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Noah Berlatsky

ALBUM REVIEW: Bobbie Nelson’s ‘Loving You’ with Amanda Shires a Fitting Career Capstone

ALBUM REVIEW: Bobbie Nelson’s ‘Loving You’ with Amanda Shires a Fitting Career Capstone

Bobbie Lee Nelson is one of the great unheralded legends of country music. Her piano-playing — ranging from yearning contemplation to honky-tonk barrelhouse — provided the backbone for her brother Willie's band on classic tracks like "Always On My Mind" and "Red-Headed Stranger." She overcame ugly

ALBUM REVIEW: Brennen Leigh Blasts Open the Doors to the Honky-Tonk

ALBUM REVIEW: Brennen Leigh Blasts Open the Doors to the Honky-Tonk

Brennen Leigh is a retro country true believer. For two decades, she's celebrated the music of Nashville's various golden ages, releasing tribute discs to The Carter Family and Lefty Frizzell and penning her own songs in the spirit of countrypolitan and high lonesome past. Her last

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Ears of the People’ Spotlights the Ekonting, Banjo’s Ancestor

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Ears of the People’ Spotlights the Ekonting, Banjo’s Ancestor

If you are not an ethnomusicologist and/or from West Africa, you may well read the title Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and the Gambia and wonder, “What on earth is an ekonting?” The collection, and its extensive, well-written liner notes, answer that question at great and

ALBUM REVIEW: Anthony D’Amato Finds New Ground For Folk-Rock Sound

ALBUM REVIEW: Anthony D’Amato Finds New Ground For Folk-Rock Sound

“I won’t let you down / I’m in it for the long haul,” Anthony D’Amato harmonizes on “Long Haul,” the first track of his new album, At First There Was Nothing. The lyrics are a promise to a lover, but they also are effectively addressed to his listeners,