
ALBUM REVIEW: Them Coulee Boys' 'No Fun in the Chrysalis,' Highlights the Importance of Appreciating Every Moment
Within seconds of their newest LP's beginning, Them Coulee Boys deliver the album’s titular phrase, “no fun in the chrysalis," shortly after, they follow with the declaration: “Change is a funny thing / Pain can make you sing.” It’s a fitting statement of intent for an
![SPOTLIGHT: Mountains by Cristina Vane [ESSAY]](/content/images/size/w720/nodepression-com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/cristina-vane-spotlight.jpg)
SPOTLIGHT: Mountains by Cristina Vane [ESSAY]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Cristina Vane is No Depression’s Spotlight artist for February 2025. Read more about her and her new album, Hear My Call, out Feb. 21, in this feature and check out this ND exclusive video.
Mountains are the buckling points of the earth’s tension, a visual

Joe Ely Digs Into His Archives For Songs of 'Love And Freedom'
Joe Ely has been a prime mover in Americana music since the days before it was called Americana. From the early-’70s origins of the Flatlanders with his childhood Lubbock pals Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, through a run of MCA albums that earned him an opening slot on

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘The Standard School Broadcast Recordings’ Unearths an Overlooked John Lee Hooker Session from 1973
Mississippi-born bluesman John Lee Hooker, who emerged in the late 1940s, played strikingly-original songs that helped fuel the 1960s’ blues-rock boom in England and the U.S., including “Boom Boom” and “Boogie Chillen’ ”; among the artists who recorded his tunes were Van Morrison, The Doors, and Tom Petty. Always more

ALBUM REVIEW: The Devil Makes Three Perseveres Through Hard Times on 'Spirits'
Whether it’s the state of the world or personal travails, a lot of people are going through it right now. Finding your way through these challenges isn’t easy; it takes resilience, clarity and a sense of purpose.
These are the themes at the core of Spirits, the new

FOUNDERS KEEPERS: After the Fire is Gone; The Last Sessions of Bluesman Elmore James
It began here, in the safety of the suburbs, black vinyl spinning in someone's back room, George Harrison bragging on John Lennon during the bridge in the Beatles' “For You Blue,” a minor track from 1970's Let It Be“: “Elmore James got nothin' on