ALBUM REVIEW: Love and Loss Anchor Leon Timbo’s ‘Lovers and Fools, Vol. 2’
Gospel-laden harmonies that are smooth as silk have long been a part of Leon Timbo’s musical repertoire, but he takes things a step further on his latest project, Lovers and Fools, Vol. 2. On it, Timbo navigates within his comfort zone of gospel while also branching out into country,
ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Americana Railroad’ Arrives With Fresh Take on Train Songs
Nothing says Americana, in the broadest sense, more than trains. They’ve long been a source of romance and fascination — and, for songwriters, metaphor-laden inspiration. Trains may no longer have a dominant presence in the American consciousness, but Americana Railroad, a compilation of new recordings of new and old numbers,
ALBUM REVIEW: On ‘Sing to the Walls,’ Chastity Brown Goes Full Power
Refining the infectious rhythms, melodies, and vocals of her previous album, 2017’s Silhouette of Sirens, Chastity Brown releases her new set, Sing to the Walls. The project stands as a culmination of Brown’s journey, a sequence that marks her evolution from a rootsy troubadour to a meticulous songwriter,
Tedeschi Trucks Band Takes Up Layla’s Point of View on Four-Part ‘I Am the Moon’ Project
In 1970, a lovesick Eric Clapton, tortured by his obsession with his best friend’s wife, penned the lyrics to “Layla,” which became the centerpiece of one of rock’s most enduring albums, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. It was a double album powered not only by the twin-guitar
ALBUM REVIEW: Vivid Characters Make for Memorable Songs on Rod Picott’s ‘Paper Hearts and Broken Arrows’
Rod Picott is one of our too-little-known songwriting treasures. Like Hemingway, he peers into the jangly tentativeness of the relationships between men and women. Like Harry Crews, he captures the spectral gothic shadows that haunt rural settings. Like Townes Van Zandt, Picott tells riveting tales about memorable characters — the moonshiner,
ALBUM REVIEW: American Aquarium Throws Out a Lifeline on ‘Chicamacomico’
B.J. Barham has spent the last couple of years trying to make musical sense of his own wreckage, so it’s not surprising to see the resulting set of songs named after a place that historically provided maritime rescues for those literally sinking off the coast of his native