PREMIERES

Over the course of two full-length albums, two EPs and three compilations, Birmingham, Alabama’s Through the Sparks have developed a unique brand of rock & roll, rambunctious and raw, diligent in its quest for new sounds and in its combinations of psych, prog and indie influences. Their long awaited third album  Transindifference (due on 3/18 […]

Roots of Creation have made a solid dent in the live circuit mixing their jam-reggae hybrid sound with homegrown roots, guitar-heavy rock, and lead singer/guitarist Brett Wilson’s introspective and conscious laden lyrics. Their biggest project to date, Livin Free, is an 18-track studio LP, complemented by a 3-disc deluxe collection with both dub/remix and acoustic versions, […]

Though he had been an active presence around the Louisiana music scene for decades and was a well-known character around New Orleans, the great piano legend Professor Longhair, known to most as Fess, led a life that was as troubled as his career. When he passed away from a heart attack in 1980 at the […]

When guitar virtuoso Steve Kimock started putting together ideas for his new album, he wanted to do something that would be far removed from his previous work. Working with his son, drummer, composer and multi-instrumentalist John Morgan Kimock, the guitar player set out to create a piece of work that was less reflective of his […]

If you’ve been to a bluegrass show or festival, you have sure felt that friendly, familial vibe that comes from the positivity and joy of the music’s energetic, upbeat presence. Bluegrass songs rarely shy away from pain and heartbreak, but the feeling of hearing a banjo or a mandolin makes it hard to hold back […]

When a legendary record producer offers you free recording time in the studio where some of the greatest songs in the world were created, there’s only one appropriate response: You drop everything and go. That’s what Austin’s Soul Track Mind did when Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, son of Hi Records producer Willie Mitchell, offered to record […]

In the handful of years they have been making music, Canadian trio Jon and Roy have evolved from making stipped down, folky roots music with a catchy, sing-a-long vibe into a sound that is more sprawling and exploratory. Don’t be mistaken, they have have never left behind their folk roots, but take one listen to […]

If your not familiar with Austin-based singer-songwriter Bill Carter, you have MOST LIKELY heard him or his songs but just didn’t know it. First,there’s “Crossfire,” the No. 1 hit he and his co-writer wife Ruth Ellsworth, Tommy Shannon and Reese Wynans — a.k.a. Double Trouble, the band who backed T-bird Jimmie Vaughan’s little brother, Stevie […]

To say Brian Cullman has a history in rock and roll is an understatement, but chances are you probably don’t know just how much history is there. Cullman grew up in New York City and was a witness to the sweet, glorious debauchery that was New York City in the 70’s. Though he may be […]

Two years ago I described the music of Turchi as a “gravelly, snarling voice and swaggering slide guitar playing”, this sound of which the been referred to as “kudzu boogie”. This was music “steeped in the rhythmic dirty grooves of North Mississippi Hill Country blues brought to the world by the likes of Kenny Brown, […]

“Party music for real hillbillies” is how 8 Ball Aitken describes his music, and this is pretty damn accurate. Since 2003 this seasoned blues guitar player and country artist has been catching excited ears across Australia, which is where he comes from. He can even boast to having played every state and territory of the […]

Hailing from Durham, North Carolina, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brett Harris is one of the few artists you can find these days who is fully committed to embracing power pop in the purest sense. It should come as no surprise that Harris has already made a name for himself as student of Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple of  The dB’s, whom […]

Dead Winter Carpenters are forging their own path with their progressive take on alt-country and Americana music. The quintet hails from the mountain town of Lake Tahoe, CA and their ability to conjure up a down-home, feel-good vibe that warms you like a shot of bourbon shines on their new release Washoe, coming out on February […]

Applewood Road, a folk trio comprised of Emily Barker, Amber Rubarth and Amy Speace, is serendipity at its most pure definition. The three celebrated songwriters will release their self-titled debut on Feb. 12, 2016, on digital and CD formats, as well as on 180-gram vinyl. In September 2014, the three women met at a café in East Nashville, while Barker was visiting […]

In the beginning of Lincoln Durham’s new song “Creeper” we’re greeted by possessed clapping and sinister slide guitar that seems to be emanating from that of a mad man. This is exactly what the one-man-band wants us to hear on this song and throughout the course of his new album, Revelations of a Mind Unraveling (Droog Records), […]

At its core, soul music that is actually good is music that dwells on heartbreak and pain yet translates to a sense of pleasure and redemption for the audience. This is something that is often lost in the “modern” soul music that infatuates so many hipsters today when they fall in love with bands who […]

Georgia’s Nate Currin is no stranger to the road. This singer-songwriter and all around troubadour has spent the better part of a decade criss-crossing the country playing shows at any joint with a stage and a microphone. With his dusty vocals and nomadic bluesman mentality, Nate Currin is a storyteller hellbent on sharing his tales […]

Much like craft beer and beards, newgrass music is something of a ubiquitous presence in Portland, Oregon these days. Portland’s newgrass bands are not to be confused with pioneering “progressive bluegrass” acts like the New Grass Revival, John Hartford and Leftover Salmon, yet those acts definitely serve as influences. More commonly, these groups take a […]

The 12 songs on Devin Sinha’s third album Our Past and Present Futures, breeze by in one continual swoop of a singer-songwriter peaking at his art. Sinha’s voice is the lead instrument one that muscles each composition with a timbre that sounds years beyond his age.  Somehow Sinha sounds familiar and comfortable but then he surprises […]

It’s hard to overlook the hotspot of musical activity that is Melbourne, Australia these days. Between acts like Courtney Barnett, Hiatus Kaiyote and Cut Copy among many others, the city has a vibrant scene to be reckoned with. Henry Wagons may be less of a household name but he is absolutely a musician you need to […]