ALBUM REVIEW: On ‘Still Life,’ Carson McHone Paints the Quest for Inner Peace
Still-life paintings portray stasis, but, in Dallas Frazier’s words: “beneath still waters, there’s a strong undertow.” These paintings owe their entrancing beauty to the ambivalent tensions that crack and bubble just below their staid surface. The title track of Carson McHone’s third album, Still Life, evokes the
ALBUM REVIEW: Amanda Anne Platt and The Honeycutters Cover Vast Ground on ‘The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea’
They keep saying the age of the full album is nearing its end. But despite releasing two singles a month over the past year, Amanda Anne Platt knew her latest batch of songs belonged together in one place, as one story. The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, a double
5 Ways Instructors Are Including Anti-racism in Roots Music Studies
In the summer of 2020, as protesters took to the streets to hold police accountable in the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, the national spotlight shifted from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the issue of systemic racism. Within weeks, the protests and movement for Black lives were
ALBUM REVIEW: Swamp Dogg Stays True to Own Sound on ‘I Need a Job … So I Can Buy More Auto-Tune’
The last thing Swamp Dogg needs is Auto-Tune. The Dogg has enough power and bombast on his own to get him out of any vocal situation that should arise. And who really gives a damn if he's in tune or not? He's always in the neighborhood,
ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Poltz Explores Life’s Moving Parts on ‘Stardust and Satellites’
A master of full disclosure, Steve Poltz outs himself as an unrepentant entertainer on Stardust and Satellites, stuffing “Wrong Town,” the peppy leadoff track, full of memorable one-liners. Cocky and self-deprecating at once, this witty folk vet with the engaging everyman voice declares himself “Americana if you wanna, I’m
ALBUM REVIEW: Strong Content but Weak Connection on Sarah Shook and The Disarmers’ ‘Nightroamer’
Nightroamer, the new release from Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, builds on the classic country sounds and outlaw themes of the North Carolina-based quintet’s first two albums. While Shook, who uses they/them pronouns, remains a charismatic presence, their delivery throughout this sequence often sounds distracted, The Disarmers’ instrumentation