Your Front Row Seat To Americana Music
“When I was 11, I decided I wanted to be in an all-girl punk band, so I started taking drum lessons and I gathered a group of girls; none of them were serious about it, and it was really frustrating because I was super-serious about it—as an 11 year old. The band quickly broke up,”... Continue Reading →
“You have to go through something for it to be real,” soulstress Nicole Wray, a.k.a. Lady Wray, has said of her rollercoaster ride of a music career. From earning gold records and presiding as a member of the 90s hip hop ruling class, to bandmate fallout and struggles with the music business, Lady Wray and... Continue Reading →
The adage "there's no school like the old school" is a familiar one, and for good reason. Just like that expression has withstood the test of time, so have the endearing sounds of jangly banjo, acoustic guitar-picking, and old-fashioned southern harmonies. Ontario’s two-time Juno award-winning Americana singer-songwriter Jenny Whiteley has a simple, but powerful old-school... Continue Reading →
Lifelong music-makers and New Zealand natives Cy Winstanley and Vanessa McGowan, also known as Tattletale Saints, met in a high school jazz ensemble, who, at first, went their separate ways to pursue their musical dreams—McGowan eventually ended up in Las Vegas to pursue a master’s degree in jazz bass, while Winstanley sought his fortune as... Continue Reading →
With Diamond Dreams, the debut EP from folkicana trio Castro, out September 2nd via Fervent Records, siblings Jason, Michael, and Jackie Castro take the concept of “blood harmony” to an atmospheric, otherworldly level. Their goosebump-inducing blend, a seamless, velvety tapestry of vocal virtuosity, makes the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention. The... Continue Reading →
Alt-country outfit The Congress is happy to be back home in Richmond, Virginia; about a year ago, the band, living in Denver, Colorado, decided the time was right to return to their roots. “We miss it, but we go play out there so much, I don’t even think they know we’ve left,” declares Jonathan Meadows,... Continue Reading →
John Paul White’s new album, Beulah, isn’t a happy album. A cursory glance at the song titles, “Make You Cry”, “Hope I Die”, and “I’ll get Even”, to name a few, offers clues to the album’s darker subject matter. However, don’t let that deter you from experiencing the wonders of Beulah, John Paul White’s first... Continue Reading →
Pushed To The Side - The Coal Men Pushed To The Side is the fifth studio album from acclaimed Nashville roots-rock trio The Coal Men, “three solid dudes trying to make really honest, genuine music” as frontman Dave Coleman says. The tunes are atmospheric and moody, their protagonists forlorn, displaced, and drifting. “It’s not a concept record,” Coleman explains,... Continue Reading →
For the last few weeks, as I have listened to Blue Ridge Blood, the brand new record by alt-country rocker Chelle Rose, out today via her own label, Lil' Damsel Records, I’ve been challenged in pinpointing the right way to describe exactly why her music captivates me, and I think I have figured it out:... Continue Reading →
Nashville may be the country music capital, but musical greatness can be found throughout the fine state of Tennessee. Cereus Bright, an alt-folk five-piece hailing from Knoxville, are up-and-coming legends in their own right. Their debut album, Excuses, is a songwriting masterpiece. We've all encountered albums housing songs that all sound the same, with little to no... Continue Reading →