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Rich Kienzle
Dwight Yoakam
Brighter Days
Nearly 40 years ago, as audiences wearied of frothy ’80s country-pop, Dwight Yoakam was in the vanguard of country’s New Traditional movement. His stripped-down spin on the twang-driven Bakersfield sound of the ’60s yielded hit singles and albums. Ever since, his albums have reflected unswerving excellence. On his latest, Yoakam and his longtime band –…
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Rich Kienzle
Side Hustle
Thom Rotella
Rotella’s long-established fretboard brilliance has put him in some heady music, film, and TV sessions over the decades (including frequent contributions to “Family Guy”). A protégé of revered L.A. “Wrecking Crew” guitar giant and fellow Buffalo native Tommy Tedesco, Rotella’s roots reflect the traditions of early hero Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, early George Benson, and…
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Rich Kienzle
Billy Strings
Live, Volume 1
Billy Strings has travelled far from his days as bluegrass flatpicking prodigy, though that style remains a linchpin of his sound as he’s kept moving, developing greater depth and range. Strings’ ability to seamlessly move between acoustic Appalachian virtuosity and complex, extended amplified improvisations (on the same wired-up Preston Thompson D-BA) has broadened his already…
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Rich Kienzle
Jim Lauderdale
Harder Country
Jim Lauderdale has had three busy years. 2021’s Hope, which he calls “a very uplifting album,” emerged from the pandemic. The follow-up, Game Changer, took a more-country/honky-tonk direction, and last year’s The Long and Lonesome Letting Go, with the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, returned to bluegrass. His latest, My Favorite Place, is “a pretty hard country…
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Rich Kienzle
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour
Friendlytown
From his earliest days in Memphis, Steve Cropper’s virtuosity stemmed from his powerful mastery of rhythm and flawless sense of economy. Those assets stood him in good stead through the glory days as Stax Records, with Booker T. & The MG’s, playing on Memphis’ most-epochal soul records. That reputation has endured for six decades, from…
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Rich Kienzle
Joe Ely
Driven to Drive
From the start of his solo career, Joe Ely’s west Texas audacity and unpredictability has been an asset – an extension of his early days as part of the revered country-folk trio The Flatlanders (with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore). Driven to Drive is an exercise in minimalism that feels like a field recording.…
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Rich Kienzle
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Southwest Survivors
TexiCali marks the latest chapter in the partnership of L.A. roots-rock vet Dave Alvin and revered West Texas singer/songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore – old friends who had appeared on the same shows, but never together. After Gilmore’s agent suggested they try teaming up, in 2018 they recorded Downey to Lubbock. The alliance surprised some. “Dave…
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Rich Kienzle
Jim Lauderdale
My Favorite Place
Since his 1991 debut, Planet of Love, Jim Lauderdale has produced a body of award-winning work few modern country or Americana acts can match. His albums reflect a level of consistency in creating material that reflects an engaging blend of excellence, substance, and integrity. As usual, his 36th album is music he wrote or co-wrote,…
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Rich Kienzle
Connie Smith
Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches
Connie Smith’s career began with her ebullient 1964 hit “Once a Day,” now part of the Library of Congress’ prestigious National Recording Registry. Marty Stuart, Smith’s husband and producer since ’97, shaped her four previous albums to celebrate traditional sounds and present them to new audiences. This time, the focus is different. Smith selected venerable…
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Rich Kienzle
“Spider” John Koerner
Minneapolis folk-blues pioneer “Spider” John Koerner, one-third of the celebrated ’60s blues-folk trio Koerner, Ray and Glover, died May 18. He was 86 and battled cancer. A native of Rochester, New York, Koerner arrived at the University of Minnesota in 1956 to study engineering, when folk music caught his attention. He became part of the…
