• 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

    Read more >>

Yasmin Williams

Urban Driftwood

Acoustic fingerstylist Yasmin Williams takes ambidextrous musicianship to new and adventurous places on her second album. Urban Driftwood finds Williams manifesting meditative soundscapes through alternate tunings, hypnotic chord progressions, and percussive polyrhythms –…

John Davis – John Davis

John Davis was a member of Superdrag, which gained some notoriety in its 10-year run. They were a mix of influences including punk, early British rock and roll, and pop. Davis left the…

Peter Frampton

Somethin’s Happening/Frampton

Many first heard the English rock star on his chart-obliterating live album – but Frampton already had four solo albums under his belt. This studio pair, from 1974-’75, display wicked guitarmanship and are…

Wanda Jackson

Encore

The girl with a big guitar, big hair, a short dress, and a rockabilly howl, she first shook up the music world in 1954, pre-Elvis. Wanda Jackson went on to score rock and…

Pierre Bensusan

In a career spanning four decades, acoustic virtuoso Pierre Bensusan has created some of the most enchanting guitar music ever heard, much of it in his beloved DADGAD tuning. Oddly enough, even with…

Donnie Iris – The Best of : The Millennium Collection

Remember a couple of year back, when MCA starting re-releasing the Chess Masters in a nice packaged set? Well, that was a great project, and so is their pop side of the deal.…

The Bellfuries

Blue-Collar Cool

Just as rockabilly back in the ’50s was largely a regional phenomenon, many of the best bands today remain local heroes. Witness Austin’s Bellfuries, with guitar man Mike Molnar. The band’s debut was…

Tracy G Group

Tramp

Ronnie James Dio unleashed a slew of championship guitarists, but one notable who flew under the radar was Tracy Grijalva. An underrated genius, he contributed to some of the darkest and most terrifying…

Miles Davis

Columbia/Legacy

Debates will forever rage regarding the dawn of jazz-rock fusion – its birth attributed to everyone from vibraphonist Gary Burton (and/or his guitarist, Larry Coryell) to Cream. There were definitely examples prior to…

Hadden Sayers Band – 12 Bars and the Naked Truth

12 Bars and the Naked Truth

There’s no question what you’re going to get when you hear one of Hadden Sayers’ records. It’s rock and roll, plain and simple. No pretense, he just plugs in and plays, and brings…

King’s X

In the New Age: The Atlantic Recordings 1988-1995

Absurdly talented – and eternally misunderstood – King’s X was always on the cusp of stardom. This box set with bonus tracks deftly documents their blend of Beatlesque pop, Rush-like progressive, proto-grunge, and…

The Del McCoury Band – Del and the Boys

Anyone who thinks bluegrass music is just about doing songs performed by dead guys – but doing 'em faster, hasn't heard the Del McCoury band. Their latest album on Ricky Skaggs' Celli Music…

Jimmy LaFave – Cimaron Manifesto

Jimmy La Fave joins other Texas singer/songwriters such as Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Townes Van Zandt in his ability to evoke the feelings and images of America hidden behind superhighways and…

The Grascals – Keep On Walkin’

From the kick-off of the opening song, “Feeling Blue,” the Grascals demonstrate that traditional bluegrass doesn’t have to sound old-fashioned. Even on moderate-tempo songs they maintain a driving rhythm that would make any…

Marley’s Ghost

Sage Arts

Fans of the Chris Hillman/Gram Parsons version of the Flying Burrito Brothers will latch onto this. Though the Marley gang is a bit lighter, you hear Gibson Brothers influence on “Love And Happiness…

Caroline Gnagy

Stars Behind Bars

Sometimes the most interesting books are ones that delve into a subject readers didn’t know about and never considered. And except for now-elderly people who were around the right place at the right…

Bucky Pizzarelli – Swing Live

Swing Live

Few guitarists have been around as long (and done as much) as Bucky Pizzarelli. He’s been playing with big bands, small-group combos, chairmen-of-the-boards (he was Sinatra’s favorite guitarist), and in studios for many…

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…

Was (Not Was) – Boo

The brothers Was (okay, they’re not really brothers) are back after a layoff of almost 20 years. Not much has changed, and that’s a good thing. The 10 cuts here all “reek” of…

Firecracker – The Wailin’ Jennys

Firecracker – The Wailin’ Jennys The second release from the tri-girl musical aggregate from Canada proves that even with a new contributor (songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Annabelle Chvostek), the Jennys’ music is still very tasty. The…

Storyville – A Piece of Your Soul

A Piece of Your Soul

Storyville is an Austin, Texas, supergroup made up of SRV’s old Double Trouble pals Chris Layton (drums) and Tommy Shannon (bass), along with guitarslingers David Grissom and David Holt. The band is fronted…

Brian F. Wright

The Bastard Instrument: A Cultural History of the Electric Bass

Whiskey Shivers

Some Part Of Something

Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval

Heartbreaker: A Memoir

Jazz Pharaohs – Old Man Time

The Jazz Pharaohs jokingly refer to themselves as “Austin’s Best Wedding Band” – and they may well have fans crashing wedding parties just for the music. They’re a more traditional American jazz band,…

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…

Jefferson Evolution

If there had been a Top 40 of FM/underground radio in the mid/late ’60s (which, of course, would have defeated the whole purpose of FM/ underground), the Airplane would have dominated it, just…

The Dean Ween Group

The Dean Ween Group’s debut showcases all the genre-hopping shenanigans that became the stock in trade of Ween’s first band – the prolific and eponymously named indie weirdos Ween. While it’s busy serving…

Sean Costello

Gold Standard

Before he died from an accidental overdose in 2008, Sean Costello and his trademark Gibson Les Paul goldtop made some fine records that showed a young bluesman growing in leaps and bounds. This…

Los Fabulocos featuring Kid Ramos

Delta Groove Music

This second release from the Southern California band Los Fabulocos sizzles like a juicy steak fajita sprinkled with seasoning from rock, tejano, and country-western swing with a garnish of talent and high style.…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Guy Davis – You Don’t Know My Mind

Guy Davis is the real thing. This young black bluesman plays his version of the downhome blues like he, too, has a hellhound on his trail. Davis has released two earlier collections of…

Diunna Greenleaf

Texas blues singer Greenleaf has gathered a host of noteworthy guest guitarists to help highlight her considerable virtues and versatility as a writer and singer. Three of the tunes here – “The Beautiful…

The Nels Cline 4

Currents, Constellations

Outtasight Known these days for his lead work in Wilco, Nels Cline is a true guitar polymath, equally conversant in influences from Roger McGuinn to D. Boon to Bill Frisell. Cline’s many side…