to have a leader and it’s generally obvious who that it is. With a duo, everything just seems more […]
Sarah Siskind – Modern Appalachia
With most of us home full-time now, it’s fortuitous that Sarah Siskind is releasing a musical tale of discovery of her home this week. Entitled Modern Appalachia, it weaves together lyrical musings of her recent mountainous lifestyle and fusion jazz instrumental influences. All of it gels into an autological definition of modern Appalachia. Several songs […]
In Memoriam – John Prine
For me, it was Bruised Orange. The album had come out about the time I’d started a stint as a radio DJ, and everyone at the station had their favorite cut (mine was Fish And Whistle). As music fans did back then, we dug into the liner notes, and soon discovered an entire new world […]
Western Centuries – Call the Captain
You could probably write a book about how bands are formed. Some are born as school friends playing in a forgiving parent’s garage. Other have a process-based beginning, with formal recruitment and auditions. I think I’d take a bet that many of the most successful started with a mutual love of something that became foundational […]
Jesse Daniel – Rollin’ On
It’s like the beer bottle you never saw coming. One moment, everything’s fine. The next, you’re looking up to the underside of the table. Jesse Daniel, on his latest record, Rollin’ On, wields a Bakersfield bucket of sound like a drunk with a longneck, intent on righting a mighty load of wrongs. The album blasts […]