ALBUM REVIEW: Kyshona Finds Modern Lessons in Genealogical Research for ‘Legacy’
Kyshona invites us all to find pride in our histories on her stunning new album, Legacy. The album is sonically influenced by her late grandfather HT, who led his church’s choir: These songs are a new gospel of honor, veneration, tradition — and approaching our current moment with grace and
ALBUM REVIEW: Iron & Wine Adds Orchestral Elements and Playful Rumination on ‘Light Verse’
For an artist like singer-songwriter Sam Beam, who has operated under the stage name Iron & Wine since 2002, there’s always a maddening and mystifying distance between his short-hand persona (bearded, honey-hushed singing folkie) and his actual recording output (varied, layered, experimental, near-cinematic). Beam actually played into that persona
ALBUM REVIEW: Charley Crockett Offers Keen Observations on ‘$10 Cowboy’
Albums such as Welcome to Hard Times, Music City USA, and his last release, The Man from Waco, highlight Charley Crockett’s unique meld of the tragic, the wistful, and the satirical. With his 13th album, $10 Cowboy, he offers his most fully realized set. Occurring as a cross between
FRESH TRACK: Sue Foley – 'Nothing in Rambling'
Three-time Blues Foundation Traditional Female Artist award winner Sue Foley’s new album, One Guitar Woman, is a heartfelt tribute to the female pioneers of the guitar — including Memphis Minnie, Lydia Mendoza, Maybelle Carter, Ida Presti, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The album showcases the dexterity of Foley’s acoustic nylon
THROUGH THE LENS: Best Bets for MerleFest 2024
Ninety-seven artists are scheduled to perform across 12 stages at this year's MerleFest, held April 25-28 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The 17 artists highlighted below are, with a couple notable exceptions, ones that regular MerleFest-goers may not be that familiar with.
FOUNDERS’ KEEPERS: Ann Savoy, Zoe Boekbinder, Jason Ringenberg, and More
Sometimes — this morning — one is given to suspect that we are little more than aggregations of the stories we tell about ourselves and each other, stories that haunt and inform and seek temporarily to connect or distance us.
Those are the best songs, in any event, the true stories, even