The sub-title of this review could be “Uncle Lucius, a band in 3 acts”. In the early-mid 2010’s, Uncle Lucius was emblematic of the Austin bands that could make a living without ever sleeping in a hotel (although they certainly did their fair share of touring). Then in 2018 front man Kevin Galloway decided it […]
Low Water Bridge Band – Back to the Valley
If Nashville is the white collar home of country music, then the blue collar home must be about 500 miles northeast of there, near the Shenandoah Valley. I stumbled across a band recently that is the epitome of blue collar country music, and coincidentally they call the Shenandoah Valley home. The Low Water Bridge Band […]
Nora Jane Struthers – Back To Cast Iron
We all had to make unplanned changes for the forced differences the pandemic made on our lives, but few had to adapt as much as Nora Jane Struthers. Having reconciled how to be simultaneously a traveling musician and full-time mother, she suddenly had to re-examine almost everything. That whole process informed the songs on her […]
Guy Forsyth Video Premiere – Rider
At the risk of mixing metaphors, Guy Forsyth started his journey washing dishes and mucking stalls in the musical kingdom of Austin. From those early days of busking on the UT campus he worked his way up to leading multiple bands and securing a residency at Antone’s, the throne room of Texas blues. Along the […]
Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia – Blood Brothers: Live in Canada
As reviewers, and volunteer reviewers at that, sometimes we miss things. More than a few times I’ve realized that some music I overlooked was actually pretty good, and I wanted to take a “Mulligan” by reviewing something well after its release. When Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia released their collaboration album, Blood Brothers, early this […]
Honey Island Swamp Band – Custom Deluxe
Back in the 60’s Stax Records famously plowed the fertile ground of the overlap between early rock & roll and rhythm & blues. That sound became identified with Memphis, but like the stone thrown in still water, its effects spread across the south from Muscle Shoals all the way to the Atlantic seaboard. Along the […]
Old Californio – Metaterranea
Everywhere has a home team band. Between long-time fans, songs that reference local places, or just the stamina to play anywhere that will have them, they start to become identified with a local style of music as much as the local style gets defined by them. When it comes to roots and Americana music, we […]
Tom Heyman – 24th Street Blues
It’s fashionable these days to predict the demise of San Francisco. Its problems are vast; no one wants to live there; it’s too expensive. Long-time Philadelphia and San Francisco resident Tom Heyman has been around cities enough to know that’s cyclical, not an end destination. He documents his own love/hate relationship with the City by […]
Steep Canyon Rangers – Morning Shift
The sun was in my eyes. Or maybe more appropriately, the banjo was in my ear. Like many people I’m sure, my first exposure to North Carolina’s Steep Canyon Rangers was the first record they did with Steve Martin. It established them in my mind as a bluegrass band, and then they proceeded to build […]
The Mike Jacoby Electric Trio – The Long Haul
I think most people would agree music is a visceral experience. It’s more than that, though. Sometimes the music moves you, and other times it makes you move. Los Angeles’ Mike Jacoby mostly writes and records in the latter style, and sticks to those strengths in his new album, The Long Haul. His previous three […]