Jon Young

In its mid-‘50s heyday, Sun Records launched the careers of some high-wattage talents, among them Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison. Though not the first name that comes to mind when you think of the revolutionary Memphis label, Carl Perkins got his start there, too.

While undergoing treatment for cancer last year, the country-inclined troubadour Joshua Ray Walker worried that his creative life might be nearing an end. Determined to carry on, the Dallas-based artist set out to record enough music for three albums. The first, the familiar-sounding Tropicana, was released four months ago. Now,

“God’s plan unfolds so slow!” screams Karly Hartzman, leader of North Carolina’s Wednesday, erupting in frustration during one of her searing vignettes of small-town life. The electrifying Bleeds is a parade of hard-living folks who can’t get out of their own way, sabotaging any chance of survival

Ambitious and proud of it, Carson McHone reveals where she’s coming from in the opening moments of her dazzling new album. Pentimento begins with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, standard-bearer of the 19th-century Transcendalist movement, which believed divine truths could be drawn from everyday experience. “Heaven walks among

When Grant-Lee Phillips declares, “Strange days have begun,” it’s hardly shocking news. Like so many others, this thoughtful bard is struggling to process the chaos of modern life. After chronicling his pandemic experience on the brilliant album 2022’s All That You Can Dream, Phillips has some thoughts to

“I can do whatever I damn well please,” proclaims Ron Sexsmith calmly on his latest standout album, voicing steely defiance with typical restraint. Regardless of his sentiments, which can range from placid to fraught, he wraps them in such lovely melodies that it’s easy to mistake these thoughtful songs