• 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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GA-20

Crackdown

When a band names itself after a ’50s Gibson amp, plays Silvertone and Harmony guitars, and devotes an entire album to Hound Dog Taylor, any self-respecting blues fan should take notice. But the…

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…

Kentucky Colonels

1966

Clarence White is best known as the B-bendin’ Telecaster pioneer with the Byrds – and his tragic 1973 death. But he’s also admired for his groundbreaking flatpicking with the Kentucky Colonels. This set,…

The Jayhawks

Sony Legacy

Minneapolis’ Jayhawks always had more in common with their compatriots the Replacements and Prince than may have been apparent at first blush. The ’Hawks too had a magical way with a melody, crafting…

Larkin Poe

Blood Harmony

The latest from the Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Lovell sisters continues to fashion elements of Southern rock, blues, and wicked slide guitar into a creative juggernaut. Megan wields enviable feel and sensuous perfect pitch and…

Adrian Raso – Clean Up The Mess

Black Mamba Records

Adrian Raso understands that, just as a guitar solo is not just a place-holder between lyric lines, an instrumental is not just a bunch of notes that sound good together. Guitarists may have…

The Rolling Stones

Rolling In The Blues

Mick Jagger’s famous 1968 statement – “What’s the point in listening to us doing ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?” – has been a (sometimes) credo for…

Richie Barron – Rather Have the Green Than the Blues

Leslie Ann Knight is the host of the “Monday Morning Blues” program on KKUP-FM, in Cupertino California, and as of late, she has been responsible for a number of west coast blues getting…

Bayside – The Walking Wounded

This Long Island quartet had already undergone several personnel changes since its formation in 2000 before a car wreck killed drummer John “Beatz” Holohan and severely injured bassist Nick Ghanbarian. Guitarist Jack O’Shea…

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”…

Pretty Things, Procol Harum, David Bowie, and Various Artists

For all the British psych bands you do know – such as the Move and Small Faces – you’ve probably never heard of dozens more. This three-CD set brings together more than 75…

Dex Romweber Duo

Dex Romweber and his trusty Silvertone have been kicking over the gnarly dustbins of American music since he was a teenager. (The uninitiated are advised to seek out a mini-documentary that aired on…

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers

R&B stalwart Castro comes out with guns blazing on his latest, adding some raucous rock and roll to his usual helping of soul and blues. There’s an added edge to songs like the…

Della Mae

Self-distributed

The women of Della Mae kick off their latest with a version of the traditional “Bowling Green” followed by Lester Flatt’s “Head Over Heels,” firmly establishing their commitment to bluegrass and eliminating any…

Bad Company

Thanks to advances in audio tweaking, studio engineers can now take 40-year-old concert tapes and make them sound thrilling. Case in point, Bad Company’s first-ever live album, culled from a few late ’70s…

Albert Lee – Heartbreak Hill

Heartbreak Hill

Being an Albert Lee fan can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. Because, even though he’s invariably busy, touring behind somebody or playing on someone’s record, his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow much…

Grant Green

Prolific though he was, there have been more albums devoted to jazz guitar great Grant Green posthumously than were released in his lifetime. Not surprising, considering he died at 43. A heroin addict…

Gilkyson, Gorka, Kaplansky

Red House Records

Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky have played on each other’s albums and shared concert stages, but the idea for a group album surfaced when they played together during Red House Records…

Andreas öberg – Solo

Swedish guitarslinger Andreas öberg is a firebrand, playing mainstream jazz and Gypsy jazz with a fury. His style is ultra-modern – fast and driving, with a rock and roll-inspired intensity. Fronting the Hot…

Michael Nesmith

Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs

Aside from being in the Monkees, Mike Nesmith was a talented songwriter and key contributor to the birth of country-rock. His new autobiography, Infinite Tuesday, is accompanied by a 14-track CD retrospective and…

Mark Cook – An Evening With The Blues

An Evening With The Blues

It’s obvious this Terre Haute-based guitarist is a talented individual. He’s got the chops and did all the writing and arranging on this disc. Not only the instrumental portions, but the vocal melodies,…

Mighty Poplar

Ace: Mighty Poplar

The term “supergroup” is overused in every musical genre, but Mighty Poplar is one; mandolinist Andrew Marlin is part of the folk duo Waterhouse, bassist Greg Garrison hails from Leftover Salmon, guitarist Chris…

Tomo Fujita – Right Place, Right Time

Fujita is a professor at Berklee College of Music, and the music here flies in the face of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Fujita proves himself a true player’s player;…

Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell

A Bushel of Berry

There was no single architect or originator of rock and roll; there were several. Any serious discussion would have to include Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill…

Kim Wilson – Lookin’ For Trouble

Lookin' For Trouble

What can you add to the legacy of one of the greatest harmonica players of all time? Perhaps a second legacy of developing a generation of great unknown guitarists within the confines of…

Eric Ambel

Eric “Roscoe” Ambel is accomplished guitarist (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Steve Earle) and go-to “roots rock” producer (Bottle Rockets, Nils Lofgren, Ryan Adams, and many more). In 2012, he added “erstwhile tavern…

Van Morrison – Under Review

A documentary on Van Morrison’s most fruitful years including live concert footage would be welcomed by fans everywhere. Yet the academic subtitle here says all too much about this British film on Van…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

Marc Ford – Weary And Wired

Shortly after announcing his retirement from the Black Crowes, the platinum-selling Southern-rockers he’d joined in 1992, Marc Ford reunited with bassist Mark “Muddy” Dutton and drummer Doni Gray, his late-80s bandmates from the…

Envy of None

Envy of None

Let’s start with the obvious: Alex Lifeson’s new project sounds little like Rush. Billed as “dark, cinematic alt rock,” Envy of None pulls from ’90s industrial and early-2000s synth rock with electro-drums, pulsating…

Arv Garrison

The Unknown Wizard Of The Six-String

In the ’40s, Arv Garrison recorded with bebop legends Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Besides his own group, he was one-third of the Vivien Garry Trio with his bassist/wife. And he wrote and…


Bruce Brown

Self-distributed

Snarky Puppy

Empire Central

Jerry Lee Lewis and Rick Bragg

The Killer and His Axemen