Album Reviews

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on County Seat, the new album from alt-country rocker Will Stewart, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

In roughly three and half hours of live and studio recordings, captured in various ways at a variety of locales between 1961 and 1964, Before the Dead documents the late Jerry Garcia’s formative years as a musician. Overflowing with meticulous attention to detail in sound, text and graphics, this 4-CD/5-LP box set reveals how this […]

[rating=9.00] A colleague of mine spoke to Ry Cooder recently and shared how Cooder describes his music, “…it’s nothing special. All music is the same, all that folk stuff. You just play what you know. Let the other guys play, listen and try to complement them as best as you can.” Obviously, that’s a rather […]

[rating=7.00] Emerging roots-rock band The National Reserve will draw attention with this sophomore release Motel La Grange and their festival-filled spring and summer touring schedule. They aren’t exactly newcomers. Getting their start over five years ago as a bar band in Brooklyn, the band has honed their sound and songwriting to become a popular touring […]

[rating=9.00] With half a dozen albums to his credit, New Orleans-based bluesman Luke Winslow-King has etched a niche as a seasoned troubadour whose adherence to form is measured only by his own emotions. Like Ry Cooder, Gary Clark, Robert Cray, and Walter Trout, he’s keen on tapping tradition without letting it bind him completely. Winslow-King’s […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Be More Kind, the new album from folk rocker Frank Turner, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=8.00] It’s rare when an artist enters our lives fully realized and with a confidence that convinces us we’ve been following them for a long time. Brent Cobb has that something and it was evident in 2016 when he released his phenomenal record Shine On Rainy Day. Though Cobb had been around before this, it […]

[rating=9.00] With a title that proclaims an unfettered sense of starry-eyed optimism, Trampled By Turtles’ first new release since Wild Animals, released nearly four years ago, is, in every sense, a genuine comeback, a record about reunion and re-energizing that the band took extra care to create. The members of the band chose a retreat […]

[rating=6.00] Shakey Graves (known by Alejandro Rose-Garcia to family and friends) seems to have changed his tune. Where once his blend of old-school folk, blues, rock Shakey Graves (known by Alejandro Rose-Garcia to family and friends) seems to have changed his tune. Where once his blend of old-school folk, blues, rock and campfire country songs […]

[rating=9.00] Parker Millsap’s Other Arrangements shows an evolution in sound and songwriting that’s made all the more interesting by the fact that it was crafted on the road. Faced with the challenge of following up his successful The Very Last Day, and working under less-than-ideal circumstances, he could have played it safe and delivered a […]