With all due respect to all the excellent comments of moonlighting band members (see below for the full list), the best of the bunch went unmentioned. To wit I submit Steven Van Zandt. After building a reputation as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Van Zandt unleashed his criminally-overlooked solo debut, Men Without […]
A Tale of Two Texas Records: Owen Temple & Susan Gibson
Texas has become quite the recording hot-spot, with Austin being the central source of heat. Simply because an album happens to be recorded in the Lone-Star State doesn’t make it a “Texas Album”, in my not-so-humble opinion. Honesty, simplicity, distictive voices, and even more distinct writing is the combination of components of what I consider […]
Bruce Robison + More, Releases 9/2
Bruce Robison performing “She Don’t Care” at Scholz Beer Garte, Austin 8-13-08 BRUCE ROBISON, The New World (Premium) Official Site | MySpace | Samples (Amazon) The most disappointing thing about this album is that there are only ten tracks. This is perhaps a countrier version of something Peter Case would put together which makes it […]
Catie Curtis – Sweet Life
Why are so many Folk Singers sad? They have broken hearts, come from broken homes and live broken lives. To be sure such angst provides the motivation for a lot of great songs but a little happiness is good for the soul too. Modern movies aren’t much different either. How many critically acclaimed movies end […]
Bronx River Parkway, A Different Perspective
From time to time I come across a CD that begs the question of what Americana actually is. Most people will define Americana as music derived from or associated with country music. The truth however is a little more complex. Americana, in the way the word originally was intended, was a term to describe American […]
Bel Air – Pole to Pole
For years, it seemed as though it was the louder, more rocking bands that garnered the majority of attention and buzz from indie-kids and the music media in general (see: grunge, or the recent “garage-rock” revival with the Strokes, or even the alleged “reinvention” of rock by Radiohead, Beck and/or The White Stripes, etc…). With […]
Chris Knight – Heart of Stone
Suffice it to say that Chris Knight knows what Nashville has forgotten, that country music is the original narrative of the common man. It grew out of the Great Depression and forged a transcendent bond with its’ fans. Country music turned the struggles of rural America into poetry that helped ease the pain of fans […]
Matthew Sweet + More, Releases 8/26
Acoustic version of “Byrdgirl”; the first single from Matthew’s new album “Sunshine Lies” available August 26th, 2008. MATTHEW SWEET, Sunshine Lies (Shout! Factory) Official Site | MySpace Long awaited, long anticipated return to grace from one of the most gifted singer/songwriters from the 90s. Its hard not to look at this album with high expectations […]
High on Stress – Cop Light Parade
Minneapolis has a storied musical history. Luminaries such as Bob Dylan, Prince, The Replacements and even The Hold Steady have some sort of link to that chilly region. After listening to Cop Light Parade by the Minneapolis band, High on Stress, I can’t help but feel they have done their regional, musical ancestors proud. The […]
Win Big! Albert Hammond, Jr.
For some artists, just being in one band is not enough. The creative juices run free with these folks and they crave the outlets for release. Put Albert Hammond, Jr. in this category. Not content with a new release every two to three years with the Strokes, Hammond has just released his second solo album […]