CD Reviews on projects by Americana Artists
Andy Peake Mood Swings Big Little Mood Swings is the debut for singer/songwriter/drummer/percussionist Andy Peake who invites a wide cast of mostly Nashville-based musicians to join him in his eclectic mix of blues and roots tunes. Seven of the eleven are either penned or co-written by Peake with two highly recognizable cover tunes and two […]
Son Volt Electro Melodier Transmit Sound/Thirty Tigers Electro Melodier is alt country pioneering Son Volt’s tenth studio album, a year after marking, sadly without touring, the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1995 debut, Trace. Son Volt has always been defined by front man Jay Farrar’s weary, soulful, and inexplicably comforting voice as well his songwriting. […]
Jackson Browne Downhill From Everywhere Inside Recordings This is Jackson Browne’s first album in six years and like many veteran musicians, he’s finding the studio conducive to songwriting. In other words, his songs often take new directions, once he begins to collaborate with bandmates, most of whom have cemented their chemistry with the iconic songwriter […]
Cassie and Mallory Life of a Ghost “Cassie and Mallory” are the two artists Cassie Spires and Mallory Tober who got together in 2019 to make music. Cassie takes on the part of the vocals and lyrics and is accompanied instrumentally by Mallory. Both have very different life stories. Cassie was a successful wedding photographer […]
Steve Dawson at the bottom of a canyon in the branches of a tree Pravda Besides having one of the longest and strangest album titles seen in some time, Chicago-based singer- songwriter Steve Dawson brings us a powerful album of loss and rebirth. Dawson is vastly underrecognized and underrated but has long been one of […]
Gary Vogensen Shot of Hope Little Village Here’s an unfamiliar name to most but you’d likely perk up when you learn that Gary Vogensen played with Mike Bloomfield, Barry Melton, Norton Buffalo, Maria Muldaur, Etta James, Commander Cody, John “Marmaduke” Dawson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage (for years), and more. Bay Area […]
Autumn Dawn Leader I, Autumnus Autumn Dawn Leader (and that’s her real name!), singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist was born in the USA and moved to the East Midlands of the UK in 2004. She took her first musical steps at the age of four when she performed in concerts with her mother. At 16 she […]
Various Artists A Sweet Relief Tribute to Joey Spampinato True North This is an amazing group of artists all generously donating their proceeds from these recordings to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to support NRBQ founding member/bassist/songwriter Joey Spampinato with his current health issues. Joey’s wife Kami Lyle and producer Sheldon Gomberg rallied a group […]
Eric Selby Where You Born At Eric Selby, based in Washington DC is an artist, producer and multi instrumentalist and single father of four wonderful daughters, a dog and a cat (who he himself thinks is a dog). He published in 2020 his first solo original music as well as the EP “Do, Baby ” […]
Mark Remmington 12 Weeks After a break of more than ten years, Mark Remmington presents us his first solo album “12 Weeks”. Mark is based in the UK and has played and performed on numerous commercial releases before. During the lockdown that hit us all, he had the idea to write a song every week […]
Mary Hott with The Carpenter Ants Devil in the Hills – Coal Country Reckoning Self-released You may be thinking that The Carpenter Ants may not be the most inviting band name, but this is as an important concept album as you’ll find. Singer-songwriter Mary Hott is a seventh generation West Virginian who has devotedly researched […]
Dara Tucker Dreams of Waking Green Hill Productions The blues readers of these pages probably know the name Dara Tucker, ostensibly a jazz vocalist on this outing – Dreams of Waking – Music for a Better World. She co-wrote and sang on the title track for ‘Keb Mo’s Grammy winning Oklahoma. Tucker indeed hails from […]
Oliver Wood Always Smilin’ Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers Okay, before anyone gets too worried and jumps off the next cliff, the Wood Brothers remain intact as an ongoing band. That said, Always Smilin’ is the first solo outing for one of the three members, Oliver Wood. As you likely know, brother Chris has long had side […]
Declan O’Rourke Arrivals Miesta Music/Warner UK Arrivals is the seventh album for Irish singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke and represents his first new material in two years, and importantly, a new raw, intimate sound encouraged and realized by producer Paul Weller of Jam fame. Weller is also a multi-instrumentalist who chips in now and then along with […]
Maia Sharp Mercy Rising Self-Released Maia Sharp just did two years ago what many singer-songwriters do. She moved to Nashville to be in the company of kindred spirits, hoping her change in scenery from L.A. would inspire her musically and give her personal life a necessary reboot. This is not to say she hadn’t enjoyed […]
Jesse Terry When We Wander Wander Recordings When We Wander marks a series of first for New England-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jesse Terry. It’s the first album of his seven, that he wrote since becoming a parent, the first he ever recorded live in the studio, and likely the first that was delayed for a year. […]
Tony Joe White Smoke from the Chimney Easy Eye Sound Smoke from the Chimney, a nine-song album of never-before-heard Tony Joe White tunes, is the posthumous album that most thought never existed. Produced by Dan Auerbach and rounded out by Nashville’s most seasoned studio musicians, Smoke from the Chimney started as several unadorned voice and guitar demos […]
Dan Farrell “Stories” Dan Farrell is a London based singer / songwriter with a great love for the music of The Beatles, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones and Genesis, to name just a few. His music is melodic rock that gets you hooked very quickly. The main focus is his guitar and he plays it left […]
Ben Cosgrove The Trouble with Wilderness Self-released Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist from New England. He travels constantly all over the country, performing a unique variety of original instrumental music that explores themes of landscape, geography, and environment while straddling a line between folk and classical music. He has delivered several […]
Abigail Dowd Beautiful Day Self-released Last year folk singer-songwriter Abigail Dowd issued one of the year’s more provocative albums, her search for identity in Not What I Seem. She now returns with A Beautiful Day, another self-reflective effort, also filled with some haunting songs and a prevailing melancholy that in enough places emerges to find […]
The Pink Stones …Introducing. Normaltown/New West There’s a tendency to use the term ‘country’ albeit sparingly with the more famous Athens, GA-based bands, The Drive-by Truckers (DBTs), and to some extent Bloodkin, yet The Pink Stones are by far the most country of the three. They fall into the camp of Cosmic American Music, whose […]
Zoe FitzGerald Carter Waterlines Self-released Author-turned-songwriter Zoe FitzGerald Carter releases her debut solo full-length, Waterlines, featuring ten original songs backed by some of the Bay Area’s best. Her background as a journalist, essayists, and author (Imperfect Endings) gives the album an autobiographical feel, partly implied by the album title, serving as a metaphor for searching clues from […]
John Smith The Fray Commoner/Thirty Tigers UK Singer-songwriter John Smith, with one of the most common names around, is not your run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter-guitarist. Those types cannot attract a cast like Smith does here for his highly emotive The Fray. Smith co-produced with long-time friend and producer Sam Lakeman at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, assembling pianist […]
Brigitte DeMeyer Seeker Spinach Pitts Music Seeker is the latest album from the inspiring and poetic songwriter Brigitte DeMeyer, and releases on March 26, 2021. Her melodies are a deep fusion of jazz and blues. Vocally, Brigitte has a range that effortlessly flows from soulfully sweet with just a hint of sugar to thick and […]
David Olney and Anana Kaye Wispers and Sighs Schoolkids Records Whispers And Sighs is the latest album by David Olney and Anana Kaye and makes a much-anticipated debut on March 19, 2021. Just before the last day of winter. Just before David’s birthday. Just at the right moment. It is an album that had a […]
Claire Kelly Scenic Route Self-released Midwest born and raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Claire Kelly does plenty of justice to her Irish roots on her first full-length album Scenic Route. It comes after releasing four EPs. The album features her soaring soprano vocals, all but one original track, and spare arrangements that feature multi-instrumentalist Nick Stone doing […]
Steve Hill Desert Trip No Label Records After listening to Canadian guitarist Steve Hill’s Desert Trip a few times it’s been somewhat challenging trying to pinpoint just what film his amazingly cinematic music evokes. Now this writer is landing on the desolate landscapes of No Country for Old Men (on second thought, that’s true for […]
W. Ed Harris The Foggy Dew Independent Ed Harris has just released album number nine and again he managed to add another masterpiece to his vita. Based in North Carolina, Ed started making music at the tender age of 5 and then discovered his love for Celtic music, which has been his focus for over […]
Lake Street Dive Obviously Nonesuch With the kind of success enjoyed by Lake Street Dive, it would be easy to get complacent and churn out the next album in a similar groove to past records. Why mess with a proven formula? But, after being on the road for nearly eighteen months since 2018’s Free Yourself […]
Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter Anticipation American Dreams Records Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter are young guitarists barely out of college that bear watching. You may recognize the latter’s name as we did cover his solo album, Unbecoming, last August. The winter holidays of 2018 found Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter touring through an interesting […]
Jason Ringenberg Rhinestoned Courageous Chicken Jason Ringenberg releases his new album Rhinestoned March 5, 2021 on his Courageous Chicken label. A legendary alt-country pioneer, Ringenberg will have you Rhinestoned and boot-scootin’ to the best cow-punk this side of Nashville. Pandemic be damned, you’ll want to socially distance yourselves across the dance floor emulating Jason’s energetic […]
Jesse Brewster The Lonely Pines Crooked Prairie Songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Brewster has been bringing his blend of rock, Americana and folk to across the US for the last 15 years. Call it West Coast Americana, formed by a nomadic childhood as the son of hippie parents, first in the mountains of Northern California, […]
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Hunter and The Dog Star Shuffle/Thirty Tigers Hunter And The Dog Star is the band’s fifth studio album for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and their first since 2018’s Rocket—which came after a twelve-year hiatus. Since forming in Dallas in the mid-1980s, the band has toured extensively across the country and had […]
The Mountain Goats Getting Into Knives Merge Records The Mountain Goats are an Indie Folk Rock band and the brain-child of singer-songwriter John Darnielle. Currently the band is based out of Durham, North Carolina. The band’s name is derived from the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song “Yellow Coat”. Despite their plural moniker, their earliest home recordings […]
Andy Cohen Tryin’ To Get Home Earwig Records Andy Cohen grew up in a household where his parents listened to a lot of Dixieland Jazz. Cohen got hooked on the finger-style guitar stylings of the Reverend Gary Davis when he was only sixteen. Now considered a blues-roots music historian he has devoted his life to […]
Paul Wilkinson 400 Bears Self-released This is a pleasant surprise from a local artist to this Pennsylvanian-based writer. Normally these kinds of efforts are hit or miss at best but Paul Wilkinson, longtime guitarist for the West Chester-based roots rock band Mason Porter, debut solo album , 400 Bears, impresses from the opening notes and […]
Randall Bramblett Pine Needle Fire New West Records Born in Jessup, Georgia in 1948, Randall Bramblett attended the University of North Carolina where he studied religion. He abandoned his theological studies to pursue a career in music as he was inspired by the songwriting of Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Carole King. Bramblett began working […]
By Adam Signore The Jim Weeks Band This Jim Weeks Band introduction comes to you via one pandemic, one national tragedy and one heart attack and very late to the planned writing, but no less important. Almost the gritty fodder for a rock song. In my typical style we are going to dig a little […]
John Calvin Abney Familiar Ground Black Mesa Oklahoma has produced some of the best roots music in recent years. Think John Moreland, John Fullbright, Michael McClure, Jason Boland, Turnpike Troubadours, and Carter Sampson to name a few. Yes, some notices that John Calvin Abney was missing from that short list. He is the multi-instrumentalist, solo […]
Last Year’s Man Brave the Storm Self-released Last Year’s Man is the moniker for Eugene, OR-based producer and singer-songwriter, Tyler Fortier. The Northwesterner has had his music featured on major television and film outlets. He enjoys working with emerging artists such as Jeffrey Martin, Anna Tivel, Beth Wood, and Jeff Crosby. Fortier has been involved […]
Tim Woods Vortex Independent Originally from Western Pennsylvania Tim Woods has been influenced by a variety of genre’s including blues, rock, bluegrass, and jazz. When Woods turned eighteen his family relocated to Macon, Georgia and he immersed himself in the music scene promoting national acts at a local nightclub. Later, Woods formed the Woods Family […]
Stephanie Lambring Autonomy Self-released The multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter Stephanie Lambring is back with new project produced by Teddy Morgan, as the title, Autonomy, suggests after walking away from her two publishing deals. One began with BMG Chrysalis, where she remained as a staff writer for two years. In 2012, she signed with Carnival Music, owned by producer […]
Will Kimbrough Spring Break Will Kimbrough’s Spring Break releases October 23, 2020 as a break from, well, all of it. Will Kimbrough is the hardest working man in Nashville. Faced with what to do when the work as he knew it stopped? Will Kimbrough got busy. Spring Break is the result and this new solo […]
Aled Hughes I Remember Today I want to introduce you to the singer/songwriter Aled Hughes who’s originally from North Wales, now based in the coastal town Llantwit Major. Aled released four albums so far: It’s Acoustic, ’67, Earl Lane and the latest I Remember “I Remember’ is an album which includes everything a great album should have. A lot […]
Rick Fines Solar Powered Too Independent Rick Fines hails from Peterborough, Canada in Central Ontario. He gained attention in the 1980’s as the co-founder, front man and guitarist in “Jackson Delta” who recorded their 1989 debut “Delta Sunrise” in Memphis. They followed up with two Juno Award nominated albums; 1991’s “Acoustic Blues” and 1992’s “I […]
Harvey McLaughlin Rascality Saustex Equal parts Tom Waits, Professor Longhair, Warren Zevon and Randy Newman, Texas-based pianist and singer-songwriter Harvey McLaughlin brings a bizarre set of tunes, zany attitude, and plenty of sarcasm on his second solo outing Rascality. McLaughlin is at heart a roots-rocker with punk sensibilities who seems less interested in musical mastery than in creating […]
Chris Smither More From The Levee Signature Sounds Chris Smither recorded his debut album “I’m A Stranger Too!” in 1970. Included was the song “Love You Like a Man”. Two years later the song was recorded by Bonnie Raitt and helped establish Smither as one of our foremost songwriters. Smither’s last album was 2018’s “Call […]
Drive-by Truckers The New OK ATO One of America’s most important rock bands, Drive-by Truckers (DBTs), delivered an inspired, ferocious, and angry at times performance in Philadelphia the day after the 2016 Election. Their performance was as one would have expected. Yet, the collective vibe both onstage in the audience was collective release from the shocking numbness still […]
Band of Heathens Stranger BOH The Band of Heathens (BOH) have made a pandemic record, loosely alluded to by its title, Stranger, the sixth studio album for the Austin-based unit, and their first of original material since 2017’s Deuende. Actually, the title for this one, wasn’t directly drawn from the pandemic but rather influenced by […]
Pete Kronowitt Do Something Now Self-released San Francisco-based, New Jersey born, Florida raised singer/songwriter and activist Pete Kronowitt is out with his latest set of rallying cry songs, Do Something Now. Kronowitt is the founder of the Face the Music Collective, a grassroots organization driving social and political change. However, what may be more notable […]
