An hour north of Denver in a bend of the St. Vrain river sits a beautiful amphitheater and campground, home to Rockygrass and the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, among other events. Â The far bank of the river is a cliff of Colorado red rock that positively glows in the afternoon sun. Â The river itself has […]
Shinyribs – Okra Candy
On various patches of land continuously testing the boundaries of wet and dry in the sea level portions of southeast Texas, southwest Mississippi and southern Louisiana live a breed of men thriving on the margins of humanity.  For a 2 week stretch they manage to semi-control their impulses enough to be trusted by others of their […]
Della Mae – Della Mae
The first time I drove CA 1 through Big Sur it was on a rainy day in a big, 80’s rental car with more of a rudder than a steering wheel. Â A few years later I had the chance to drive it in something much sportier and the difference was exhilarating. Â All those curves changed […]
Short Takes – Three Gems For Summer
There has been a lot of good music cross my desk in the last couple of months, and I’ve finally internalized I’m not going to get to all of it.  Summer’s here, though, and it’s important to have some new music in your player.  So here are some short takes on albums I’m really enjoying, but […]
Sour Bridges – Sour Bridges
The simple fact is, some bands are better when they’re in the studio and some are better out on a stage.  Ray LaMontagne literally made me squirm at a show given how obviously uncomfortable he was on the stage.  Carrie Rodriguez has never managed to capture the magic of her stage charisma on a record. I […]
The Railsplitters – The Faster It Goes
Bluegrass used to be learned from family members and neighbors in the rural parts of America. Â In the last decade or so it”s become a conscious choice of genre by a variety of musicians who are trained and adept in many styles of music. Â Along the way they”ve fused all of those styles on top […]
Leaf Rapids – Lucky Stars
“The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.†William Faulkner was known not just for long sentences, but also his ability to so luridly set […]
The Lonesome Band – Running Alone
I used to have a friend who referred to himself as a redneck libertarian. Â He didn’t much like people who drank wine, but felt people should be able to make, and consume, as much beer and whisky as they wanted without the government taxing it. Â He’s no longer with us, but I think he would […]
Trout Steak Revival – Brighter Every Day
There’s something about bluegrass that always seems slanted toward picking up your spirits. Â It’s not that the genre doesn’t have its share of good murder ballads–a couple of doozy’s come immediately to mind–but as a rule it’s not somber music. That’s true in spades in the debut album from Colorado-based Trout Steak Revival. Entitled Brighter […]
Old Settler’s Music Festival 2015 Edition
My favorite weekend of the year has come and gone again. Â A couple of weeks after the over-sized crowds, egos, and marketing campaigns of SXSW comes a music festival in the hill country outside Austin that’s just about the music. Â With only 15,000 attendees, and a couple of stages, you can see at least a […]