Posts by Lee Zimmerman

[rating=8.00] The ongoing echoes of Gregory Isaac Isakov’s nocturnal gaze sometimes seem akin to wandering through a fog that refuses to lift, all hazy rumination with no answers in sight. Yet, over the course of his career, Isakov has managed to invest his music with the kind of comfort and assurance that comes with restive […]

For an artist as prolific as Jackson Browne, a man who made such an indelible imprint on modern music and who practically defines that revered genre referred to as the singer/songwriter, it’s somewhat strange to find that his impact on the pop charts has been scant at best. Given the fact that his albums have […]

[rating=7.00] Making a sound instilled with a decided brashness and bluster, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band’s name represents something of a misnomer. The Big Damn Band is, in fact, a mere trio, though a powerful one at that, and the Reverend himself is a preacher that extols the blues, and not any specific spirituality. Nevertheless, […]

[rating=8.00] If there’s such a thing as love on first listen, then consider Lauren Balthrop the subject of that instant embrace. Airy, atmospheric and instantly beguiling, Balthrop’s hushed tones, languid vocals and nocturnal ambiance add up to a hypnotic combination, a construct flush with dreamy desire and pensive musings. The sublime sounds of “Down,” “Accident” […]

[rating=9.00] One of the chief architects of insurgent Americana, Alejandro Escovedo earned his renegade reputation by cutting a swatch across rock and roots with deliberate defiance. Honing his skills in populist punk outfits like the Nuns and Rank and File, he found his early inspiration in the rebellious rock contingent that migrated from New York’s […]

[rating=8.00] Jake Shimabukuro emerged onto the international pop stage from decidedly humble beginnings. While he made several albums for Sony Japan during the early phase of his career, he remained virtually unknown as far as the rest of the world was concerned until a YouTube posting of him playing his ukelele version of George Harrison’s […]

[rating=7.00] Ten years on, White Denim applies the basics of rock and roll through an irrepressible attitude and a sound that consistently blends energy with exhilaration. Their tenth album Performance shares those traits, and given the fact that it marks ten years since the release of the band’s initial two outings, Workout Holiday and Exposition, it makes a […]

In 1971, Aretha Franklin scored another major career first, affirming her crossover credibility by becoming the first R&B artist to headline a date at the fabled venue that was ground zero for all that encompassed the budding West Coast scene, the Fillmore West. The live album that resulted, Aretha Live at the Fillmore West, became […]

[rating=7.00] Liz Cooper and The Stampede may be responsible for an entirely new independent genre, one best described as cerebral psychedelic folk given the way it blends Cooper’s fragile singing with more than a hint of atmospheric intervention. The delicate designs are obviously alluring, but Cooper’s winsome delivery puts the melange into a different realm […]

[rating=8.00] Walter Salas Humara has never been one to dismiss his past, especially as it applies to his Hispanic heritage. The onetime leader of the seminal Americana outfit The Silos even opted to name his new album after his the nickname given him by his family, and then went several steps further by singing two […]

[rating=7.00] We Banjo 3 aren’t strictly about banjos, although banjos are a big part of the mix. However, they’re also more than simply a run of the mill bluegrass band. Breaching the boundary between old world tradition and authentic Americana, they incorporate banjo (natch), fiddle, guitar and mandolin to procure a style they dub “Celtgrass.” […]

[rating=9.00] Suffice it to say, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the strongest Jayhawks album since their seminal classic Tomorrow the Green Grass, an album that helped establish the original template for the sound now widely referred to as Americana. That’s not a claim that can be made lightly. However, it’s praise well deserved, proof […]

[rating=8.00] Last year’s premature passing of Austin singer/songwriter Jimmy LaFave was a tragedy for the music world as a whole, but Americana music in particular. LaFave’s songs were both poignant and purposeful, not only his insightful original compositions but his superb choice of covers as well. Ironically then, while the posthumously released Peace Town represents […]

[rating=7.00] Anyone who’s ever heard even a few notes culled from any Cowboy Junkies album released in the past 30 years will attest to the fact that they’re hardly the most upbeat bunch. With a sound that’s consistently downcast — if not downright despondent — they’ve managed to make their mark in the Americana ethos […]

[rating=8.00] For the past 20 years or so, I See Hawks in LA have purveyed an essential country-rock crossover formula brewed as authentic Americana, so authentic in fact that it might give those boys from Bakersfield a run for their money. Adding a prerequisite touch of twang, soaring melodies and a rugged and rowdy pastiche, […]

[rating=8.00] The Milk Carton Kids have always appealed to a certain twinge of nostalgia. After all, they possess all the right currency — two guys, two guitars, impeccable harmonies and melodies of that intertwine wistful and romantic stylings. They provided a keen hint of deja vu even from early on, a sense that we’ve seen […]

While other albums soared towards the same directions, most critics and outside observers agree that The Band’s debut album, Music From Big Pink, was a seminal step that helped define the genre now known as Americana. The group, made up of four Canadians — Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson and Richard Manuel — and […]

[rating=7.00] Suffice it to say T. Hardy Morris arrives at this juncture in his career bearing some impressive credentials. A member of the band Dead Confederate and the indie supergroup of sorts Diamond Rugs, he follows in the footsteps of the Athens elite, bands like REM in particular, that helped define the divide between rock […]

[rating=9.00] Gene Clark, the ill-fated troubadour, singer and songwriter, once at the helm of the Byrds and provider of further inspiration to legions of Americana warriors and wannabes that would follow him in the decades after, has become the stuff of legend. Forever wandering, from the aforementioned California combo to solitary retreat and then back […]

[rating=7.00] One might think it’s a bit early in their infancy for string band Twisted Pine to offer up a covers EP. Having written every song on their well-received debut, Dreams might have been conceived as a stopgap of some sort, one designed to give them ample time to write more material of their own […]