Album Review – Hayes Carll’s “We’re Only Human”
“We’re Only Human” captures an acclaimed songwriter evolving with his music, and challenging an audience to evolve with him.
Reviews
Album Review – Pitney Meyer’s “Cherokee Pioneer”
Together they offer up a straightforward bluegrass album under the duo name Pitney Meyer that warms your cockles, and does for bluegrass what Mo Pitney did for traditional country previously: make you hopeful for the future.
Album Review – Sunny Sweeney’s “Rhinestone Requiem”
Listening through Rhinestone Requiem, the boldness of its audio flavors, and the passion brought to the songwriting, it gives you a sense that Sunny Sweeney is just now hitting her peak.
Album Review – Whitey Morgan and the 78’s – “Live from Bandit Town USA”
There’s something about hearing Whitey Morgan’s music that makes you feel 100 feet tall and bulletproof. It’s everything that makes up Outlaw country concentrated into its most pure form.
Album Review – Tyler Childers – “Snipe Hunter”
“Snipe Hunter” by Tyler Childers is nowhere near as good as some of the hyperbolic proclamations being bandied about profess, and it’s not even close to the colossal letdown that others are alleging.
Album Review – Cody Jinks – “In My Blood”
While other top level names in independent country continue to present you with polarizing twists and confounding turns, the consistency of Cody Jinks is incredibly comforting.
Album Review – Chasen Wayne’s “CORPUS”
By utilizing jazz cords, surf tones, and making unintuitive turns, Chasen Wayne takes country music and the intrepid listener into uncharted territory, though with plenty of familiar sounds and guideposts.
Album Review – Trisha Yearwood’s “The Mirror”
“The Mirror” is a Trisha Yearwood album. It’s an album that feels inspired, passionate, and purposeful. It’s the best album Trisha Yearwood could make in this season of her career.
Galleywinter’s 2025 River Jam Morphs Into Flood Benefit
River Jam is a great opportunity to scope out and enjoy some of the most promising up-and-coming and established songwriting talent in Texas. In the aftermath of the flooding, it became an impromptu benefit.
Oh Great. Yet Another Zac Brown Band “Reinvention”
The Band Perry, eat your heart out. If there’s any band that can best all comers with with their constant “reinventions,” dramatically over-promising and spectacularly under-delivering, it’s the Zac Brown Band.
Album Review – Tami Neilson’s “Neon Cowgirl”
It doesn’t even feel apt to characterize Tami Neilson as a “musician” in the conventional sense. She’s a force of nature, a Category 5 Typhoon blowing in from the archipelago, a volcanic eruption of power and talent.
Song Review – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton’s “A Song To Sing”
When the news came down that Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton would be releasing a song together, it was hard to not get a little excited, irrespective of your level of excitement for either of these artists.
Biggest Takeaways from the 2025 Master Musicians Festival
Neighborly. If you had to describe the 32nd annual Master Musicians Festival with only one word, that’d be it. Because that’s exactly what it felt like. It’s a family-friendly event that’s not yet been exploited.
Album Review – Brent Cobb’s “Ain’t Rocked in a While”
‘Ain’t Rocked in a While’ is a loud, rambunctious, greasy, uninhibited affair that puts songwriting second to finding a groove and laying down in it. It’s garage rock deep fried in a vat of ’70s sweat.
Album Review – Joe Stamm Band’s “Little Crosses”
Releasing ‘Little Crosses’ in the dead of summer is smart timing for Stamm and Co. This is a summer album full of serious heartland rock, songs that stoke sentimental memories, and a little bit of recklessness.
Album Review – Jesse Lovelock and the Velvet Voices
Those who take the time to dig for the best in music are handsomely rewarded via the experience of this album, and before the rest of the world and the music business get their opportunity to get their greasy mandibles on it.
The Best Country Singles of 2025 So Far
What about the toe tappers, the booty shakers, and the boot scooters? That’s what the best SINGLE distinction is for. They can be great “songs” too. But these are the tracks that get stuck in your head.
Album Review – Parker McCollum (Self-Titled)
It’s never been easy to pigeon-hole Parker McCollum, or summarize his music career or sound in a concise sentence. He’s a Texas artist with mainstream impact. He’s an independent-minded performer with commercial impact.
The Apostols’ Family: The Billy Strings Moment in Lexington
By now, the story of what William Apostol, better known as Billy Strings, was going through last Friday night (6-20) as he walked onto the stage in Lexington, Kentucky’s Rupp Arena is well-known.
Album Review – Kathryn Legendre’s “Here’s Your Honky Tonk”
This is what it’s all about right here folks! The Honky Tonk Sweetheart of Austin, TX is back with a kick ass new country record, and there’s no dipping your toes in. This thing is so warm and inviting, you dive right in.
Album Review – Bleu Edmondson’s “To The End”
Produced by Wade Bowen, Bleu Edmondson’s new album ‘To The End’ is a stunning, bold, and ambitious work that accomplishes in only six songs what some entire discographies often fail to.
Album Review – Myron Elkins – “Nostalgia For Sale”
Myron Elkins opens his mouth, and a wormhole appears to a smoky nightclub in blue collar Detroit in the 1970s, or a Muscle Shoals recording session pre air conditioning installation. It’s borderline unbelievable.
Telluride Bluegrass 2025: Musical Bliss at 8,700 Feet
Telluride Bluegrass doesn’t just entertain revelers on a local or regional level. It works as an incubator for talent, a launching pad for stars, and the implications of what transpires both on and off the stage is often momentous.
Review – James McMurtry’s “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy”
James McMurtry is such a master class songwriter, you might even hear other songwriters referred to as the “James McMurtry” of their era or region. But James McMurtry is the James McMurtry of James McMurtry’s.