Reviews

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his longstanding quartet take a thought-provoking approach to their Blue Note Records debut, Belonging. Their first long-player since 2019 is a full-album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM LP of the same name.  Yet given how pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner bond with the leader to forge […]

Among the handful of Australian bands that have taken the world by storm in the last several years, few have grabbed the attention of such a diverse range of music fans as Amyl and the Sniffers. Fronted by the brash vocalist Amy Taylor, the band has exploded as they have evolved from their gritty early […]

Lucy Dacus’ fourth album Forever Is A Feeling – and first since her supergroup boygenius went on indefinite hiatus – does a brilliant job of blending lush arrangements into her own, well-established Indie Rock/Pop musical style. Throughout the record, Dacus brings in a slew of collaborators, including her boygenius bandmates Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, […]

While self-serious post-grunge and nu-metal bands dominated the rock scene in 2003, UK rockers The Darkness burst onto the scene with a glam rock revival that featured theatrical performances, flamboyant fashion, and a polished bubblegum sheen. Some thought the band was a joke, but if so, the band was in on it. The band’s first […]

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Jefferson Ross dedicated each song on his brilliant 2022 Southern Comfort to one of the South’s eleven states. Ross has emerged three years later with an even more eclectic collection of songs, still coming to grips with the American South but with a more existential approach. He juxtaposes his observant worldview with his unshakable […]

Pug Johnson grew up just 30 minutes away from the Louisiana border in Beaumont, Texas, and it’s clear listening to his latest record, El Cabron, that much of that Cajun music managed to waft its way into that oil town. Across nearly a dozen tracks, Johnson deftly blends Texas country and swing with Cajun music […]

We’ve all heard, and some maybe even experienced, the pressures of releasing a debut album. If done correctly, a debut can form cult-like fans, draw the eyes of critics, and start a legacy for an artist. For Yukimi, the Little Dragon vocalist, she’s already accomplished all of those things. Her work with the electro-pop outfit […]

Destroyer, the vehicle for singer/songwriter Dan Bejar, has never been short of ambitious experimentation. The artist’s thirst for breaking the mold has led to some memorable moments throughout his thirty-year career, his most recent being his daring indie rock exploration, 2022’s LABYRINTHITIS. Three years doesn’t seem that long, but the sand in the hourglass of […]

Janiva Magness is not only among the top blues vocalists but also an uncompromising song archeologist. She digs deeper than most song interpreters, realizing that she has to see herself in the story if she’s going to sing it. Across her sixteen preceding albums, she has written material too, but mostly, she is the blues […]

The Small Kingdoms is, by all appearances, one person: Darren Guyaz. However, listening to the debut album of Who I Am, which labels itself “chamber pop,” one could be forgiven for thinking there were many more people behind the sound. Ripe with lush harmonies, strings, and a myriad of instruments, the album soars over a […]

Brooklyn-based four piece The Tumblers are certainly not hiding their folk-pop influences on their debut, Tangerine. There are plenty of songs here that seem to take a cue from bands like The Lumineers, The Head And The Heart, and Noah Kahan. But there are also rowdier moments on the record that show the band clearly […]

For more than a decade, Justin Osborne has been fronting Susto, putting out a solid mix of Indie Rock and Americana across five records. The Susto Stringband is a fantastic experiment and evolution of his work, reworking seven songs from his cannon as bluegrass numbers, while adding in two new songs to the mix. The […]

When you’re an established institution like Alison Krauss & Union Station, you can take 14 years off and pick up again as if you never left. Heck, The Rolling Stones had an 18-year hiatus. Of course, Krauss kept herself busy touring with Robert Plant, and the members of Union Station are a team of band […]

Nuthin’ Fancy represents Lynyrd Skynyrd’s third recognition in a row to its musical roots. The (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) debut of 1973 contains a homage to the late Duane Allman in the form of ‘”Free Bird,” while a year later, Second Helping included a tribute to J..J. Cale by way of a cover of “Call Me The Breeze” (significantly positioned as […]

Among the current crop of real-deal country artists that have emerged as a rebuttal to that polished and poppy Nashville sound, Vincent Neil Emerson is a clear standout. Similar to peers like Charley Crockett, Colter Wall, Brent Cobb – and at times sounding like an amalgamation of all three – as well as Tyler Childers […]

Is, the tenth album by Louisville’s My Morning Jacket, continues the band’s pattern of inspired yet accessible rock music. The five-piece band has been unchanged since 2005’s Z, anchored by founding singer/guitarist Jim James and bassist Tom Blankenship, along with longtime guitarist Carl Broemel, drummer Patrick Hallahan, and keyboardist Bo Koste. Though every other My […]

Kinky Friedman was never a prolific songwriter (running for governor of Texas and writing detective novels does take up a chunk of time). Still, his late-career musical renaissance has been impressive over the last ten years. Starting with the mostly cover song effort The Loneliest Man I Ever Met (2015), continuing with new originals for […]

Folk music is certainly at the core of Charlie Treat’s superb new album, Dawn Is Breaking, but it’s also so much more. Along with Americana, there are moments of jazz, indie pop, and rock influences weaved throughout, as well as the telltale echoes of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash – specifically in the lyrics. Treat’s […]

In Austin, Texas, the name David Ramirez is fairly ubiquitous on the local public radio station, KUTX. Ramirez has played countless shows in the “Live Music Capitol” over the past two decades and was even named “Songwriter of the Year” in 2020 by The Austin Chronicle. David Ramirez has long been an artist unafraid to […]

Lonnie Holley is nothing short of a modern-day renaissance man. In an era where everyone can be a multi-hyphenate, thanks to the looming, fast-paced advancements of technology, Holley seamlessly transitions between his mediums with the spirit of a world that has passed while carefully examining the future. Holley unapologetically approaches his craft with a curious […]