2024 was a difficult year to rank albums. There were so many exceptional releases this year that if I tried to re-rank the list it might look a lot different depending on my mood. My top 5 were the albums that really stuck with me, as for the rest it was very difficult to rank […]
Shawn’s 25 Favs of 2024
1) Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well She raised her game to a new level. The insight and emotion in some of the songs on this record really do make me think that cardinal was John Prine. I’m not sure there’s been a better song ever about growing up than the title track. 2) Billy Strings […]
Readers’ Pick: Billy Strings – Highway Prayers
You picked Billy Strings – Highway Prayers as your favorite new release for the week of September 2y, 2024.
Newport Folk 2023 – Sunday
Every year I am lucky enough to attend Newport Folk Festival, and I have attended six, there’s a moment where the music takes on a full sensory experience. Time stops. When Gregory Alan Isakov took the Quad Stage, that moment occurred. Gregory Alan Isakov and his band including banjo, fiddle, keys, and percussion. Isakov’s new […]
Monday Morning Video – On the Road Again
Another day, another week, another month without live music to sustain us. The Willie Nelson classic has never been as relevant as it is today. Here’s Billy Strings performing “On the Road Again” just last year and Willie, along with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, closing out a show with it back in […]
Best of 2019- Chip’s Picks
This was a tough year to rank best albums. The sheer volume of good releases made it difficult. This is especially true in the Americana genre with it’s ever expanding boundaries. All the same, I gave it my best shot. 1)Yola- “Walk Through Fire” Released early in the year, from my first listen I knew […]
Billy Strings – Turmoil & Tinfoil
There’s a saying most of you are familiar with, “like catching lightning in a bottle.” Â In the music business it’s not unusual to hear that applied to the idea of catching a band’s live performance energy & style in the studio. Â Hence the reason most jam bands, and many others frankly, never have much of […]
Billy Strings & Don Julin – Fiddle Tune X
Fiddle Tune X is for bluegrass fans with attention deficit problems. Â The new album from Billy Strings and Don Julin nearly captures an entire bluegrass festival in 59 minutes. Â The Michigan based duo, with just a guitar, a mandolin, and their vocals, cover ground from speed-picking, self-written tunes all the way to slow gospel harmonies. […]