• 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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Iggy and the Stooges and Special Guests

The Stooges’ influence on ’80s and early ’90s indie scenesters is unimpeachable. For more than a quarter-century, cognoscenti have clamored to comprehend the quartet’s long shadow, more often than not dubbing frontman Iggy…

Steel Master

Jerry Byrd

Before and even after pedal-steel guitars began showing up on country records, Jerry Byrd (1920-2005) and his lap steel remained a gold standard. Whether soloing or accompanying, his distinctive, easy-flowing, undulating lines, flawless…

David Crosby & The Lighthouse Band

Live at the Capitol Theatre

Once, there was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; decades later came Crosby, Stevens, Willis & League – better known as The Lighthouse Band – to light a fire under David Crosby’s tail and…

The Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson

It’s hard to believe these recordings have been around since 2003 and are only now seeing the light of day. What started as Johnnie Johnson showing up to play on some Kentucky Headhunter…

Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band – Rendevous with the Blues

Rendevous with the Blues

This is Melvin’s fourth record for the Evidence label, and like the rest, it’s a showcase of his dazzling technique and deep soul. This guy is a treasure. Perhaps it’s because he’s hard…

Jack Knife and the Sharps – Ace Cafe

Jack Knife and the Sharps are a staple on the bar scene in Minneapolis-St. Paul. They have a reputation of serving up good old-fashioned rock and roll spiced by rockabilly, country, and ’50s-style…

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…

Chet Atkins and Mel Cochran – Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars

Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars

Chet Atkins has a deserved reputation as a great guitar player and all-around nice guy. So it’s a pleasure to see a book that is part biography and part history of his personal…

John Lee Hooker

Mr. Boogie

John Lee Hooker was the bridge between country blues and electric blues, something elegantly captured during a 53-year career. The son of sharecroppers, he melded field hollers, Delta blues, talking blues, and what…

Shelby Lynne

Everso Records

Revelation Road comes from an artist who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, and can come up with an end product that displays brilliantly the worth of the work…

The Who

  If you’ve been feeling low on the Who, there’s a cornucopia of new releases, from video to music to an official book authored by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. And if that…

Dave Alvin – West of the West

Dave Alvin is one of America’s best songwriters, and as such runs the risk of alienating casual fans when he does an album of covers. But then again, maybe not… The idea with…

Calexico

El Mirador

Calexico has long crisscrossed the border between American (blues, country, rock and roll) and Latin-American sounds, but the band’s latest is a borderless exploration of shimmering, luminous music. Vocalist/guitarist/accordionist Joey Burns and drummer…

Michael Powers – Onyx Root

Even for the most hardcore blues fan, things can get a bit “samey” after a point, with so many artists dipping into the same 12-bar well. So as nice as it is to…

Sloan- Parallel Play

Every song on this latest album by the Canadian quartet Sloan has a great hook; the simple “woo-oows” in “Witch’s Wand” are impossible to forget while “Down In the Basement” speaks like some…

Keith Whitley – Sad Songs and Waltzes

The late Keith Whitley, who died at age 33 of acute alcohol poi-soning, was an example of why it isn’t always a good idea to try to live your lyrics if you’re country…

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and John McEuen

The Dirt Band celebrates five decades in style with a host of new releases. The ensemble’s Ryman Auditorium all-star show from March 2016 originally aired on PBS TV, lending the DVD and separate…

Paul Curreri – The Spirit of the Staircase

I was a big fan of Curreri’s Songs for Devon Sproule. That record, produced by guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, was a solo acoustic country-blues effort that took the form places it hadn’t yet…

Jake Andrews

In The Shadows

Twenty-three years ago, a guitarist who shall remain nameless was booked to play SXSW only to discover his slot was right after Jake Andrews, better known as 13-year-old “Guitar Jake” at the time.…

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…

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal plays all sorts of folk, keyboard, and percussion instruments – and just about anything with strings. His deceptively easygoing approach to music – a trot rather than a frenzied gallop –…

Donald Fagen – Nightfly Trilogy

For music lovers and techno geeks, this seven-disc set by the Steely Dan front man is a match made in heaven. It includes CDs of all three Fagen solo albums, The Nightfly, Kamakiriad,…

The Hula Hawaiians – Hilo March

Imagine the year is 1946 and you live in Europe. You’re a steel guitarist and, naturally, you’re really interested in Hawaiian music. You don’t want to play this music all by yourself, so…

George Jones – The Hits…’Till Now

Unlike some country greats, George Jones is no au courant object of fashion, and he’s not part of today’s you-can-hardly-tell-it’s-country music. From his earliest hits, when he was basically imitating Hank Williams, until…

Eric Gales

Crown

Hearing Eric “Raw Dawg” Gales sing about his turbulent past is nothing new. On Crown, Gales continues the narrative, but basks in the glory of his accomplishments, shoots down detractors, and revels in…

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…

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…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

David Grisman Quintent – Dawgnation

Dawgnation

How many musicians can be said to have invented a truly new style of music in the past, say, 25 years? Not just form a new branch of an existing style, but plant…

Various Artists

Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan and Dominic Miller

Bill Frisell is a living jazz icon, famed for his ethereal tone and snaking post-bop lines. Here, he partners with Thomas Morgan for a live set – just guitar and standup bass –…

Janis Ian – Hunger

An album just short of brilliant from a name I had’t heard in awhile. Killer songs, great delivery, and amazing use of an acoustic guitar. Highly recommended. This review originally appeared in VG‘s…