Mando Lines

Well, they sing about Jesus, they sing about Jones And they sing of American pride But they're all too damn clean, polished like stones And they won't sing about cheatin' and lies Well, I remember the days when the singers just sang And left it

Here We Rest, the latest record from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, wound up at the top of many best of 2011 lists (including mine) for good reason.  It is a strong collection of songs performed by great musicians.  The album cover is quite nice, too -- a beautiful,

Between the Devil and God, between the first breath and last Somewhere under heaven with no future and a helluva past We in the mud and scum of things moan and cry and lying At least we ain't Lazarus and had to think twice about dying     Least we

Rhett Miller brings remarkable energy and enthusiasm to his shows.  You probably know that he and the Old 97's really rock it, but unless you've seen him solo, you might not realize how lively an acoustic set can be.  There's that hair and those

The Gourds recorded Old Mad Joy up at Levon Helm's barn, with former Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell on the controls.  The album serves up tunes that are Gourd-like, with disconnected lyrics that defy narrative comprehension but sound really good, such as Melchert.  But Old Mad Joy is