Album Review – Ward Davis – “Sunday Morning”
Steal yourself, find a quiet moment, and prepare to be stunned by this short but exceptional work by Ward Davis.
Reviews
Album Review – Whitney Rose’s “Rosie”
“Rosie” marks perhaps Whitney Rose’s top contribution to traditional country music, and one that may go on to be considered one of the top releases in country music in 2023.
Album Review – Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – “Altitude”
There’s nobody out there pushing the creativity of country music to the edges of human consciousness like Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives are doing here, even among the gaggle of young bucks fresh and hungry to make their mark.
Kimberly Perry Comes Back to Life with “If I Die Young Pt. 2”
Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry is back, and it’s almost like she never left. The opening salvo of her solo career after splitting with her brothers is a reworking of the family band’s first #1 song.
Album Review – Stephen Wilson Jr.’s “bon aqua”
Unique, edgy, and original, with a visual component to his music via the moody and imaginative videos that accompany his releases, Stephen Wilson Jr. is like no other artist you’ve seen before.
Digesting the Jason Isbell Documentary “Running With Our Eyes Closed”
‘Running With Our Eyes Closed’ delves into the making of Jason Isbell’s album ‘Reunions,’ and the conflict that arose with his wife Amanda Shires.
Album Review – The Malpass Brothers – “Lonely Street”
As a true country music fan, you’re used to dealing in close approximations when seeking out modern musical choices. With The Malpass Brothers though, this isn’t necessary.
Album Review – Megan Moroney’s “Lucky”
It’s official, ladies and gentlemen. Country music has entered a new neotraditional age. There may be no better evidence than Megan Moroney’s “Lucky.”
Album Review – Slaid Cleaves – “Together Through The Dark”
‘Together Through The Dark’ is a tempered and thoughtful mid/late career effort by Cleaves that compliments his tranquil voice and calming disposition … until it isn’t, and the passion for imperative topics comes boiling up…
Jamey Johnson Remains a Prolific Collaborator
The lack of new, original music from Jamey Johnson is still a sore subject for many. But that doesn’t mean Jamey Johnson fans don’t have ample opportunities to hear his voice.
Song Review – The Turnpike Troubadours – “Mean Old Sun”
The first observation about “Mean Old Sun” is that it’s distinctly a Turnpike Troubadours song.
Album Review – Bella White’s “Among Other Things”
Every discussion about the music of Bella White invariably begins and ends with her highly affected, and highly affecting voice. All great music finds that balance between the familiar and the unexpected, and Bella’s unique phrasing brought to a yodel-like projection makes for a novel listening experience.
Album Review – Caitlyn Smith’s “High & Low”
If you’ve gotta listen to country pop though, make it Caitlyn Smith. Even before her debut album ‘Starfire’ was nominated for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year in 2018, she was one of the few bright spots in the pop country space where you didn’t give a damn that she didn’t sound like traditional country.
Album Review- William Prince – “Stand in the Joy”
It is times like these when cooler heads and calming wisdom is what the world needs. In fractured and fevered moments, ratcheting down the rhetoric, centering the most important things in life, and working towards being the solution as opposed to the problem is the approach that you hope prevails.
Massive Two Step Inn Pulls Off Inaugural Fest in Texas
What Two Step Inn got right was that you can mix today’s independent country with country legends from the 80s and 90s, and even some of the cool up-and-comers in the mainstream, and have an event that breaks down barriers and cross-pollinates fans bases because it’s all great country music.
Tyler Childers Opens Up 2023 Tour By Closing Out Two Step Inn
The 2023 Tyler Childers experience comes with an enhanced visual component compared to previous tours. Adorning the stage is a wooded backdrop, a couple of moss-covered boulders to give the facade some depth of field, and a taxadermied possum and big horned sheep (who’s begging to be named).
Zach Bryan Launches 2023 Tour at Two Step Inn Fest
Zach Bryan’s popularity just continues to grow exponentially. Hell, he probably could have headlined Coachella in California this weekend. Yet even though the population of Zach Bryan fans continues to swell, the passion of those fans has not waned or been diluted whatsoever.
Album Review – Shania Twain’s “Queen of Me”
The worst part about “Queen of Me” is not just that it’s a big miss for whatever Shania Twain was going for. It’s that it’s also a missed opportunity for her to ride the wave of resurgent interest in 90s country to do something that could actually represent legacy women in country music well.
Album Review – Robbie Fulks – “Bluegrass Vacation”
Despite his punk country popularity, Fulks actually started out as a folk and bluegrass musician who was raised in the Blue Ridge of Virginia and the Piedmont of North Carolina. And after performing in the club scene in Greenwich Village and attending Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk, joined Special Consensus.
Album Review – Josie Toney’s “Extra”
Extra is everything you were hoping Josie Toney’s debut album would be. When she sings, Toney evokes the ghosts of the classic country era by mixing old-school country with old-school blues indicative at times of Hank One. You may think of her as an instrumentalist first, but the album showcases…
Amid Meteoric Rise, 49 Winchester Plays Packed Pittsburgh Show
Friday night (4-7), 49 Winchester rolled into Pittsburgh, a.k.a the Paris of Appalachia, and played the newly renovated Thunderbird Cafe on a hot sell-out streak. After warming up the crowd with the road weary anthem “All I Need” and a soaring rendition of “Second Chance,” the crowd really got rocking…
Album Review – Jake Worthington (Self-Titled)
If you want to hear true traditional country in its most pure form in 2023, listen to Jake Worthington. We’re talking Mark Chesnutt, Daryle Singletary country, where you can’t fit an index card between the true definition of “country music,” and what Worthington turns in here.
Turnpike Troubadours Fans, Get Lance Roark on Your Radar
RC Edwards stumbled upon Lance Roark in 2020 during the Turnpike hiatus/pandemic when he was looking for a lead guitar player. Roark fit the bill, but has subsequently slid even deeper into the Turnpike universe while finding a way to showcase his own music at the same time.
Album Review – Willie Nelson’s “I Don’t Know a Thing About Love”
Willie Nelson will turn 90 on April 29th, and has shown no signs of slowing down, either on the road, or in the studio. His last album called “A Beautiful Time” was released last year on his birthday and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, and earned it entirely on the merit of the music.