Shooter Jennings - Nevermind the O, here's the W
The cover of Shooter Jennings' debut album, Put The 'O' Back In Country (more on that title shortly), depicts a vinyl LP in a yellowed inner sleeve. To the left of the spindle hole is a stylized letter W, the longtime logo of his dad/mentor, the
Nanci Griffith - If there's no hope at the end of it, there's no point in writing it
Nanci Griffith was sure she wouldn't be around to see the domestic release of her new album, Hearts In Mind -- around meaning on U.S. soil. A singer and songwriter who has long worn her lefty politics on her sleeve and skirt, too, she had sworn if
Josh Rouse - Leaving middle America behind
On my way to interview Josh Rouse, with his songs murmuring in my iPod, I wondered how best to ask the question that was really bothering me: Does this still matter?
Not "this" as in Josh Rouse, per se, or Nashville, his well-crafted new album, but "this&
Art Stamper: 1933 to 2005
When fiddler Art Stamper passed away on January 23 after a four-year battle with throat cancer, American string band music lost someone special -- not just a great player, and not just one who embodied the link between old-time music and bluegrass while understanding the difference between the two, but
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets
One of the most creative and energetic forces on the indie-rock scene, Ted Leo broke out with the D.C.-based Chisel in 1990. Following seven years and three discs fronting that mod/punk crew, Leo polished off the decade playing guitar with the Spinanes, fronting the fleeting but powerful
Kelly Joe Phelps - Tap The Red Cane Whirlwind
Kelly Joe Phelps has a naturally resonant voice that walks a fine line. He can sound richly appointed but untethered to the earth, a fate that sometimes befalls others with naturally beautifully timbres, such as John Martyn and even the over-earnest Bruce Cockburn (who shoots himself in the foot in