Some 30 years ago, when Springsteen released his seminal Darkness on the Edge of Town, John Lyon, better known as Southside Johnny did the same with his Hearts of Stone. Though the album didn’t sell all that well at the time years later Rolling Stone magazine would vote it as one of the best albums […]
Tom Morello, The Fabled City
“The Fabled City†is Tom Morello’s second solo outing as the Nightwatchman. Though Morello admittedly performed a lot of these songs “amidst the tear gas attacks at the G8 protest,†there is, again, little common ground between this solo album and his work with Rage Against the Machine. Though in both projects Morello presents himself […]
Blue Mountain – Midnight in Mississippi
2008 has seen some of the founding insurgents that have been credited for the Alt-Country movement have released albums this year. Names like the Old 97’s, Alejandro Escovedo, Gary Louris, Jason Ringenberg among others have proven that, in spite of rumors to the contrary, alt-country (or whatever you want to call it) is alive and […]
Easton, Stagger, Phillips- One For the Ditch
Easton, Stagger, Phillips is a super group. Â The good kind. Â 3 of the best singer-songwriters in alt. country music come together on this low key collection of originals. Â Though each of the three can certainly rock out, One For the Ditch is the sound of “3 friends playing songs on the porch”. Â They keep it […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Hold Steady @ Chelsea’s Cafe in Baton Rouge, LA 8-7
The Hold Steady are known as a quintessential live band. I never doubted this but until I saw it for myself I never realized how true it is. Since I am currently Sequestered (but not subpoenaed) in Baton Rouge during the weeknights, when I saw that The Hold Steady was playing at a cozy venue […]