CD Reviews on projects by Americana Artists
JP Ruggieri Gradually Descend Into Chaos Self-released For those who follow The Wood Brothers or the excellent album from singer/songwriter Jarrod Dickenson, guitarist and fellow singer/songwriter JP Ruggieri may be a familiar name. To the rest of the you, this may serve as an introduction although Gradually Descend Into Chaos is his second full-length album. […]
The Band of Heathens Simple Things BOH Records The title to the 1978 Nick Lowe classic, Pure Pop for Now People, popped into my head while listening to Simple Things, The Band of Heathens’ eighth album of original material and 13th overall. If this isn’t pure popular music for everyone right now, I don’t know […]
Various Artists Tribute to a Song Poet: Songs of Eric Andersen Y&T Music / EARecords This massive 3-CD and digital tribute to the living legend folk artist Eric Andersen has been available since early in 2023 but we’d be remiss not to inform you about it, even now. It’s a staggering list of artists paying […]
Buddy Mondlock Filament Self-released Buddy Mondlock is one of the better, albeit lesser known Nashville-based singer songwriters. After all, any songwriter who co-writes with Guy Clark is in a lofty category, just be virtue of that. Yet, there’s much more here on Mondlock’s latest, Filament, than just “The Dark,” the co-write with Clark. The album […]
Helene Cronin Landmarks Self-released Landmarks is the follow-up to singer-songwriter Helene Cronin’s acclaimed 2019 debut, Old Ghosts and Lost Causes, yet she brings a more fully realized louder and denser sound to this effort. Comparing the two, one notices several similarities though as the main drivers for both are Cronin and producer Matt King who […]
Jim Brunberg Songs of Stupid Hope Self-released Portland-based singer-songwriter Jim Brunberg is no newcomer though he has been out of the limelight in terms of recorded music for the past fifteen years, but he hasn’t strayed from some aspect of music. He’s long been an owner of multiple music venues in Portland and has composed […]
Peach & Quiet Beautiful Thing Peach & Quiet Music The play on words duo Peach & Quiet are Canadians Heather Reed and Jonny Miller, both of whom sing, write songs, and play acoustic guitars. Their dozen originals draw on folk, blues, Americana, and throwback Laurel Canyon rock. This is their sophomore release and they have […]
Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton The Stardust Sessions Rounder Records (digital) A massive front of low-pressure dustbowl country crashed head-on into high-pressure blues and rock ‘n’ roll when Austin’s Jesse Dayton and Kansas City’s Samantha Fish hit a New Orleans studio together. Their hellacious storm of a debut album dubbed Death Wish Blues drops this […]
Amelia White Rocket Rearview Self-released Amelia White is a singer-songwriter who has emerged as one of the most honest and direct in the talented field of Americana artists, many of whom, like White, call East Nashville their hometown. Rocket Rearview is White’s eighth album, her pandemic album (just about all artists have one of those, […]
Kate Baker and Vic Juris Return to Shore – The Duo Sessions Strikezone We’re just a tad late for this one; shame on us if we were to overlook it. The husband-and-wife duo of vocalist Kate Baker and the late esteemed guitarist Vic Juris is one of the most intimate, tender recordings in recent memory. […]
Vince Herman Enjoy the Ride LoHi The epitome of the Americana sound is present of Vince Herman’s Enjoy the Ride, the first solo album from the frontman of Leftover Salmon, a band that’s been with us for thirty years. Melding country, bluegrass, tinges of blues, and the kind of songs that echo John Prine and […]
The Lone Bellow Love Songs for Losers Dualtone After delivering four highly acclaimed albums with reputable, decorated producers, the harmonious trio, The Lone Bellow have self-produced their fifth album, Love Songs for Losers. Recorded in the possibly haunted former home of Roy Orbison, this album weaves in some pain with the unbridled joy that characterized […]
Kenny Shore Time Stands Still Hawida Music North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Kenny Shore courses through several styles from folk-pop to soul to bluegrass to rock n’ roll and even a bit of zydeco on his hook-filled Time Stands Still. It comes across easy, but the emotions are far ranging throughout on this warm, intimate effort. An […]
Luke LeBlanc Fugue State 145 Entertainment Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Luke LeBlanc delivers his fourth full-length effort with Fugue State, which is more outwardly focused than LeBlanc’s 2022 Only Human. LeBlanc gets elite support from Erik Koskinen, who in addition to playing a slew of instruments, produced, mixed, and engineered the album. Other musicians include Ryan Young […]
Yates McKendree Buchanan Lane Qualified It was the singer-songwriter Kevin Gordon who first sang Yates McKendree’s praises to this writer, describing Yates’ searing guitar playing on one of Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beach Cruises. Whether the 2019 clip of Yates’ thumb work on “Sweet Little Angel” is the right one or not (it was likely even […]
Jeremiah Johnson Hi Fi Drive By Ruf Ah, the guitar slinger – too many notes, too much repetition, and too loud. That was my previous impression of Jeremiah Johnson. Hi Fi Drive By conjures a different one because Johnson comes to this recording with a bunch of infectiously good songs. So, it seems that Johnson […]
The Claudettes The Claudettes Go Out Forty Below The Claudettes Go Out, the quartet’s sixth album, is their follow-up to their 2020 High Times in the Dark, described by this writer in another outlet as their best yet. While that was a coming-out party for trained jazz vocalist, turned pop singer Berit Ulseth, this one smooths […]
Serabee Hummingbird Tea Rabadash The next great female soulful singer in the mold of Bonnie Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt, and Susan Tedeschi may well be Serabee (short for her real name, Sera Buras). She’s a songwriter too, having penned the 14 originals on this destined to be breakout album, Hummingbird Tea. Just look at these credentials […]
Joe Ely Flatland Lullaby Rack ‘Em This is not the Joe Ely album you expect. Flatland Lullaby, recorded in Ely’s home studio in 1984, is a treasured recording that has never been made public until now. It is not a re-issue, it’s not a rocker, it’s not one of those early collaborations with the Clash […]
Crystal Shawanda Midnight Blues True North Now recognized as a vocal blues powerhouse, Crystal Shawanda has had a split career. She began as an indigenous musician growing up on the Wikwemikong reserve on an island in Ontario, CA in a house filled with both blues and country music. She tried the latter first when moving […]
John Fullbright The Liar Blue Dirt/Thirty Tigers Grammy-nominated John Fullbright returns after a eight year hiatus and a year when he garnered numerous awards with The Liar. Fullbright was beginning to build a reputation as a Red Dirt Randy Newman, or closer to home, fellow Okie Leon Russell. While that year, 2014, produced a solo […]
Jessey Jackson Gypsy Willow The human voice can have a range of emotions on display depending on the tone and the level of intensity displayed. Some voices are easily recognizable from the opening bars of a song . Having a unique voice and style of delivery helps you stand out from the crowd and be […]
John McCutcheon Leap! Appalseed In discussions this summer about the Newport Folk Festival and Philly Folk, this writer, viewing these lineups commented that “there just aren’t that many real folk singers left.” Well, John McCutcheon is indeed one of those few real folk singers putting out vital material as he’s been doing for five decades […]
Steve Yanek Long Overdue Primitive The title suggests recognition that’s been a while in coming. The credits reveal impressive names, beckoning us to listen. Singer-songwriter Steve Yanek has talented friends in producer Jeff Pevar of the Crosby Stills and Nash touring band on acoustic, electric, and resonator guitar, lap steel, bass, and backing vocals, along […]
Mark Miller Standing on Shoulders Self- released Singer-songwriter Mark Miller has released one the most impressive independent Americana story albums. New to this writer, we’ve learned that the Georgia- born Miller had almost a 20-year career in Contemporary Christian and Gospel music but he has returned to roots music to make a deeply personal record. […]
Kris Kristofferson Live at Gilley’s – Pasadena, TX: September 1981 New West Where have 41 years gone? Kris Kristofferson’s Live at Gilley’s – Pasadena, TX: September 1981 is here to remind us of how great his songs were. Heck, most of us probably still know the lyrics and can sing along. For those of you […]
Tiffany Williams All Those Days of Drinking Dust Self-released A gifted new singer-songwriter, Tiffany Williams, has arrived with her distinctive literate songs and a head turning vocal performance. All of Those Days of Drinking Dust is often a hypnotic listen with spare accompaniment, varied tempos, and aching vocals that captivate the listener. Williams offers a […]
Skye Pollard Masquerade Hailing from the Ozark mountains in Eureka Springs, Arkansas is Skye Pollard, an artist who I just recently became aware of. His latest release, Masquerade is such a fine-crafted work, I took to it immediately. With song-writing chops that equally match his musicianship, his masterful lyrics beautifully flow along a country-roots-rock stream. With Pollard on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, […]
Drive-by Truckers Welcome 2 Club XIII ATO America’s preeminent rock band, The Drive-by Truckers, deliver a different, more personal, and nostalgic album with Welcome 2 Club XIII, a major departure from the politically charged The Unraveling and the New OK from 2020. The album takes its name from the Muscle Shoals honky-tonk where founding members […]
Steve Forbert Moving Through America Blue Rose Admittedly this writer was smitten with singer-songwriter Steve Forbert’s 1978 debut, Alive on Arrival and its 1979 follow-up Jackrabbit Slim. He’s made close to twenty records since with a few worthy gems such as 1997’s Here’s Your Pizza and 2012’s Over With You, continually maintaining his signature folk-rock […]
Christina Vane Make Myself Me Again Red Parlor Make Myself Me Again is the follow-up for resonator-playing, foot-stomping Cristina Vane who made her auspicious debut in 2021 with Nowhere Sounds Lovely. While blues was an essential focus of the debut, Vane revealed her affection for mountain music, folk music, and even western waltzes. Having moved […]
Gina Sicilia Unchange VizzTone Superb vocalists have little trouble crossing genres. Gina Sicilia established her career as blues singer, flirted with Americana having moved to Nashville, and is now trying her hand at gospel as she returns to where she started, on the VizzTone label. This is anything but a casual experiment however, as Sicilia […]
Justin Golden Hard Times and a Woman Self-released with help from Virginia Folklife Program Welcome a new artist to the blues and Americana fold with this debut, Hard Times and a Woman, by Richmond-based singer/guitarist Justin Golden. Golden takes a “big umbrella” approach to the blues. Yes, you’ll hear some of the Piedmont style, but […]
Michelle Malone 1977 SBS Previous efforts from singer-songwriter/guitarist Michelle Malone have been searing, no-holds barred blasters, as gutsy blues as any contemporary blues artist has delivered. 1977 is a whole different side of Malone though. This is acoustic driven Americana that mixes nuance with nostalgia, autobiographical tales and introspection. Her character studies are particularly interesting. […]
Old Crow Medicine Show Paint This Town ATO While they started as a bluegrass band, Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) in recent years have won two Grammys and are considered one of our best roots bands, meshing Americana, old-timey music, folk, and rock & roll into an appealing sound that consistently sells out venues wherever […]
Just a Season Leave to Come Home Northern Electric Hailing from Vancouver, the Americana band Just a Season delivers their third album, Leave to Come Home. Like the theme of so many albums recorded during the pandemic, the band reassures us not to sink too deeply into introspection, to put the darker times behind us […]
Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro & Sam Lewis Harley Kimbro Lewis Midnight Mango This is the debut for this singer-songwriter trio. Harley Kimbro Lewis is a straight-forward acoustic album with a laid-back, back porch feel – three guys singing, picking, and strumming. As they say, they did it the old-fashioned way, writing songs in the morning […]
John Evans Heart of Reason John Evans, singer/songwriter and producer, based in North Wales, just released his new album “Heart of Reason” in February 2022. John started with a debut album after finishing school and art college together with two of his school friends Alan and Linda Thompson. “Magic Man EP” was released in 2010. […]
Sarah Borges Together Alone Blue Corn Music Apart from the usually bold, strong effort from singer-songwriter Sarah Borges, Together Alone may be well be the definitive, or least the best explained example of recording resourcefulness during the pandemic. Producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel deserves most of the credit and explains his process at length in the […]
W ED Harris Cares Of Tomorrow Can Wait Ed. Harris from North Carolina just released his album number ten and once again I’m delighted to be able to write about it. Ed has been into music from a young age and first picked up the guitar when he was just five years old. He started with […]
Massy Ferguson Joe’s Meat & Grocery North & Left Joe’s Meat & Grocery is the sixth album for the Seattle-based alt-country rockers Massy Ferguson (MF), known for their jangling, no-holds barred guitar driven attack and their invigorated fusing of country-rock and amped-up Americana. You would expect a heavy, driving sound. After all, they take their […]
Emily Glazener Finding Irene Today I have the great pleasure to write about Emily Glazener’s brand new album. Emily, based in Houston Texas has been making music since she was a teenager, playing in cover bands and performing solo acoustic shows. She is also the frontwoman of the very successful band Red Iris as well […]
Bruce Cockburn Greatest Hits (1970 – 2020) True North This may be the first time this writer has ever given ink to a greatest hits album, but my guess is that there are not many of us thinking of Bruce Cockburn, one of the most indelible voices of early non-commercial FM radio in the ‘80s, […]
Various Artists Highway Butterfly – The Songs of Neal Casal (3 CDs, 5 LPs) Royal Potato Family Neal Casal never got his due as a complete artist and certainly as a songwriter until now. Spread across 5 LPs and 3 CDs from a stunning list of artists are 41 of the late Casal’s songs in […]
Hayes Carll You Get It All DualTone Hayes Carll has built his career mostly on singer-songwriter roots-rock records but he claims that You Get It All is a country singer-songwriter record. He turns to his wife, Allison Moorer, and her favorite producer, guitar great Kenny Greenberg as co-producers of this, his eighth album. The many […]
Rodeo FM All the things you asked for Rodeo FM is Pat – lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Masataka – bass, Dominik – drums and backing vocals, Desmond – guitars and backing vocals, Gigi (guitar & banjo) Rodeo FM is a band based in Berlin, Germany, making music for 15 years. They have really played everywhere, at weddings and funerals, […]
Joe Tullos Vessels Big Sun New Orleans musician Joe Tullos left us just shy of a year ago, but he was determined to leave a parting gift, his posthumous release Vessels. Tullos was a legendary character of several pursuits that included writing music for Jimmy Buffet, cooking for John Grisham, and touring with Carl Perkins. […]
The Delevantes A Thousand Turns Moon River A Thousand Turns is the third album from Americana band The Delevantes, helmed by New Jersey brothers Bob (the main writer) and Mike (lead guitarist). They are a band that first appeared in the mid-‘90s in the early gestation of Americana but many thought they disappeared as their […]
Kris Gruen Welcome Farewell Mother West When we use the term country & western, we do not often think of a place like Vermont. That’s not to say Kris Gruen’s Welcome Farewell falls into the country & western camp but the predominant presence of the pedal steel guitar and rootsy accompaniment deliver a similar refreshing, […]
Elly Wininger The Blues Never End Earwig New York Hall of Fame Inductee (2014) Elly Wininger is socially conscious, highly skilled acoustic guitarist and songwriter based in the Woodstock area. She’s been at her craft for decades now but The Blues Never End is only her fifth album since the end of the ‘90s, the […]