Billy Strings Melds Tradition and Experimentation on ‘Home’
Compounded by generations of unwavering respect to the music and self-imposed rigidity, bluegrass continues to be highly wary of change. The genre often is stagnant to the point of self-parody. Tradition is rich and reverent, but it’s also stifling to creativity and risk.
But there are searchers in the
50 STATES OF FOLK: The Great Bluegrass State of California
Unless you live here, and honestly even if you do, California probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think about bluegrass. Kentucky would be a more likely candidate; they’re so confident in their claim to the throne that they made it the official state
Brothers, Sisters, and Music for All People on Brittany Howard’s ‘Jaime’
A little more than halfway through Brittany Howard’s album, a clarifying moment comes with the song “13th Century Metal.” The song opens with Robert Glasper’s funky little synthesizer riff, a hypnotic, repetitive phrase that recurs throughout the song as it lays the foundation for Howard’s stunning and
Rick Estrin & the Nightcats Tap into the Past for Their ‘Contemporary’ Sound
Rick Estrin is a time traveler. Surfing sound waves from the past, the Nightcats' vocalist/harpist pays homage to blues masters like James Cotton, Junior Wells, and Little Walter, incorporating their musical personalities into his own eclectic sound.
Clad in suits that look like they might have been all
Andrew Combs’ ‘Ideal Man’ Stands Out as a Statement
It is no exaggeration to say that Ideal Man feels like Andrew Combs’ most intentional album yet. An artist who seems never to do anything without earnest, fully realized intention, Combs commits hard to each creative evolution he’s experienced since we first heard him on 2012’s twangy Worried
Hiss Golden Messenger Finds Salvation in ‘Terms of Surrender’
Ahead of the release of Terms of Surrender, Hiss Golden Messenger’s seventh studio album, bandleader M.C. Taylor wrote a letter to fans. In a little over 700 words, Taylor lamented the reality in which he had been living, a reality that led him to admit he often felt