• 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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Dave Alvin – West of the West

Dave Alvin is one of America’s best songwriters, and as such runs the risk of alienating casual fans when he does an album of covers. But then again, maybe not… The idea with…

The Surf Dawgs, 3 Balls of Fire, Steinar Karlsen

One of the nice things about the surf revival, which started rumbling at the end of the ’70s and shifted into high after Pulp Fiction hit the silver screen in ’94, is that…

Justin Johnsoné

The Biscuit House

His online videos are hard to cruise past. There’s his wide stylistic range, but also the guitars he built out of cigar boxes, whiskey barrels, and shovels. It amounts to a cottage industry…

2025 May Issue on Spotify

This month, we feature The Dobbie Brothers, Popa Chubby, Joey Molland, Carlos Alomar, Cream, David Bowie, Rush, Norman Harris, Greg Koch, Rik Emmett, Chris Walz, Elmore James, and more! Spotify is free or…

Uncle Tupelo

Some fans of the late, great Uncle Tupelo claim solace in the fact the band’s acrimonious split resulted in two great bands – Jay Farrar’s Son Volt and Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco. Others dismiss…

Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers – Drive to Survive

Jimmy Thackery may hold the record for having played the most bars and clubs ever. After years propelling that quintessential bar band, the Nighthawks, and now with his power trio, the Drivers, this…

311

If you remember the ’90s, you probably weren’t there. But if you were there and had your thumb on the pulse of contemporary music, you remember 311. Songs like “All Mixed Up” and…

The Sonics

Sonics Boom Again

Sometimes, your memory of a favorite band is so locked in – and possibly blown out of proportion – that a reunion can’t possibly live up to its former self (or yours). And…

J.J. Grey & Mofo

Alligator Records

JJ Grey continues a long line of singer/songwriters who grew up in the South and soaked up everything that makes music from that region so unique. On his second effort for Alligator, Grey…

Doyle Bramhall – Is It News?

Yes, it is! Any re-lease by Texas blues stalwart Doyle Bramhall is something to get hot and bothered about. But from the first big bang of his bass drum to the last reverberations…

Long John Baldry – Remembering Leadbelly

The Brits, in at least as far as the blues is concerned, have always been our archivists. With a few exceptions in the ’60s, including John Hammond, Butterfield and Bloomfield, Taj Mahal, and…

Buddy and Julie Miller

The family that sings together swings together. If that family is the Millers, they do more than just swing; they rock, shimmy, shake, frug, gyrate, and quiver. For readers unfamiliar with this dynamic…

The Mavericks

Lightning In A New Bottle

After their acclaimed 2014 comeback album In Time and a successful tour, the Mavericks wasted no time creating a followup effort continuing the eclectic sounds, original material, and powerful performances that began in…

The Wrecking Crew (soundtrack)

L.A.’s Red-Light Masters

The Wrecking Crew, the documentary about L.A.’s well-paid but largely anonymous session players ranks with the very best music documentaries. Director Denny Tedesco, son of legendary studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco, did a fantastic…

Michael Brecker – Pilgramage

Jazz lost a major figure this past winter with the death of tenor-sax giant Michael Brecker, who died of a blood-marrow disorder. Yet as his health deteriorated last year, he still found the…

Thin Lizzy

The cool thing about the vinyl revolution is that strange and wonderful albums are being reissued by the score. Take Thin Lizzy’s 1971 debut, back when they were a power trio and five…

Dave Alvin – West of the West

The Great American Music Galaxy

Dave Alvin is one of America’s best songwriters, and as such runs the risk of alienating casual fans when he does an album of covers. But then again, maybe not… The idea with…

Donna The Buffalo

Sugar Hill Records

Some still think Jethro Tull is the name of that band’s lead singer. So was it wise for a band, especially one with a female lead singer, to name itself Donna The Buffalo?…

Mustangs of the West

Down at the Palomino

Los Angeles’ all-female country quintet has a new record featuring 12 super-cool songs. Produced by Kirk Pasich and Colin Devlin, the album features Suzanna Spring on guitar and vocals, Sherry Rayn Barnett on…

Eric Johnson

EMI/Vortexan

The notoriously slow-to-record Johnson follows up his 2005 set, Bloom, with a solid album that should please his guitar-loving fanbase. Where Bloom was an oddly diverse collection of FM rock and vintage soul,…

Robert Randolph & the Family Band

The latest album by sacred steel giant Randolph and his band is a non-stop, foot-stomping mix of R&B, soul, rock and roll, and gospel that is as invigorating as it is smart. Randolph’s…

Celeste Krenz – My Mother & Me

Celeste Krenz has never shied from writing intimate songs, and here she explores the relationship between herself and her mother, Jean, by having her co-write most of the 12 songs; armed with a…

Robert Cray

Universal Music

 Made on the heels of Strong Persuader and the single “Smoking Gun,” Robert Cray and his band are superb during this live show, and Cray plays a lot of interesting, soulful guitar. Early…

The Infamous Stringdusters

A band’s sophomore release usually has a snappier title than the name of the band. But in some ways this second album is a first album. Guitarist Chris Eldridge left to join the…

Stanley Clarke, Biréli Lagrène, Jean-Luc Ponty

As you’d hope from an album featuring three giants of jazz, this disc is full of passionate playing, technique that forces you to shake your head and smile at the same time, and…

James Burton and Ralph Mooney – Corn Pickin’ And Slick Slidin’

The first domestic CD release of this pickin’ fest from 1968 is cause for celebration. This all-instrumental outing featuring two of country’s greatest stylists – Tele maestro James Burton in his post-Ricky Nelson/pre-Elvis…

Peter Case – Who’s Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile? Selected Tracks

Peter Case is one of those “folky” types who deserve more than a trite description. Yes, he plays acoustic guitar, occasional harmonica, and writes great songs. But he shows a background that encompasses…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Dwight Twilley

Big Oak Records

Dwight Twilley writes perfect power pop songs with hints of the Beatles and other ’60s rock bands. He also has a knack for writing lyrical hooks – try to sing his ’70s hit…

Experience Hendrix

Had fate and negligence not interfered, Jimi Hendrix would have turned 65 in 2008 – only five years older than Bruce Springsteen, four older than Carlos Santana, two older than John Fogerty, and…

Various Artists – Viva Carlos! A Supernatural Marathon Celebration

Tribute records are well-intended and fun to conceive, but with so many out there at this point, it’s almost as though you’re slighted if one hasn’t been dedicated to you. Tone Center’s previous…