Distances in western America can be vast. Â You have to decide on a philosophy: are you about the journey or the destination. Â Focus on the goal and you can embrace the trance of picket fence telephone poles and the sporadic interruption of small towns. Â A day, two, three and you’re there with no trauma beyond […]
Slaid Cleaves – Ghost On the Car Radio
I first saw Slaid Cleaves back in the 90’s at the Cactus Cafe in Austin.  That’s back when Grif was still booking the acts and it was a live music institution going back to Dylan and Baez in the 60’s.  I remember being blown away by the richness of the stories Slaid sang about.  Not just the […]
Rachel Baiman – Shame
Woody Guthrie famously wrote “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar. He and his protege, Pete Seeger, composed and sang protest songs that wore their emotions on their sleeve. Â There’s not much confusion about Woody’s views in This Land Is Your Land. Â And don’t get me started about Old Man Trump. Â The other kind of […]
Yonder Mountain String Band – Love. Ain’t Love
Lazy, sunny days in a natural amphitheater in the mountains. Â A warm night with the sounds of crickets and cicadas. Â A bluegrass band with its joyful mandolin and happy banjo. Â These are all elements of summer in my experience, and require some of that bluegrass in my playlist. Â One of the best things I heard […]
Pokey LaFarge – Manic Revelations
Pokey LaFarge is a musical iconoclast. Â Watch him on stage or listen superficially to his music, in particular his new release, Manic Revelations, and you get a throwback to a musical era when most songs were intended to be happy dance songs. Â Music was an escape, not a medium for a message. Â Listen more closely, […]
Phoebe Hunt & the Gatherers – Shanti’s Shadow
Some musicians like to master their genre. Â Some like to push the boundaries of a genre. Â Others thrive by crossing genres. Â You can count Phoebe Hunt in that last category. Â Her musical arc started with the Texas swing and big band-influenced country of The Belleville Outfit, swung across her fiddle and vocal prowess collaborations with […]
The Steel Wheels – Wild As We Came Here
A really good stew is hard to describe. Â I mean, on the surface, it’s easy. Â Some meat, some vegetables, in a broth, cooked for a while. Â But it is so much more than that. Â Think of the difference between a Louisiana gumbo, a California cioppino, and a New England chowder. Â They all have seafood, and […]
Mink’s Miracle Medicine – Song Premiere
Hailing from Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, Mink’s Miracle Medicine is primarily the brainchild of Melissa Wright and Daniel Zezeski. Â Melissa approaches music with her background in Americana and formal training from Berklee College of Music, while Daniel comes at things from a punk and ska band experience. Â Their upcoming album, House Of Candles, has a […]
Jared Tyler – Dirt On Your Hands
Life takes funny turns sometimes. Â Jared Tyler was on an arc to be a darling of the Nashville music scene. Â Big names in the music business were taking him under their wing and he was hanging with the stars. Â Then family called and he answered to his heart’s priorities. Â A couple of years pass and […]
Malcolm Holcombe – Pretty Little Troubles
Many people would argue that Gillian Welch captures all the beauty of Appalachia in her songs and performance. Â You can hear the clear mountain streams and the fog draped valleys in the simple, haunting melodies she’s known for creating. Â If that’s the case, then Malcolm Holcombe is the stark reality of last century’s natural resource […]