Sign in Become a member

Michael Elliott

Gangstagrass Makes a Timely Statement on ‘No Time for Enemies’

Gangstagrass Makes a Timely Statement on ‘No Time for Enemies’

The most striking moment on No Time for Enemies, the fifth studio album from bluegrass/hip-hop trailblazers Gangstagrass, comes toward the end, during a reimagining of the Stephen Foster standard “Hard Times Come Again No More.” After a faithful first verse and chorus sung masterfully by Grenadian-Canadian soul-folk singer Kaia

Jason Isbell Confronts His Ghosts on ‘Reunions’

Jason Isbell Confronts His Ghosts on ‘Reunions’

Ghosts are not always paranormal phenomena or beings that occupy a higher astral plane that one can choose to believe in or not. Ghosts can sometimes refer to people in our past who may still be very much alive but with whom we’ve lost contact over time. “Reunions” in

Tribute Celebrates Beauty and Empathy in Tom Waits’ Songs

Tribute Celebrates Beauty and Empathy in Tom Waits’ Songs

The advantage — or disadvantage, depending on your perspective — of a tribute album is that by glancing at the track listing you already have an idea in your head of how it will sound. Depending on your familiarity with the artists involved, that idea extends to how those artists will likely

Kinky Friedman Rises Again

Kinky Friedman Rises Again

When you've been a part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue; partied with John Belushi; hung out with Iggy Pop; hosted parties that attracted Jack Nicholson, Joni Mitchell, Dylan, and hundreds more; written north of 30 books; not to mention run for agriculture commissioner and governor

Star of 'Sinematic' is Robbie Robertson in the Role of Himself

Star of 'Sinematic' is Robbie Robertson in the Role of Himself

Many of The Band's songs were written with an eye toward the big screen: characters both timeless and of their time, lyrically ambitious, and cinematic in scope. It was a natural move then, when following the dissolution of The Band, Robbie Robertson spent much of his time scoring

A Deeper Blue: 'Sky Blue' Shows Townes Van Zandt in his Comfort Zone

A Deeper Blue: 'Sky Blue' Shows Townes Van Zandt in his Comfort Zone

The mid-1970s were not a fertile time for Townes Van Zandt’s recording career. Though he had released six albums by 1972’s The Late Great Townes Van Zandt, its follow-up, Flyin’ Shoes, wouldn’t see the light of day until 1978. In the years between, Van Zandt spent his

Gary Clark Jr. Stakes His Claim

Gary Clark Jr. Stakes His Claim

“This Land,” the title track from Gary Clark Jr.’s third studio full-length, opens with a Parliament/Funkadelic-style otherworldly keyboard that sounds as if the mothership is landing — landing “right in the middle of Trump country.” Over a reggae groove and containing elements of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ take