Posts by Jim Hynes

[rating=8.00] This writer has witnessed Gina Sicilia’s musical growth first-hand, recalling a bit shy, nervous then Philadelphia-based Sicilia in her early twenties (before she released any albums), and comparing that impression to the complete, confident, ever-evolving artist she is on Heard the Lie. Sicilia is a hard worker; having now released eighth albums in a […]

[rating=8.00] Karma for Cheap is Aaron Lee Tasjan’s sophomore release for New West following 2016’s acclaimed Silver Tears. While that one had just enough twang to barely qualify it as an Americana album, this one jingles and jangles fully with power pop. It’s just his third solo effort, but he has widely varied experience as […]

[rating=9.00] It’s been a quick 22 years since Madeleine Peyroux’s breakthrough with Dreamland and ten years since her last album of original songs. Yet, Anthem stands as Peyroux’s greatest work to date. She certainly harnessed plenty of talent for this collaborative effort, involving a team of five writers and 18 participating musicians. This is a […]

[rating=7.00] Candi Staton releases her 30th album, Unstoppable, aptly titled for a career in R&B, gospel, blues and even disco. She’s had hits in 5 different decades. Here she reunites with producer Mark Nevers who was responsible for two of her best albums, His Hands (2006) and Who’s Hurting Now (2009). Unstoppable occasionally has some […]

[rating=7.00] Lucie Silvas has made a platinum selling album (2004’s Breathe In), worked with a variety of major labels, and played on stages alongside music’s top selling artists. In one sense, she seems to have had as successful a career in the immensely competitive music business as one could want. Yet, she’s been stung several […]

[rating=8.00] Veteran singer-songwriter David Olney takes a poetic look at the darkness inevitably surrounding the current immigration crisis, pleading for open hearts and mercy in the process. It’s not quite a themed album but, for the most part, it reads that way. “I wanted to explore the idea of walls,” says Olney,” What does a […]

[rating=8.00] Joe Ely sounds like a Texas version of honky-tonkin’ Hank Williams in these first set of countrified outings captured on Full Circle: The Lubbock Tapes, but as it unfolds his rock n’ roll persona comes to the fore as well. It’s a look back to the genesis of Ely’s solo career. Keep in mind […]

[rating=8.00] One look at that headline and you’re probably thinking you’ve seen these Linda Gail Lewis collaborations before, most famously with 2000’s You Win Again with Van Morrison. That one undoubtedly helped Lewis but was met with mixed reactions at best from Van Morrison fans. Don’t let that dissuade you, however.  Wild, Wild, Wild with […]

[rating=7.00] Mountain Heart bills itself as a hybrid bluegrass group, of which there are several who have released albums in the last few months. What sets Mountain Heart apart is their instrumentation, notably no banjo or fiddle but piano, guitars, mandolin and dobro instead from the core group. Electric guitars find their way into the […]

[rating=8.00] Seriously, it might not be since the heyday of Ike and Tina Turner that we’ve heard a married couple belt out soulful R&B like War and Treaty, the husband and wife team of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter. This debut, Healing Tide, marks their first full-length album, following last year’s highly acclaimed EP […]

[rating=8.00] These associations come to mind with the mention of two-time Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale – “That’s Americana,” (for his emcee work with the Americana Music Association as well as hosting TV and radio shows); as well as ‘prolific’ and ‘eclectic’ to describe his album output. Performers who began their careers two decades ahead of […]

[rating=9.00] Nashville, Will Kimbrough, Mary Gauthier, John Prine and Emmylou Harris all suggest that this must be an Americana record, right?  Yes and no. Genre is not important to Shemekia Copeland, today’s foremost contemporary female blues singer. After all, this is the fourth consecutive album she’s made in Music City, three with Oliver Wood producing […]

[rating=8.00] Memphis-based Lucero is one of the seminal bands of Americana music and are marking their twentieth anniversary as a band with this slight departure in sound, the highly literate Among the Ghosts. Recorded in Sam Phillips Recording Service, in-demand producer and Memphis native Matt Ross-Spang is at the helm. Those who just look at […]

[rating=8.00] Rather than hailing this as a completely new sound for Amanda Shires, consider her work with her former Texas pop-rock band, Thrift Store Cowboys. Her new sound, which she deems “refreshing,” uses some of that style, elements of Neko Case, and the haunting, mystical lyrics that have defined Shires to this point to arrive […]

[rating=8.00] It’s hard to prepare yourself for Israel Nash’s Lifted that begins with an instrumental prelude that is somewhat reminiscent of the orchestral backdrops Jack Nitzsche created for Neil Young on “Broken Arrow” and “After the Goldrush;” but that impression fades quickly. Nash’s sound is much more enormous. It’s way beyond just cinematic. It’s the […]

[rating=9.00] Called by some the “unofficial poet laureate of New York City,” Willie Nile’s twelfth studio album, Children of Paradise, easily ranks among his best. The angst and in-your-face passion strike immediately in the opening “Seeds of a Revolution,” with its infectious rock n’ roll hooks and memorable lines like – “The seed of the […]

[rating=7.00] Louisiana Lovin’ is a collaboration between Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Yvette Landry and fellow Lafayette, LA guitarist/vocalist Roddy Romero. The spark for the album grew out of an accidental recording session where Landry and Romero remade the only number one hit to come out of their city – Dale & Grace’s rendition of “I’m […]

[rating=7.00] This is the third release for the Bruce Katz Band on American Showplace, and follows last year’s impressive all original, Out from the Center spotlighting guitarist Chris Vitarello. This one, Get Your Groove! takes a slightly different direction, mixing in covers and featuring some guests. There’s also a new drummer, Ray Hangen, who joins keyboardist extraordinaire […]

[rating=8.00] One can only imagine what Lori McKenna’s Massachusetts house must be like. She’s the mother of five. She’s also racked up so many trophies (Grammys, CMA, ACM, and AMA) that she must be hard pressed to find room for them all. Fresh off her 2016 Grammy nominated The Bird & The Rifle, McKenna tackles […]

[rating=8.00] Eliza Gilkyson, twenty albums in, seems to be marshaling all her inner emotions, her feminist and political activism, as she challenges conventional religious beliefs while beseeching us to be more accountable in these divisive times.  Secularia follows the heralded singer-songwriter’s 2014 Grammy-nominated The Nocturne Diaries. The well-respected Gilkyson, who hails from a deeply musical […]