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Rachel Cholst

QUEER COUNTRY: Six Degrees of Karen Pittelman

QUEER COUNTRY: Six Degrees of Karen Pittelman

EDITOR'S NOTE: Queer artists and queer country music make up an essential part of the independent music community No Depression is proud to cover. Like the best folk musicians, they both challenge and uplift its traditions, moving the genre and culture forward in important, innovative ways. This month,

ALBUM REVIEW: Cam's 'All Things Light' Searches for Solid Ground Through Small, Intimate Moments

ALBUM REVIEW: Cam's 'All Things Light' Searches for Solid Ground Through Small, Intimate Moments

Most artists spent lockdown digging deep into their discomfort, their isolation, their loneliness and wrote intimate, thoughtful albums that taught us all how to make peace with ourselves. Then they got those albums out as soon as they could. For Cam, All Things Light, has been five years in the

ALBUM REVIEW: Ben de la Cour Embraces the Night on 'New Roses'

ALBUM REVIEW: Ben de la Cour Embraces the Night on 'New Roses'

With New Roses, Ben de la Cour delivers the sonic equivalent of that eerie feeling you get when the beams from an oncoming set of headlights brush over you on a rainy day. It’s not quite a run in with your mortality, but there is a sense of a

ALBUM REVIEW: The Shootouts' Switchback' is as Precise and Electric as Ever

ALBUM REVIEW: The Shootouts' Switchback' is as Precise and Electric as Ever

The Shootouts are as electric as ever on their latest album, Switchback. The title track is an instrumental interlude breaking up the band’s most confident album yet. The rollicking guitars and buoyant trad country rhythm section take us back to matinee Westerns. While the band has always cultivated a

ALBUM REVIEW: Samantha Crain's 'Gumshoe' is Fluid and Celebratory

ALBUM REVIEW: Samantha Crain's 'Gumshoe' is Fluid and Celebratory

With Gumshoe, Samantha Crain overcomes her tendency to self-isolate. Crain’s signature blend of folk, blues, and rock has appeared on Reservation Dogs and Lily Gladstone’s film Fancy Dance. A member of the Choctaw nation, Crain used Gumshoe as an opportunity to take on their motto “Together we’re

ALBUM REVIEW: Avery Friedman's Debut Is A Bold, Instinctual 'New Thing'

ALBUM REVIEW: Avery Friedman's Debut Is A Bold, Instinctual 'New Thing'

Avery Friedman had spent plenty of time around music, but she’d never written a song before 2023. With the encouragement of her musician friends, Friedman pursued her craft and now, in the spring of 2025, we have her debut album New Thing. This eight-song collection spans a wide array

ALBUM REVIEW: Ron Pope's 'American Man, American Music' Measures Up Something Other Than Toxic Masculinity

ALBUM REVIEW: Ron Pope's 'American Man, American Music' Measures Up Something Other Than Toxic Masculinity

For Ron Pope, American Man, American Music is as advertised. The album even kicks off with Pope singing a jaunty bro country-inflected song about picking up “a brown-skinned doll” in Panama. The song swaggers with an easy-going attitude even as Pope reminds us of its title: "Nobody’s Gonna