Matt Daniel is one of those artists clearly touched (or cursed) by the need to perform country music to unburden his soul, but blessed with immense talent to write and express it.
“Arcadia” might not be the best album to introduce your friends to the power of bluegrass, but it might be the ideal specimen to introduce them to the beauty of it.
Ready to explore her country noir impulses in full force, she intermixes country songs with more indie rock treatments in an album that is eclectic and explorative, and always forthright and engaging in the writing.
They call themselves a rock and roll band, but they’re bursting with country blues, Southern textures, and even some straight up country songs that will fit right in with your sensibilities.
On “The Last Kings of Babylon,” Jason Boland tries to summarize the last 25 or so years in music, from the personal and the professional, to the sacred and the profane.
“Lonesome Drifter” gives you another good haul of original Charley Crockett songs that are immediately entertaining, and that endear you ever further to the man and the mythos.
Writing and recording divorce records in the era of non-disclosure agreements has to make for a difficult task. But if there’s any wordsmith out there in the world capable of navigating those hurdles, it’s probably Jason Isbell.
By mining his deepest emotions of love, devotion, and thankfulness, Justin Wells composes songs that resonate deeply with anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances, and those who aspire to.
The Devil Makes Three is blue collar music for a bleak world bifurcated between the have’s and have not’s. It’s never pretty. It’s a feral, tattooed, and pierced. But it’s nonetheless inspiring from its dogged persistence.
It’s the intimate nature of the approach to “Lonely Mountain Town” that brings the emotion of the songs to the surface, and centers the attention of the audience upon the story.
It’s a thing of beauty how the gentle but powerful musings of Juliet McConkey overwhelm your emotional faculties in disarming waves, awakening feelings often left dormant in the passing of everyday life.
Tony Logue and his band have the uncanny ability to cut through all the pretentiousness that seems to permeate most all contemporary music to serve real and raw human emotions free from embellishment.
Even before Jesse Welles wrote, recorded, and released this fully formed 10-song studio album amid sometimes daily song releases on social media, his musical output hovered somewhere near the impossible.
There is no easy or succinct way to regard The War and Treaty’s new album Plus One. It starts off terribly, but goes on to include perhaps some of the best songs of their entire catalog. It’s not really country at all, until it is…
Even those well versed in the wide expanses of the Western music canon will be strongly intrigued and delighted to hear the decidedly singer/songwriter-style of Western music that Cam Pierce crafts.
Even among the wave of new country performers, Ty Myers is still unique. At only 17, he’s just a pup with ruddy cheeks. But he stands confidently on stage, writes his own songs, and sings them with a strong and soulful delivery.
Inspired by Lafayette and the greater Acadiana region, expect Cajun, expect country, expect some swamp pop and vintage R&B. But most importantly, expect the distinct, the savory, and the unexpected from Miss Tess’s Cher Rêve.
The name will probably be familiar to independent country fans. Whether you’ve seen it ascribed as TJ McFarland, or his stage name Tennessee Jet, he’s a primary member of the Cody Jinks songwriting collective.
Some folks forget that comedy in some ways is just as integral to the classic versions of country music as fiddle and steel guitar. It’s just that all of these elements have been forsaken by certain modern versions of commercial country.
On found vintage cowboy and country clothing, and classic country songs specializing in capturing the sincere emotions ever-present in the pursuit of companionship, Paige Plaisance is a worthy proprietor.
Look Up is not a bad album at all. There’s not a single song or moment on it that will feel offensive to a country fan’s ears. But when you prop Sir Ringo Starr in front of a camera, perch a cowboy hat on top of his head…
Take yourself a trip back in time in an avocado green Chevelle to the moment when Jesus freaks, acid testers, and neo folkies all discovered the virtues of American country music, and set to contributing to that legacy.
Singer and songwriter Kiely Connell first burst into the music consciousness in 2021 with her excellent debut album “Calumet Queen.” Her voice was so striking, and her songs so emotive and cutting, she made a lasting impression.
Put Hudson Westbrook in your growing list of younger performers finding surprising success with more classic sounds, and helping to set true country music on a promising trajectory.