I met Lilly Hiatt and her wonderful band about two months ago at a house concert in Baltimore. It was a great place to see a show, especially one that features Lilly Hiatt. Lilly is amazing. She writes, sings, plays guitar, and performs. She does all four things at an extremely high level. Most importantly, Lilly is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She was gracious enough to speak to me before her concert.
This is Margo Price’s second full length album and expectations are very high. That first release, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, is a tough act to follow. That was one of the best country albums in the last ten years. It made TwangriLa’s Best Of 2016. (more…)
This is a perfect union of pop, country, and alternative. This is what pop music should sound like: creative, catchy, and intelligent. This album has all that and more. It is the epitome of beauty. As I listen, I want to stay right where I am and concentrate on how good the music makes me feel. I don’t ever want to lose this feeling. (more…)
This is truly amazing. This is a B horror movie, a drive in, and a 1966 Chevelle kind of music. Something I observed, everything on the album is in all caps, including the song titles. Hmmmmmm…… Maybe he is trying to indicate that the music and he are one, on the same level. He is all about the music. Maybe there is no meaning whatsoever, JD just thought it was a good idea. I don’t rightfully know, but it is something to ponder. (more…)
This rose above the rest when I gave it a first listen. Some serious outlaw country music was waving through my headphone speakers and I was treated to some ass kicking honky tonk sounds courtesy of Jeremy Pinnell. What a voice! It is a cross between a honky tonk troubadour and a grizzled blues veteran. Jeremy has a gravelly voice that speaks a very honest truth. He is open about his struggles and has turned those events into gripping and captivating songs. These songs are well written and sung like a true outlaw country star.(more…)
This is a really, really nice release. Good writing, singing, and harmonies. Sunlost is Daniel Hutchison – vocals, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar and Brian Potts-electric guitar, drums, bass, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and vocals. They hail from Collinsville, IL, which is a suburb of St. Louis. Coincidentally, Collinsville is about ten miles from the home of Uncle Tupelo and maybe 20 miles from where The Bottlerockets reside. Some of the Rocket/Tupelo magic has rubbed off on these fellas. (more…)
This is old school country and it is exactly what the doctor ordered. It feels fresh and new and timely as hell. Ryan Koenig is no stranger to country music, Koenig joined up with Pokey LaFarge in 2008. The band has toured the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Grand Ole Opry, The Marty Stuart Show and many others.(more…)
This is not the first time reviewing material from Sunday Wilde. I had the honor of being one of the first reviewers of her last album, Blueberries & Grits. That was more of a solo project. This album features Reno Jack in a more prominent role, more of a collaboration. He is the perfect vocal complement to Sunday. While Sunday sings a majority of the songs on this collection, Reno Jack fronts two of the songs, which are done to perfection.
Artists and fans have been posting Tom Petty tribute songs since the singer’s untimely death. I am sure that the tributes are sincere and heartfelt. Having written that, some of the tributes are good and some, not so good. And there is one that is in a class by itself. That would be Even The Losers covered by Ryan Adams at the ACL Festival on 10/13/17. Ryan is like Johnny Cash where he can take a cover and make people forget who the original artist was. I am not suggesting that in this case. I was just trying to articulate how good this video is. Well, see for yourself…..
Most of you probably don’t know Chris Barron by name. But, if I mention the band he fronts, you will. Chris Barron is the lead singer for the Spin Doctors. They are that funky jam band that was the alternative music soundtrack for the year 1992. The music on their 1991 debut, Pocket Full Of Kryptonite, is funky, upbeat, and catchy as hell. That led to these guys being completely over played and over saturated. They were a victim of their own success, through no fault of their own. Spin Doctors are still around and going strong. They took a two year sabbatical from ’99 to ’01, but have been at it ever since.
