Steve Leftridge

Emmitt-Nershi Band--New Country Blues--SCI Fidelity Few musical styles are quite as polarizing as that of jam bands. The haters deplore the never-ending and meandering solos, the emphasis on instrumental improvisation over singing and melody, and the conspicuous uniformity of the fans, with their emphasis on drugs and identical dancing. The

Contuining a collaboration with producer Don Was that began with A Moment of Forever (1995) and This Old Road (2006), Kris Kristofferson went back into the studio this year with Was to make Closer to the Bone, a spare, mostly solo set of new original songs. Major kudos to Was,

Attention, Lyle Lovers: Your man is back with a new album, Natural Forces, his tenth studio album, and third consecutive for the Lost Highway label. Although, as you’ve no doubt learned, if he were always the man that you wanted, he would not be the man that he is.

Phish--Joy--Jemp--September 2009 The 14th studio album from Phish, and their first after a five-year hiatus that ended with a series of reunion shows in March, starts with “Backwards Down the Number Line”, a Dead-style piece of sunny roots-rock that finds singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio’s vocals taking on a smoother

Joshua James—Build Me This—Intelligent Noise—2009 Yes, I know it’s hard to get past that album cover. Is that Noxema? Has he rolled himself in flour? If this reverse minstrelsy? Is he covering his face with curdled milk like Halle in Beloved? Or is he just trying