ALBUM REVIEW: Courtney Jaye Shares a Bold Spiritual Vision on ‘Hymns and Hallelucinations’
Gentle guitars eddy under Courtney Jaye’s soaring vocals on “The Kingdom is Inside of Me,” the opening track of Hymns and Hallelucinations, her stunning new album. Climbing from a soothing lullaby to a resounding operatic embrace of the darkness and light of the soul, the song serves as invocation
ALBUM REVIEW: Grant Lee-Phillips Confronts the World Outside on ‘All That You Can Dream’
Grant-Lee Phillips seems a bit torn and frayed on All That You Can Dream, which comes as no surprise. Along with so many others, the Nashville-based troubadour has been juggling a host of challenges, from the pandemic to toxic politics to family matters, in the process trying to conduct a
Allison Russell and Crys Matthews Among Honorees at International Folk Music Awards
Folk Alliance International bestowed its Best of 2021 awards as well as a new batch of lifetime achievement and other honors Wednesday evening on the first day of its conference being held in Kansas City.
Allison Russell won Artist of the Year as well as Album of the Year for
ALBUM REVIEW: Magic in the Making as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Does Dylan
The title of Dirt Does Dylan tells you everything you need to know: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band makes more than a little magic covering the songs of Bob Dylan. Dylan and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have shaped the music we now call Americana more than any other artists
THE LONG HAUL: Remember to Let the Light In
At the beginning of April, I flew out to Portland, Oregon, for a couple of weeks to attend the mixing sessions for my new record with engineer and producer Tucker Martine. In some ways, it felt like the most privileged moment of my career to date, having the budget to
ALBUM REVIEW: On ‘One Is One,’ Delta Spirit Continues Streak of Music That Moves
What’s a band to do when following up a masterwork?
Delta Spirit’s What Is There (2020) was/is a paragon of melodic sensibilities, an excellent front-to-back long player that proved Matthew Logan Vasquez and company were back and better than ever after a five-year hiatus. Yet instead of