The Wind’s Just Gonna Blow, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, and Jack Ingram (from the Vanner Records/RCA Nashville release The Marfa Tapes) Lambert, Randall, and Ingram. Kind of sounds like a law firm, doesn’t it? In this case it’s a trio of songwriters who have just released some intimate recordings from their writing retreats in Marfa, […]
Pine Hill Haints – The Song Companion of a Lonestar Cowboy
When you have been traversing your region of the country as a band of troubadours for over twenty years you can’t be called an overnight success. However, they have been successful none the less. Now finally the band as delivered an album that should be their breakout to a wider audience. On the new album […]
Stoney LaRue – Double Live 25
Virtually all the new records that have crossed my speakers in the last year were studio albums. They were material that was semi-finished and just needed some polish, or were new songs inspired by elements of the pandemic. Leave it up to Stoney LaRue to find a third path. LaRue is a road warrior, typically […]
Korby Lenker – Man In the Maroon
Many, many years ago I was gifted a high-end chocolate sampler that ranged from toothachingly sweet, milk chocolate to a bitter, floral 90% sample. It opened my eyes to how wide an experience chocolate could deliver. I had that same observation with Korby Lenker’s new album, Man In the Maroon. Yes, it’s all roots, folkie […]
Maria Muldaur (with Tuba Skinny) – Let’s Get Happy Together
Like Elvin Bishop and John Oates, Maria Muldaur is a musician who who had enormous popular success decades ago that allow her to explore musical expression on exactly her own terms. And, also like Bishop and Oates, she has established herself as an important figure in the blues and roots music scene. Both a blessing […]
Graham Sharp – Truer Picture
I know better, but I still do it. I develop a presumption about a musician’s style based on their performance with a specific band. Then they join a different group, or step out on their own, and it’s like that scene in Wizard Of Oz where the world goes from black and white to color. […]
West Of Texas – Heartache, Hangovers & Honky Tonks
All across America, in places where the asphalt having a shoulder elevates it to highway status, there stand big metal buildings with gravel parking lots. Twenty-first century honky-tonks, they feature cheap beer, fried food, and a band playing country music. Besides the style of music, a differentiator of those bands is their enthusiasm. You don’t […]
Ryan Adams: Dreaming in Big Colors
Emerging from the depths of the 2019 #MeToo scandal, Ryan Adams is back and ready to rock. While his most recent record, “Wednesdays,” was a lesson in acoustic soul-baring, “Big Colors” goes in a completely different direction with it’s 80s rock vibes. I’ve had it on repeat for the past 4 days straight (this is […]
We’ll Go Walkin’ – A Special Dallas Playlist
The City, Brandon Callies (from the Hand Drawn Records release Sunrise Diner) Sunrise Diner, born of heartbreak, is not a happy album. Nonetheless, it is immensely satisfying as Brandon Callies blends melody and melancholy into regal pop songs. Opener “The City” sets a sorrowful tone, describing the singer wandering seemingly deserted city streets trying to […]
Grace Pettis – Working Woman
As the daughter of singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis and poetry scholar Dr. Margaret Mills Harper, it is no surprise that Grace Pettis turned out to be a powerful songwriter herself. Raised in both the rural mountains of Mentone, Alabama and the suburbs of Atlanta, her music reflects both traditional roots and modern styles. Her powerful voice […]