Robbie Fulks - 13 Hillbilly Giants
On his latest album, Robbie Fulks rollicks through a bakers dozen overlooked classics from the country firmament. But anyone expecting the singer to retread well-worn standards by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard or George Jones will be surprised, though not disappointed.
Fulks instead mines country history for oughta-be-better-known numbers by Wynn
Richard Betts - Highway Call
As a descendent of Florida homesteaders, Richard "Dickey" Betts spent his youth playing old-time music, including Irish folk tunes and bluegrass. Betts brought that upbringing, combined with his love of Django Reinhardt and Jimmie Rodgers, to the Allman Brothers Band.
Deferring to Duane Allman's leadership in
The Band - Rock Of Ages
With four albums of their own under their belt, The Band knew a few things. They'd had all that training -- mostly years of "Midnight Rambles" with Ronnie Hawkins -- in enough beer halls and strip joints right up the center of the U.S. and
Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys - Cry From the Cross
Ralph Stanley's time, it appears, has finally come. At 74, he's in the center of the critical praise heaped on old-time and bluegrass music's first platinum-selling CD, the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, his beyond-bluegrass stardom certified by articles appearing everywhere from Country
Dick Solberg & The Sun Mountain Band - Latitude 18 (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands)
The sight of sailboats and power yachts bobbing in the waves. The sound of the ocean lapping at the shoreline a few feet away. The feel of the warm breeze as a short-sleeved crowd enjoys an open-air bar in the middle of winter. You're on a tropical island,
Jeff Tweedy / Ben Kweller - Lilli's (Somerville, MA)
Jeff Tweedy is cock.
"I could fill you in with the cock...stuff", offered the Wilco frontman, after performing a new song, "War On War", and telling the audience it was called "Cock On Cock". "Being around Ben [Kweller, the show's