Your Front Row Seat To Americana Music
For most casual fans of music, the forty-five minutes that a band spends on the stage is all they can see. However, when the guitar cases are closed and the venue’s floor is littered with empty beer cans and trash, most bands load their gear into the van and return back to their normal lives.... Continue Reading →
Ben Sollee and Kentucky Native - self-titled With his new album, internationally acclaimed cellist, composer, singer-songwriter, and environmentalist Ben Sollee pushed the boundaries of our bluegrass-leaning imaginations; with his stellar accompanying string band, Kentucky Native, Sollee has corralled and incorporated the sounds of bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle, Celtic folk, and Congolese rhythms. Paying homage to the... Continue Reading →
Rev. Sekou - In Times Like These Probably one of the most important and relevant albums yet of 2017, Rev. Osagyefo Sekou combines the blues learned during his youth--the sound and the experiences as well--with testimony-inspiring Pentecostal roots gospel. Sekou, a noted activist, author, documentary filmmaker and theologian, has infused in his album, In Times Like These,... Continue Reading →
Quiles & Cloud - Shake Me Now The San Fransisco-based rootsy folk outfit has released Shake Me Now, via Compass Records, a 12-song collection of somber stories and sultry swagger. Maria Quiles' smokey vocals fit Rory Cloud's gentle tenor in a celestial match made in harmony heaven. Ease yourself into a relaxing weekend with this new gem.... Continue Reading →
Sunny Sweeney--Trophy Sunny Sweeney is unafraid to tackle heaviness in her finely-crafted classic country-style songs—in the grand tradition of women like Loretta Lynn, who weren’t afraid to take someone to “fist city,” Sweeney sings of the choice to make a career instead of a family, drunken naughtiness, and substance abuse. In the title track (and... Continue Reading →
The Kernal - Light Country There's something refreshingly familiar about Light Country, the new full-length record from Jackson, Tennessee-based red suit wearing traditionalist, The Kernal, out via John Paul White's Single Lock Records. With quick-witted lyrics that encompass everything from a knock-kneed ballerina who has the heart but not the know-how to living in an abandoned Taco Bell, and... Continue Reading →
Aaron Watson - Vaquero For the uninitiated, there's country, and then, there's Texas country. Veteran music-maker Aaron Watson's latest release, Vaquero, is a beautiful example of just that; between the radio-friendly tracks on the ambitious 16-song stunner are the real gems--songs like "They Don't Make'Em Like They Used To" and the album's title track that brim with life... Continue Reading →
Kory Quinn & The Quintessentials - Black Gold Blues EP In the grand tradition of socially aware folkies like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Kory Quinn calls out corruption and turns a critical eye to everything from capitulation to fossil fuel use, the silent injustice of dead peasant insurance, rampant fear-mongering to maintain the status quo, and... Continue Reading →
Rose Cousins - Natural Conclusion The JUNO Award-winning Canadicana songstress' rich voice brims with wisdom and depth while it gracefully dances and trips along each stunning verse. Hers is a voice that can make us fall in love and break our hearts in one note, supported but not overrun by its lushly-produced acoustic stylings. The beauty... Continue Reading →
For most casual fans of music, the forty-five minutes that a band spends on the stage is all they can see. However, when the guitar cases are closed and the venue’s floor is littered with empty beer cans and trash, most bands load their gear into the van and return back to their normal lives.... Continue Reading →