Duke Robillard has pretty much reached a point in his career when he knows he doesn’t have to try to impress anyone. He can play what he wants, and if you want to come along for the ride, so much the better. With the Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard, which releases Friday, Robillard […]
Route 128 on a Dark and Lonely Night – A Special Boston Playlist
Here is the latest installment in our periodic series highlighting Boston and New England artists. (View the complete series here.) Jambalaya, Girls Guns and Glory (from the self-released A Tribute to Hank Williams – Live!) Girls Guns and Glory’s annual Hank Williams tribute shows have rapidly become a New Year’s tradition. With the help of […]
Mea Culpa! A Special Summer Playlist, Part 3
Hard Work, Christopher Paul Stelling (from the Anti Records release Labor Against Waste) Count Labor Against Waste among the most powerful albums that you’ll hear this year. Wandering troubadour Stelling uses his songs to offer taut social commentary, peering into human intentions and sharing pointed perspectives on life’s opportunities and challenges. The mesmerizing ballad “Scarecrow” […]
Mea Culpa! A Special Summer Playlist, Part 2
Devil in Me, Anderson East (from the Low Country Sound/Elektra Records release Delilah) There’s something special about that old-school soul sound. It’s all the more impressive when it is created by a young whippersnapper like Anderson East. The Nashville by way of Alabama singer-songwriter serves up an exhilarating debut album that is steeped in Muscle […]
Peace, Love and Twang at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Philadelphia Folk Festival, which has been around for 54 years, isn’t your grandfather’s folk festival. While there is still a smattering of venerable acoustic solo folksingers on its program like Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Cockburn and Tom Paxton, the festival has become a great platform for Americana artists of all flavors as well as for […]
Tweed River Talk – A Few Words with JP Harris
Nashville by way of Alabama musician JP Harris is pretty clear about what type of music he plays – country music. His most recent release, 2014’s Home Is Where the Hurt Is, hearkens back to the genre’s classic era with tales of hard livin’ and heartache. The self-taught musician promises to bring the honky-tonk to […]
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
Although Larry Campbell has released a number of his own recordings, he is known more for his associations than solo work. He is such a versatile musician it would almost be easier to list instruments he does not play. Most recently he garnered acclaim as a producer for Levon Helm’s final albums. Both albums, “Dirt […]
Victor Wainwright & the WildRoots – Boom Town
Victor Wainwright is relatively new on the national music scene, but his swampy honky tonk piano licks are having an impact in both his solo career and as a member of roots rock, blues and funk “supergroup” Southern Hospitality. Wainwright, who grew up in a musical family in Savannah, Georgia, moved to Daytona Beach, Florida to […]
Sour Bridges – Sour Bridges
The simple fact is, some bands are better when they’re in the studio and some are better out on a stage.  Ray LaMontagne literally made me squirm at a show given how obviously uncomfortable he was on the stage.  Carrie Rodriguez has never managed to capture the magic of her stage charisma on a record. I […]
Leaf Rapids – Lucky Stars
“The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.†William Faulkner was known not just for long sentences, but also his ability to so luridly set […]