Rachel Cholst

On Desert Pavement, ISMAY crafts a world that exists somewhere in between past and present, reality and fantasy, country and city. The title was inspired by the bluegrass lifer’s interest in cowboy poetry. Desert pavement is a natural phenomenon described in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the

On Current, Danielle Howle displays her expertise at capturing music’s spirit. That’s not a vague cliché. Howle opens her album with the lyrics “Why’d I let all of that outta my mouth / Don’t you know I feel insane?” While that song “Live Through,” is about navigating

Colin Cutler’s life has many threads: a former Pentecostal Christian, a military veteran, a troubadour who bummed rides across Europe, and a community college instructor, it all leads to one magnificent tapestry of roots music on Tarwater. The album is named for both a Flannery O’Connor character and

Lots of artists emerged from lockdown with a newfound sense of purpose, perhaps a new level of introspection or with a new style or instrument. This is important, but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we’re all a little worse for wear. Hello June’s new album, Artifacts,

Jenny Owen Youngs has lived through just about every possible human experience since her last full-length album in 2012, An Unwavering Band of Light. Eleven years, a marriage, a divorce, a second marriage, and a baby later, Owen Youngs returns to the microphone with her intimate Avalanche. The album finds

From the first second of All Bad, Nick Shoulders wants you to know this isn’t your grandpa’s country music. The album’s instrumental overture, “Hoarse Whisperer,” begins with a phaser blast and a sample of a menacing deep voice declaring “So if this is truly a conversation, then