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J.D. Crowe & The New South - Live In Japan

J.D. Crowe & the New South were, simply put, one of the most important and influential bluegrass bands of the 1970s, but only their self-titled 1975 Rounder debut has remained in print (though Crowe's previous band released three albums on the tiny Lemco label). The reissue of

Cheri Knight - The Northeast Kingdom

From start to finish, Cheri Knight's second solo album (and first for E-Squared) brilliantly bounces back and forth from Emmylou Harris-like ballads to Liz Phair-esque rock, touching on everything in between. This album arguably defines the moniker "alternative country" and at the same time stomps on

Butch Hancock - You Coulda Walked Around The World

Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind album has generated some of his best reviews in two decades and earned him the cover of Newsweek; Butch Hancock's self-released You Coulda Walked Around The World isn't likely to cause much of a ripple beyond the clubs

Michael Hurley - Snockgrass

It's hard to put a finger on Michael Hurley. Emerging in the early '70s with a couple of homemade albums, Armchair Boogie and Hi Fi Snock Uptown (both on the Raccoon label), he appeared in the guise of a crazy backwoods Vermont folkie, singing about werewolves and

Various Artists - American Primitive Vol. 1: Raw Pre-war Gospel (1926-36)

A bit of a misnomer, this. It's my understanding that sacred recordings of this era and nature usually fall under the heading of sanctified blues. But music this transcendent would put the fear of God in me no matter what you called it. Besides, that's not

Various Artists - Coal Mining Women

I have an old copy of a book called Hard Hitting Songs For Hard Hit People (now criminally out-of-print) that collects and comments on protest and blues songs of the 1930s. In it, Woody Guthrie quotes organizer and songwriter Aunt Molly Jackson: "I composed this song one morning a

Sid Griffin - Little Victories

Beginning with his early '80s work as frontman for the Long Ryders and through his more recent output via the London-based Coal Porters (plus a writing credit for his bio of Gram Parsons), Sid Griffin has been channeling the roots of American music for quite some time now. But