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Music
Paul Johnson
The Hepcats Live at the Ajax Novelty Company
This isn’t live, there may not be an Ajax Novelty Company, and the three felines known as the Hepcats are actually the brainchild of Paul Johnson, whose Belairs were early-’60s pioneers of surf music. Suspend reality and dig how the “trio” expertly articulates layers of acoustic guitar. Across decades, Johnson has embraced folk-rock, psychedelia, and…
Soundgarden
If Mudhoney mined the irreverent punk yang of the “grunge” sound that began seeping from the Pacific Northwest in the late ’80s, Soundgarden dredged its sludgy proto-metal yin – through a somewhat inauspicious…
Steve Earle – Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Here are a couple of records from one of America’s best songwriters. One is a batch of cuts made for movie soundtracks, or for some other reason didn’t fit on his albums. The…
Roy Buchanan
When a Guitar Plays the Blues
After a recording hiatus, the blues-rock pioneer enjoyed a 1985 comeback with this Telecaster manifesto, now reissued on vinyl. The title track opens with volume swells on a rabid Fender amp drenched in…
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Yes
Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition
Are you a high-fidelity audio geek? If the answer is, well, yes, this Rhino release brings together an HD experience of Close to the Edge in no fewer than four versions, plus rarities and a ’72 concert. For starters, the 2025 remaster sounds as close to the analog 1972 mix as you’re going to get…
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Pink Floyd
Have You Got It Yet? – The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
It’s understandable that fans warily approach the flood of pseudo-documentaries and biopics. Add the fact that the late Syd Barrett, Floyd’s original guitarist/leader, suffered from mental illness, and exploitation alarms are sure to go off. But this documentary handles the subject with dignity instead of sensationalism. Interviews by longtime Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson with…
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The Wildhearts
In the raging ’90s, The Wildhearts blasted out of Newcastle upon Tyne like some unholy melding of Guns ’N Roses, Cheap Trick, and The Replacements. Hard rock, power pop, and punk still make up their secret sauce, heard on this latest effort with original singer/guitarist Ginger Wildheart. Ben Marsden plays lead, while Kavus Torabi adds…
The Carper Family
Old-fashioned gals they may well be, but the Carper Family trio injects their traditional country and bluegrass music with some tasty modern vibes on their third disc. The Austin, Texas-based band comprises bassist…
Elana James
For her second solo effort, Elana James, fiddler-vocalist for the western-swing trio Hot Club of Cowtown, ventures afield into other genres. This shouldn’t be surprising, given her 2006 touring work as part of…
Jim Walsh and Dennis Pernu
Of all the cool ’80s alternative rock bands, the loveable ramshackle jag-offs in the Replacements were the least likely to give a toss about, oh, anything much at all. That attitude permeated everything…
Yankee Slickers – Yankee Slickers
Self-distributed
Brothers Jason and Paul Ivey propel this band using their guitars and voices to purvey well-written rock songs with thoughtful lyrics and fine playing. The Iveys’ guitars soar like they were brought up…
Blackberry Smoke
You Hear Georgia
For 20 years, Georgia’s Blackberry Smoke has carried on Southern rock’s rich tradition. You Hear Georgia, the band’s seventh studio album, is soaked in those roots. Recorded live in 10 days at Nashville’s…
David Weigel
The Show That Never Ends: The Rise And Fall Of Prog Rock
This journalistic dive into the history of prog-rock follows the music from its Beatlesque origins through the explosion of the Moody Blues, the Nice, Genesis, Rush, and dozens more. It’s not all original…
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Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Honeysuckle
Resonator-slide specialist Reverend Peyton returns to his primary influences – early 20th-century African-American music – compelling him to shout from the hollers and the hills. Rootsy, acoustic, inter-war blues is the specific genre, and Peyton doesn’t hold back. With top-tier tutelage from the likes of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, T-Model Ford, and Robert Belfour, he masterfully…
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Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval
Heartbreaker: A Memoir
In his autobiography, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Campbell admits he’s quiet and shy. Self-doubt plagued him his entire life, and when problems arose in the Heartbreakers, a lack of confidence had him blaming himself first, even when he wasn’t responsible. Perhaps his attitude was psychologically rooted in his impoverished childhood and coming from…
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Alan Gogoll
Lioness Lullabies
Venture online and watch a few videos by Tasmanian guitarist Alan Gogoll and you’ll see he’s nothing short of a phenomenon. On acoustic, he conjures artificial harmonics in a manner that almost defies gravity. Better still, he never shows off these chops – everything on Lioness Lullabies is in the service of the song and…
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Jimmy Vivino
Gonna Be 2 of Those Days
A veteran vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and purveyor of blues, R&B, and rock’, Jimmy Vivino has an incredible résumé. A longtime fixture in Conan O’Brien’s house band, he has played on movie, radio, and Broadway projects and worked with Levon Helm, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Jimmie Vaughan, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, Laura Nyro, along with innumerable others. He’s…
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Thin Lizzy
The Acoustic Sessions
Thin Lizzy’s first studio release in decades, this album reimagines tracks recorded 50+ years ago by the trio of vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey. The songs are from Lizzy’s first three albums – 1971’s Thin Lizzy, ’72’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage, and ’73’s Vagabonds of the Western World. Recently,…
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Eve Monsees and Mike Buck
& Their Groovy Orbit
This is not a solo album as much as an anthology of Austin artists and styles – from blues to country to ’60s garage and psych, demonstrating the versatility of singer/guitarist Monsees (Eve & the Exiles, Blue Bonnets) and her husband, drummer Buck (LeRoi Brothers), as producers/organizers. The tracks span three years, but the names…
Shooter Jennings, Ryan Bingham, and Various Artists
Outlaw: Celebrating The Music Of Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002, would have turned 80 in 2017. He and compadre Willie Nelson still personify country’s early-’70s Outlaw movement, focused on gaining creative control of their records after years…
Tommy Emmanuel – Endless Road
Anyone who had seen Emmanuel in concert or heard about his prodigious technique, then rushed out to buy his 2001 Favored Nations effort, Only, may have been a bit puzzled. Not that the…
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Living in a Song
Resonator-guitar whiz Ickes and singer/guitarist Hensley blend traditional and outside elements, sometimes on bare-bones acoustic. On others, they create an amalgam of bluegrass and the classic country of the ’80s and ’90s enhanced…
The Sadies – Favourite Colours
I love this band. Their ’02 record Stories Often Told was one of my favorites that year. Their latest will probably make the list for ’04. It’s hard to describe the band. See…
John Scofield – This Meets That
It’s never good to expect anything from John Scofield because he likes to throw a curve. With his latest release, he mixes great originals with surprising covers on a trio record… sort of.…
Mark Chesnutt
Saguaro Road
In the ’90s, Mark Chesnutt had a string of 21 Top 10 singles, eight of them topping Billboard’s country chart. He played George Jones (hailing from the Possum’s hometown of Beaumont, Texas) on…
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…
Merle Travis & Deke Dickerson
Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story
Deke Dickerson does things right. He doesn’t skimp in his books, recordings, or various other productions, knowing that true “guitar geeks” (as he justly refers to himself and the rest of us) revel…
Jeff Golub – Temptation
Lots of folks think Golub’s playing has grown a little too slick and “smooth” for its own good. You might agree, but to me, his playing has such a groove it’s impossible to…
Dio and Ronnie James Dio
He produced wicked imagery, epic theatricality, and wielded an uncanny personal connection to his audience. And then there was the voice. The late Ronnie James Dio was the greatest metal vocalist of his…
Steve Khan
Backlog
Steve Khan has spent the last few albums mixing Latin music and jazz. The project has worked beautifully, culminating in this effort that takes tunes from Thelonious Monk, Bobby Hutcherson, Ornette Coleman, Steve’s…
Stanton Moore – Groove Alchemy
Telarc
On Groove Alchemy, drummer Stanton Moore, Robert Walter (organ) and Will Bernard (guitar) serve up groove after groove. Bernard’s solos show his versatility and chops, while his rhythm work is solid as a…
Nineteen Hand Horse
Revel
Robben Ford – Blue Moon
Blue Moon
Robben Ford reached legendary status, at least in some circles, when he first hit the blues scene – with Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Witherspoon, and his family group (the Charles Ford Band) – some…
The Hacienda Brothers – Hacienda Brothers
Hacienda Brothers
Take one of the most road-tested rock-a-bluesy guitarists in the game, the Paladins’ Dave Gonzalez, and add country/conjunto/Cajun soul man Chris Gaffney, and you’ve got the makings of something special. Add David “D.B.”…
Mel Brown – Chicken Fat
It’s been awhile since we saw and heard any vinyl, but these welcome guitar releases come courtesy of the fine folks at Sundazed. The sound, as you’d expect is wonderful. Everything’s big 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…
Robben Ford
Spontaneity is one of Robben Ford’s earmarks. So, recording nine backing tracks in one day, then adding vocals and finishing touches a week later (rarely attempted these days) played to his strength. To…
Albert King
Soul Men (and Women)
“Play it, Steve!” Just a bend, four notes, and it’s instantly recognizable that Sam Moore is summoning Steve Cropper in the Sam & Dave hit, “Soul Man.” And it’s equally recognizable that this…
Jim Suhler
Dallas native Jim Suhler has been splitting his time between leading his own group, Monkey Beat, and, since 1999, playing lead and rhythm guitar with George Thorogood and the Destroyers. His latest release,…
Extreme
Six
Extreme’s sixth studio album – their first since 2008’s Saudades de Rock – was a long time coming. With only a live album released in 2016 to satiate disciples, Six is a recording…
The Hadden Sayers Band – Swingin’ From The Fabulous Satellite
If tasteful, solid, rock is your thing, this band is for you. Storming out of Texas and led by guitarist Hadden Sayers, they blend blues, classic rock, country, and good old-fashioned pop music…
Bryan Clark – Gossip, Inspiration & Slander
Rainfeather Records
