• Smith/Kotzen

    Music

    Smith/Kotzen

    Black Light/White Noise

    This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s

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Sloan- Parallel Play

Every song on this latest album by the Canadian quartet Sloan has a great hook; the simple “woo-oows” in “Witch’s Wand” are impossible to forget while “Down In the Basement” speaks like some…

Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey

Robert “Mack” McCormick

The legend of Robert Johnson looms large, from his music to the myth of the Faustian bargain made at the crossroads, and his death at 27, ostensibly murdered by poisoning. Author McCormick, who…

The Metallica Blacklist Album

Various artists

Conquering the charts 30 years ago with their “black album,” Metallica has become the global ambassador for heavy metal – and this 52-track tribute set confirms it. Artists from nearly every genre, from…

Carl Verheyen – Solo Guitar Improvisations

I guess Carl is mostly known for his soaring electric work that shows off terrific chops and great compositional skills. Here, things are a bit different. It’s mostly just him and an acoustic…

Julian Lage

View With a Room

One of today’s most-acclaimed players, Lage offers 10 original compositions of sumptuous guitar, along with the artistry of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. As on 2021’s Squint, Lage explores his fascination…

John McTigue III

It’s About Time

Drummer/composer McTigue has a long history as a roots-music sideman. Yet on this solo effort co-produced with Kenny Vaughan, he takes unexpected turns as he pairs his percussion with other top roots musicians.…

Faces

At the BBC: Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings, 1970-1973

Rod Stewart & Faces were sloppy and raucous enough to make the Rolling Stones look like Air Supply. Okay, not really, but Stewart himself called them, “Five drunks who got away with murder…

Port City Prophets

The Prophets are a blues-rock bar band that brings around a lot of people to music they might not otherwise have heard. The PCPs will remind you of both Grand Funk and ZZ…

Black Sabbath

Cynicism wouldn’t be out of place on your first listen to Sabbath’s first album with Ozzy Osbourne in 35 years. Before you even spin it, you can bet that the band won’t stray…

Jim Croce

You Don’t Mess Around with Jim 50th Anniversary

Jim Croce was a pop artist with laser-guided instincts for writing hits. In an impossibly short run of fame – barely two years – he wrote singles that remain staples of ’70s AM…

Evan Johns and The Hillbilly Soul Surfers – Moontan

Moontan

Roots rock wild man Evan Johns returns with a taut but tasty trick bag that should fire the faithful, and make a few new friends, too. The sensibility that infused “Ugly Man” is…

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen

In a way, it’s a shame Hillman and Pedersen didn’t record this live album as a duo, as they often appear in concert. Because seeing two voices, an acoustic guitar, and a mandolin…

Paul Johnson – Liquid Blues

Having played a pivotal role in the development of instrumental surf music in the early ’60s with his band, the Belairs (best-remembered for the Johnson-penned classic “Mr. Moto”), and having presaged any notion…

Bob Dylan

Columbia/Legacy

Bob Dylan’s stylistic periods are not firmly defined; folk-singer Dylan (who never really went away) blended into rock and roll Dylan as Another Side Of Bob Dylan led to Bringing It All Back…

Bearfoot

The teenagers who began the Bearfoot Bluegrass Band in 2006 have matured into young adults. As they’ve matured, so has their music. Even their name has changed slightly; it’s been shortened to Bearfoot.…

Little Feat

Sailin’ Shoes Deluxe Edition & Dixie Chicken Deluxe Edition

One of the most influential outfits of the ’70s, Little Feat was a powerhouse with guitarists Lowell George and Paul Barrere. Sailin’ Shoes, from ’72, finds the band still searching for a cohesive…

Chris Robinson Brotherhood

If you’ve lost touch with Chris Robinson since the Black Crowes’ slow down, his latest effort with the CRB is an opportune time to catch up on what’s become a most satisfying second…

Chicago

It’s simplistic to say, but as these two box-sets of 10 discs apiece show, Chicago’s history really consists of two bands: one with Terry Kath as lead guitarist, one of the vocalists, a…

La Pingo’s Orquesta/Todd Clouser

Midwest/Bajío

While terms like “uncategorizable” are overused and cliche to the point of being meaningless, this soundtrack in search of a movie is altogether original and fresh. Clouser, an American living in Mexico, keeps…

Burton Garr – Home of the Blues

I’ve been chomping at the bit to get the word out on this articulate, contemporary Louisiana blues man. There must be something in the water that runs between Memphis and Baton Rouge, ‘cuz…

Emmylou Harris – Red Dirt Girl

Emmylou Harris seems to have finally found her freedom. It’s rare to follow an artist who, after almost three decades of recording, still has something new and fresh to say – and who…

Roine Stolt – Wall Street Voodoo

Roine Stolt – Wall Street Voodoo Roine Stolt is best known for fronting the acclaimed progressive band The Flower Kings. But in the back of his mind, the Swedish guitarist has long wanted…

Roy Buchanan – American Axe – Live In 1974

It’s not too far of a stretch to say Roy Buchanan was one of the most unique guitar players in the past 40 years. This recording, done at two shows in 1974, does…

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Damn the Torpedoes

MCA’s reissue of the Heartbreakers albums from ’79 to ’82 is a perfect chance to revisit this album. I’ve always felt this is arguably the best rock album of the past 25 years.…

Creedence Clearwater Revival

What band has ever had a year like Creedence Clearwater Revival did in 1969? After its debut in ’68, John Fogerty’s group released a followup, Bayou Country, in January ’69 and “Proud Mary”…

Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow’s gone country. That’s the line on Feels Like Home, the popular singersongwriter’s eighth studio album. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Crow moved to Nashville a decade ago and now counts…

The No Refund Band

Lead singer/guitarist Ricky Jackson sings with a brassiness and strength that doesn’t come along often in pop music. He’s also an impressive guitarist, partly in debt to the crotch-rock styles of Slash and…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Jim Byrnes

Black Hen

On the heels of 2009’s Walking Stick, Byrnes once again displays his expertise at all aspects of making blues and soul music. Byrnes is an excellent guitarist as he proves here, particularly on…

Bruce Molsky – Soon Be Time

Bruce Molsky proves that you can be scholarly about American roots music without being boring. On Soon Be Time he entertains his listeners on fiddle, banjo, and finger-picked guitar. All solo, no overdubbing,…

The Allman Brothers Band

Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival

The Allman Brothers Band is one of those groups guitarists identify after just a handful of notes.  First released in 2003, this reissue was recorded during ABB’s two performances at the 1970 festival,…