Jim Shahen

Tyler Childers is an outstanding singer and songwriter, and he heads a pretty killer band to boot. He also knows how to make his albums feel unique. Purgatory and Country Squire positioned him as a breakout roots-country star. His 2020 release Long Violent History veered sharply from that direction, a

The king is back. Bluesman Bobby Rush, the 89-year-old King of the Chitlin’ Circuit, is still going strong. In 2021, he released Rawer Than Raw, a solo acoustic LP that earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Blues Album (ND review). This week, he’s back with a full band

Grace Potter has always been a free spirit. It’s the throughline in her career, from the rootsy rock of her mid-2000s group Grace Potter and the Nocturnals to her present-day solo turn. That sensibility is what propels her new LP, Mother Road, as Potter mines her experiences as a

It’s been five years since the last Watson Twins album, the quite-good Duo (ND review). This week Chandra and Leigh Watson are back in a big way with the new LP HOLLER. Produced by Butch Walker, it’s a rollicking affair that weds the sisters’ stunning harmonies with the

There’s this popular meme featuring Michael Fassbender as Magneto in the 2011 flick X-Men: First Class. I’ll spare you the full context behind it, but the image features Fassbender simply saying “Perfection.” That image provides a near-perfect summation of this reviewer’s feelings toward Tears You Hide, the