Album Review: Willie Nelson--Lost Highway
Willie Nelson—Lost Highway—Lost Highway—2009
Keeping up with Willie Nelson albums has always been a chore. Up until about '93, though, Willie was “only” churning out an album or two a year, besides truck-stop mix-tapes, and you pretty much knew which of those you were supposed to
Ozark Mountain Daredevils: On Second Thought
I have a quick follow-up to a piece I wrote here a couple of weeks ago called “The Ozark Mountain Daredevils Keep On Churnin'." In that essay, I provided a bit of background on the Daredevils, a review of their July 16th show, and my experience meeting the
Album Review: Shawn Colvin--Live
Shawn Colvin—Live—Nonesuch—2009
Shawn Colvin is complicated. She's moody, strong, impulsive, courageous, paranoid, self-possessed, depressed. And that's all just in the first song. This new live solo-acoustic recording opens with “Polaroids,” the track that also led off Fat City, her 1992 sophomore LP, and
Album Review: The Bottle Rockets--Lean Forward
The Bottle Rockets—Lean Forward—Bloodshot—2009
The Bottle Rockets, the pride of Festus, Missouri, are back with Lean Forward, out August 11th, their first album since 2006's Zoysia, and their third album on the Bloodshot label. The album also marks the return of producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel,
My back-roads affair with the Frizzell brothers
The truth of my headline is this: Neither my wife, nor my daughter, can stand the sound of twang. Not a bit, except Maggie can maybe tolerate Johnny Cash every once in a while and Susan can listen to the Dixie Chicks when not provoked. And since I no longer
Album Review: Bryan Sutton--Almost Live
Bryan Sutton (and Friends)—Almost Live—Sugar Hill—2009
Bluegrass musicians and aficionados love to designate the pantheon of the world's finest pickers, those uncontested champs of their instruments, masters like Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas. In the Tellurides and Merlefests of the last five years,