ALBUM REVIEW: Across ‘About the Winter,’ Barbaro Weaves Big Messages From Small Details
Minneapolis-based Barbaro mines life’s most intimate and seemingly mundane moments in an attempt to extrapolate larger lessons about life itself and the nature of our fragile existence. Songs like “The Lil Sweaters” and “Apples to Apples,” from their newest album, About the Winter, are illuminated by minutiae like red,
ALBUM REVIEW: Nathan Graham’s Debut Confronts Uncertainty With Courage
Right out of the gate on his debut record, Saint of Second Chances, Nathan Graham lets listeners know who he is. A powerhouse singer with a deep drive to connect, the Chicago-born-and-raised Graham tenderly wraps his fears and anxieties in velvety arrangements infused with a wide range of influences from
ALBUM REVIEW: Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed Applies Soul Appeal to a Wide Range of Covers on ‘Hits and Misses’
For the last two decades, Eli “Paperboy” Reed has been screamin' like a lost soul trying to find his way home. The Brookline, Massachusetts, native started vocalizing like a '60s soul demon after moving to Clarksdale, Mississippi, shortly after his high school graduation, honing his craft in the
THE READING ROOM: Rounder Records’ Music-First Recipe for Success
Ken Irwin was born a ramblin’ man, searching out the music where its notes filled the air at old-time gatherings and festivals. In the early 1970s, he and his partner Marian Leighton staked out a claim on picnic tables at such locales, loaded them up with stacks of albums, and
ALBUM REVIEWS: Chris Shiflett’s ‘Lost at Sea’ Is a Satisfying Soundtrack for the Wayward
It makes sense that Chris Shiflett’s newest solo album, Lost at Sea, is a little here, there, and everywhere. Shiflett’s own musical resume is an expansive exploration of geography and genre.
Throughout the ’90s, Shiflett honed his guitar chops in California punk roots in bands like Lost Kittenz,
CROWDFUNDING RADAR: House of Hamill, Amelia White, and Crow and Gazelle
One of the things I love about doing this column is introducing new artists releasing their debut albums. But I also enjoy revisiting artists who I've featured before. Some crowdfund their first album out of sheer necessity. Those who come back to the well a second or third