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Spencer Grady

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Working My Way Down’ 25 Years in the Making for Mike Stinson & Johnny Irion

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Working My Way Down’ 25 Years in the Making for Mike Stinson & Johnny Irion

It took 25 years for this project to come together, dating back to the mid-’90s, when Mike Stinson and Johnny Irion were honing their chops as country rock guns for hire in the San Fernando Valley. There, in a rehearsal studio known as The Alley, they hooked up with

ALBUM REVIEW: At 17, Nora Brown Taps Into Past Generations With Her Banjo

ALBUM REVIEW: At 17, Nora Brown Taps Into Past Generations With Her Banjo

From the instruments Nora Brown plays and company she keeps, to the research and knowledge enabling her to fully occupy the music she interprets, it’s evident the bloodlines of banjo lore run thick in this young prodigy’s veins. Just 15 when she recorded Long Time to Be Gone,

ALBUM REVIEW: Queer Country Pioneers Lavender Country Return With ‘Blackberry Rose’

ALBUM REVIEW: Queer Country Pioneers Lavender Country Return With ‘Blackberry Rose’

The world of country music wasn’t ready for Patrick Haggerty and his crew of Marxist queers back in 1973. Then, Lavender Country’s strident sexual politics and their self-titled debut LP failed to reach an audience beyond more progressive elements of the gay community. But the project’s fortunes