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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
BR549 – This Is BR549
On their sixth disc, the boys in BR549 have a bit of a change cooked up for you. One, their name has dropped the dash. Two, they’ve switched labels to Sony’s new Lucky…
Crooked Still – Still Crooked
When a founding member of a band departs, the other members face a difficult choice. Do they find someone who merely “fits in,” or do they add personnel who might change the ensemble’s…
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…
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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
Leo “Bud” Welch
In this day and age, it’s downright incredible that 81-year-old Mississippi bluesman Leo “Bud” Welch has remained unknown to the broader musical world. Unknown – until now, that is. Welch was born in…
Richie Kotzen
Recapping the fabulous career of Richie Kotzen, the Winery Dogs were hailed as an overwhelming success. Fender finally issued the Richie Kotzen Signature Telecaster in America, and The Essential Richie Kotzen was released…
Making “Old-Timey” New
There are myriad ways to interpret “old-timey” music. In broad strokes, you can go the traditional route or be iconoclastic. These two albums illustrate that there’s lot of gray area in between. The…
Charles Sawtelle – Music from Rancho DeVille
Music from Rancho DeVille
Music from Rancho DeVille is a loveletter from across the grave. Charles Sawtelle passed away Mach 21, 1999, of complications from leukemia. The last several years of his life were spent recuperating from…
Jim Lauderdale
Hope
Inspired by the pandemic, veteran singer/songwriter Lauderdale stresses resiliency and renewal on these 13 originals, enhanced along the way by several of Nashville’s finest guitarists. Chris Scruggs stands out on several tracks; his…
The Autumn Defense
Wilco’s bassist John Stirratt and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone steal some time from their day jobs and step out with their appropriately titled fifth long-player under the Autumn Defense moniker. Fifth captures ’70s AM-drenched,…
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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
Uncle Earl – Waterloo, TN
Old-timey music isn’t a particularly attractive or commercially viable musical genre. Uncle Earl may change that. This foursome of twenty-something women may not be quite as foxy looking as The Coors, but they…
The Rolling Stones
Eagle Rock
Some people think Exile On Main Street is the best album the Rolling Stones ever recorded. Those people are wrong. And it’s certainly not “the rock and roll Bible,” as Sheryl Crow proclaims…
Deborah Coleman – Livin’ On Love
Groovy is the word for Deborah Coleman. She’s got the hip sensibility of Joan Armatrading blended with the blues groove of B.B. King. The result is music that moves you. When Coleman released…
Montrose – The Very Best of Montrose
Ronnie Montrose is known less for his guitar capabilities than for fronting a mid-’70s hard rock band that featured an unknown lead singer named Sammy Hagar. Still, Montrose released a quartet of heavy…
Los Lobos – El Cancionero – Mas y Mas
There’s a new four-CD retrospective con-taining 86 tracks, clocking in at five hours, spanning a dozen albums by one of the greatest bands in rock history. These guys reveal deep roots without pickling…
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…
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…
Led Zeppelin
Zep On The Beeb
This three-CD set builds on an earlier reissue of Zep recordings for the BBC from 1969 and ’71, adding a third CD of unreleased ’69 tracks. More than 45 years later, it’s still…
The Replacements – Tim, Pleased To Meet Me, Don’t Tell A Soul, All Shook Down
The final four Replacements LPs are back in deluxe style, thanks to Rhino. Accompanying the label’s re-release of the band’s first four albums and EPs earlier this year, the band has finally been…
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…
Toronzo Cannon
Mo' Better Blues
You can’t take anything away from Toronzo Cannon. He’s toiled non-stop on the super-competitive Chicago blues circuit, sharing the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the genre. He’s taken his lumps,…
Bernie Williams – The Journey Within
The Journey Within
Yes, Bernie Williams plays center field for my beloved New York Yankees. And while many revel in the fact they were defeated in the World Series, Bernie can take solace in the fact…
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Crooked Tree
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Molly Tuttle has become one of Americana’s most visible artists. Her vocals, influenced by Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, (mostly) sunny, bucolic originals, and free-flowing flatpicking set her apart, though her passionate…
Little Milton – Think of Me
Little Milton is a stone-cold legend of black music. He’s called a blues singer and guitarist, but has always seemed to be more. Here, a bit older and longer of tooth, we get…
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…
Ronnie James Dio, with Mick Wall & Wendy Dio
Rainbow in the Dark
When Dio died of stomach cancer in 2010, he was arguably metal’s greatest-ever singer and had worked with two of the most enigmatic guitar heroes in rock history – Ritchie Blackmore and Tony…
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives This is the type of record few artists make. Each song is carefully crafted, the lyrics are marvelous, and the music is varied and catchy. Maybe it’s…
Detlef Schmidt
Girls Go Wild
Some among the cognoscenti argue that there are two bassists in the blues world that define the genre – Chess mastermind Willie Dixon on the upright and Keith Ferguson on electric. This illustrated…
Deke Dickerson
Guitarchaeology
When Deke Dickerson’s first Strat In The Attic book debuted in 2013, it was an instant best-seller among guitarists in the smart set. Beer parties were abuzz; jam sessions dissolved into ersatz book…
BuckWheat Zydeco – Lay Your Burden Down
Singer/ accordionist/ keyboardist Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural became a popular solo act in the zydeco world years before the unchallenged King Of Zydeco, mentor (and former bandleader) Clifton Chenier, passed away in 1987. While…
David Bowie
Reinventing Bowie
Shedding his Ziggy Stardust glam persona, David Bowie took a hard turn in the mid ’70s and embraced European minimalism and electronica, covered here across nine CDs. The resulting “Berlin Trilogy” of Heroes,…
