ALBUM REVIEW: Shovels & Rope Roar Their Cultural Commentary on ‘Manticore’
With their new album, Manticore, husband-and-wife duo Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, aka Shovels & Rope, continue to hone their integrations of bar-room Americana, heartland rock, and a DIY sensibility. Their signature vocals, as with previous releases, remain an exhilaratingly seductive calling card.
On melodic opener “Domino” — overflowing with
ALBUM REVIEW: Renewed Joy of Listening Guides Del McCoury’s ‘Almost Proud’
In nearly every imaginable respect, 82-year-old Del McCoury is a living legend who has cultivated the landscape of American music — in bluegrass and beyond. Sixty years into his career, McCoury continues his legacy with Almost Proud, an album that slots in with the best of his expansive canon.
McCoury conceived
No Listeners Left Behind as The Infamous Stringdusters Charge ‘Toward the Fray’
Despite the dystopian-looking album art featuring a girl in a gas mask holding a teddy bear as buildings crumble and the sky billows with smoke behind her, there’s optimism in The Infamous Stringdusters’ call for compassion, understanding, and coming together on Toward the Fray, their 10th album of original
ALBUM REVIEW: Dean Owens and Calexico Dive Into Southwestern Sounds on ‘Sinner’s Shrine’
Three years ago while on a tour break in Tucson, Arizona, Scottish singer-songwriter Dean Owens met Calexico’s Joey Burns completely by chance. They hit it off and kept in touch. Burns suggested Owens should record with him and some of his Calexico compadres at their studio. In January 2020,
ALBUM REVIEW: Queer Country Pioneers Lavender Country Return With ‘Blackberry Rose’
The world of country music wasn’t ready for Patrick Haggerty and his crew of Marxist queers back in 1973. Then, Lavender Country’s strident sexual politics and their self-titled debut LP failed to reach an audience beyond more progressive elements of the gay community. But the project’s fortunes
ALBUM REVIEW: The Delines Create Rich Characters on ‘The Sea Drift’
Like so many “supergroups” or collaborations, The Delines first seemed like a one-off, their spectacular 2014 debut Colfax something to be savored in case another record wasn’t in the cards. This was especially the case after lead vocalist Amy Boone’s traumatic 2016 car accident. The uncertainty of her