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Henry Carrigan

ALBUM REVIEW: Ashley McBryde’s ‘Wild’ Offers Raucous Redemption and Hope

ALBUM REVIEW: Ashley McBryde’s ‘Wild’ Offers Raucous Redemption and Hope

On her fifth studio album, Wild, Ashley McBryde continues to navigate the ragged edges that shape an individual’s life. In these hard-charging songs that blend raucous rock and searing country, she peers into the fissures of the human heart as they reveal the jagged darkness of despair and trauma,

THE READING ROOM: Revisiting Dave Mason’s ‘Only You Know and I Know’

THE READING ROOM: Revisiting Dave Mason’s ‘Only You Know and I Know’

When Dave Mason died on April 19, 2026, the world lost a musician’s musician whose passion consisted of searching for just the right notes in the music he played. Mason generously contributed his songwriting and instrumental prowess to whatever group of musicians he joined, never standing out front, but

THE READING ROOM: Erin Osmon’s ‘Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America’

THE READING ROOM: Erin Osmon’s ‘Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America’

Every now and then a book comes along and pulls back a curtain on tired ways of thinking, revealing the breadth and depth of movements or ideas that we’d taken for granted. Erin Osmon’s richly textured Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America (Norton,

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Unwanted’ is Vintage Dale Watson

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Unwanted’ is Vintage Dale Watson

Open up the honky tonks and throw away the key, guitar slinger Dale Watson is back in town with a new album, Unwanted, which features his gruff, booming voice and his signature Ameripolitan sound. As always, Watson’s here to deliver a straight-ahead, high-octane blend of country and rockabilly, careening

THE READING ROOM: Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars: Affections and Reflections, 1973-2025’

THE READING ROOM: Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars: Affections and Reflections, 1973-2025’

Music journalist, DJ, and record executive Joe McEwen grew up in Philadelphia in the 1960s without the sound of music. Although his mother sometimes listened to Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, and Tony Bennett on the car radio, McEwen often tuned out as the music floated through the speakers. In 1966,

ALBUM REVIEW: Dirk Powell Showcases Clever, Wide-Ranging Artistry on ‘Wake’

ALBUM REVIEW: Dirk Powell Showcases Clever, Wide-Ranging Artistry on ‘Wake’

On Wake, his first solo album since 2020, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and singer Dirk Powell paints a masterpiece. With support from Rhiannon Giddens, Darrell Scott, and Powell's daughter and musical collaborator, Amelia, Powell draws from a colorful palette of sound, to capture in broad flourishes the many scenes of

THE READING ROOM: Charles K. Coffman’s ‘Clowns in the Burying Ground: The Grateful Dead, Literature, and the Limits of Philosophy’

THE READING ROOM: Charles K. Coffman’s ‘Clowns in the Burying Ground: The Grateful Dead, Literature, and the Limits of Philosophy’

Of the making of books about the Grateful Dead there is no end, and rightly so. The band itself noodled around on stage, “truckin” down the “Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion).” Their extended jams explored the permeable boundaries of space and time, using the spaces between the notes to anticipate