Quiles and Cloud originally formed as a duo. Maria Quiles (Vocals and Guitar) and Rory Cloud (Vocals and Guitar) began playing together in the Bay Area in 2011. Since then they have added Upright Bass player Oscar Westesson. Their new album “Shake Me Now†is being released this week and will hopefully be the launching […]
Marty Stuart – Way Out West
Marty Stuart has always been a traditionalist. While that hasn’t changed on his new release “Way Out West”, he has created a dreamy landscape on which this collection of songs exist. He utilizes instrumental songs to lead into each story song that makes up this project. To borrow the term Gram Parsons coined, Stuart delivers […]
Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway
Freedom Highway may be the album that followers of the Carolina Chocolate Drops have been waiting for in the fledgling solo career of Rhiannon Giddens. The second of Giddens’ solo efforts, Freedom Highway showcases her songwriting talents in a tour de force demonstrating her ability to move nimbly between roots genres from the primitive, folky jug-band and […]
Otis Taylor – Fantasizing About Being Black
Otis Taylor is a fascinating artist.  Each of his albums, at least over the past few years, have some theme – some linkage between the songs or the listening experience Taylor is trying to create. With his Hey Joe Opus in 2015, Taylor tossed out the rule book by including Billy Roberts’ classic “Hey Joe,” made […]
2017 Folk Alliance International – Overall Conference Highlights
Back from the 2017 Folk Alliance International conference and nearly caught up on sleep (more on that later), let’s start coverage with a look at the overall event. Â Not surprisingly, there are seminars on the music business, musical performances, and an awards show. Â There are also a lot of things catering to the musicians themselves, […]
Romantica – Shadowlands
It has been seven years since we heard from Romantica. Of course we have heard from front man Ben Kyle in the meantime. He has done two acclaimed albums. One was a duet with Carrie Rodriguez and the other was a solo project. The wait for new material from Romantica was well worth it. The […]
Girls Guns and Glory at the Sinclair
Girls Guns and Glory at The Sinclair Cambridge, MA; January 14, 2017 To see Ward Hayden come out on the stage at the Sinclair, you’d have no idea that he was from Scituate, Massachusetts. His new record, with his face on it, implies a more introspective view of the music. And Hayden’s entrance in a […]
Readers’ Pick: Mockingbird Soul by Brigitte DeMeyer and Will Kimbrough
You picked “Mockingbird Soul” from new folk duo, BRIGITTE DEMEYER AND WILL KIMBROUGH, as your favorite new release for the week of January 27, 2016. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter 2017 […]
John Mayall – Talk About That
In the 1970s, John Mayall, O.B.E., was, along with Bob Dylan, John Prine, David Bromberg, Loudon Wainwright III, Shawn Phillips and Jerry Jeff Walker, one of my musical heroes.  Now at 83 and still touring and recording albums, Mayall is an inspiration. Mayall, often called the “Godfather of British Blues,†is so much more than […]
Susto/& I’m Fine Today
“If it’s in a Susto song, then it really happened†says lead singer/songwriter Justin Osborne during our recent chat about the band’s new record & I’m Fine Today. “I mean, unless it’s something like our Jesus Christ beach song.†Although, I guess they could be hanging with Jesus, or some other entity with songs such […]