Heart Of Texas Records holds the line against the carpetbagger forces of “modern” country music, producing the kind of country best played on honky tonk jukeboxes and the radios of American-made pickups. These three discs are among the best and most typical of the label’s recent releases from a roster of mostly-veteran country artists. Like [...]
There’s a solid old-school thump to Amy Black’s modern, acoustic-guitarbased blues. Sometimes (as on “Stay”), she leavens her music with a rockabilly flavor with the help of fiddler Dan Kellar, who gets some of his best moments on the title cut and the dark “Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down).” Adding to the [...]
Brian Wright draws on the stylistic legacies of an eclectic bunch of influences, some quite obvious. There’s no mistaking his debt to classic Velvet Underground in “Striking Matches,” but less obvious is the sense of abandon mixed with desperation that ties it to the music of Roky Erickson’s 13th Floor Elevators. Wright plays all instruments [...]
Ian Moore and his gang make such a grand noise it’s hard to believe they’re only a trio. Moore and bass player Matt Harris wrote this disc full of high-quality pop music that has a welcome dose of swagger. All three players, including drummer Kyle Schneider, carry their share of musical weight, but Moore stands [...]
The women of Della Mae kick off their latest with a version of the traditional “Bowling Green” followed by Lester Flatt’s “Head Over Heels,” firmly establishing their commitment to bluegrass and eliminating any doubt about whether they’re simply an all-girl gimmick band. The members of Della Mae are so well-matched it doesn’t matter if the [...]
Tut Taylor is a self-taught virtuoso who plays his Model 27 square-neck Dobro with a flat pick. He first caught the public’s ear while playing with Vassar Clemens in the Dixie Gentleman, and the two later joined Norman Blake and Randy Scruggs to work with the late John Hartford. At 86, Taylor no longer performs [...]
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli’s Hot Club both blended early 20th century blues and jazz with the folk music of their culture. Both featured hot-shot fiddlers and guitarists, and both operated in their classic form from 1934 to 1948-’49, so they may have been aware of (and influenced [...]
Doing an album of Robert Johnson songs may not be a particularly original idea, but it’s not a bad one. For this one, Todd Mohr and band have called upon veteran bluesmen to join them on takes that keep the spirit intact. It’s no surprise that B.B. King’s slow interpretation of “Crossroads Blues” gets top [...]
Harmonica whiz Dermody is the honcho on this tribute to the real roots of modern blues and popular music, and he employs a host of fine guitarists to help. Dermody is smart enough to make sure things work organically; no one crowds anyone else. The arrangements and instrumentation are sparse, and though the overall tone [...]
Allman’s solo albums have been good to excellent and generally more satisfying than most of the Allman Brothers post-Duane releases; they’re bluesier, darker, more down-home. With a band built around Mac “Dr. John” Rebenack on piano and Doyle Bramhall II on guitar, with Low Country Blues, Allman has made an album of the type many [...]
