Brooklyn’s Mel and the Tall Boys tap into something timeless with “The Breeze.” Singer-songwriter Mel Johnston fuses the pop classicism of Peggy Lee with the melodic edge of Mary Weiss and the Shangri-Las, deftly channeling that lineage with confidence and grace. Lush instrumentation, including strings, piano, and percussion, adds rhythmic drive and cinematic color behind […]
Damn Tall Buildings – The Universe Is Hungry
A few years ago, at Folk Alliance, I was in a room waiting for a band I wanted to hear when I saw a band I realized I needed to hear, Brooklyn’s Damn Tall Buildings. They’re a bluegrass trio that clearly had honed a lot of their act out on a sidewalk where you have […]
Diane Hubka & the Sun Canyon Band Premiere – Moon Over Larrabee
From the late 60’s to the early 90’s, the center of the rock and roll universe was a short stretch of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. With clubs like the Rainbow Bar & Grill, The Viper Room, and Whisky A Go Go, it was the place to be seen and heard, especially if you were […]
Readers’ Pick: Rhett Miller – A Lifetime of Riding by Night
You picked Rhett Miller – A Lifetime of Riding by Night as your favorite new release for the week of October 10, 2025.
The Grahams – The Bridge
When we last checked into our Americana travelogue protagonists, Alyssa and Doug Graham, they had just finished the third segment in a 3-part journey across the landscape. It was a motorcycle ride down Route 66, and was preceded by a train tour of the country and a Mississippi riverboat cruise. For their newest release, The […]
Rosy Nolan – Main Attraction
Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s country music started building a national following, helped by the growing adoption of radio and popular shows like The Grand Ole Opry. Hollywood added their weight with westerns featuring singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Bob Wills. The latter became even more well known for morphing those appearances into […]
Josh Fortenbery – Tidy Memorial
I’ve been writing about music for over 20 years now. I would have said I’ve heard every angle imaginable about how a songwriter approaches their craft. I would have been wrong. Alaskan Josh Fortenbery has a new album out, Tidy Memorial, and the ten songs are all written as a eulogy to something or someone. […]
Rosie Flores & the Talismen – Impossible Frontiers
I don’t know when I first saw Rosie Flores perform. She’s just always been part of the fabric of the music I favor, from the early days of cowpunk to rockabilly to revival of some of the classic old country styles. She was front and center at last month’s Americana Music Festival, where she celebrated […]
The Far West – Everything We Thought We Wanted
The great Joe Strummer once said, “rock and roll ain’t about playing all the right notes.” It was a comment on the passion and showmanship that made his, and others, success in the 80’s and 90’s. I’d argue that while the passion is still essential, the showmanship that was once necessary has evolved to become […]
Kashena Sampson – Ghost Of Me
As the novelist Thomas Wolfe famously said, “you can’t go home again.” It was in the context of returning to the physical place you grew up. But what if it’s your musical home we’re talking about? That emotional, sonic world that shaped your cultural ties? Nashvillian Kashena Sampson is exploring just that journey on her […]