Various Artists - Straight Outta Boone County
Just what kind of moonshine are those folks at Bloodshot Records drinking anyhow? After three excellent compilations of what they like to call insurgent country and a stable full of like-minded recording artists, the Chicago label has gotten downright conceptual with Straight Outta Boone County. WLWs Boone County Jamboree and
Alison Krauss & Union Station - So Long, So Wrong
As someone once noted, bluegrass somehow suggests a wilder yet simpler time. For Alison Krauss, now the musics undisputed star, that time was the 70s. Krauss grew up listening to traditional bluegrass, as well as such progressive bands as the New South, Boone Creek and New Grass Revival. But lately,
Buick MacKane - The Pawn Shop Years
The most memorable True Believers performance I ever witnessed was on a hot June night 12 years ago at the fabled Continental Club in Austin, Texas a show that concluded with the Believers, Doctors Mob and Scratch Acid all onstage together in varying states of sobriety slogging through Gary Glitters
Chris Whitley - Terra Incognita
Great records always push a feeling onto the listener, and often that feeling is strongly associated with a time and place. Who can listen to a Beach Boys hit and not think of summer sun? Can't you just smell the cigarettes and beer of CBGBs when listening to
Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moon
I owe Nanci Griffith a debt of gratitude. First, she was my sister in arms for years of I-Am-Too-Strong-To-Be-This-Lovelorn. Second, she was my introduction to future songwriting heroes such as Townes Van Zandt, Emmylou Harris and Guy Clark. For these reasons, I will forever cut her slack in the sappy
Scroat Belly - Daddys Farm
More than anything Bloodshot Records has ever released, Daddys Farm pushes the envelope of what might be called insurgent country. A four-piece from Wichita, Kansas, Scroat Belly is actually closer to a breakneck metal band than an alternative country outfit. Mind you, this isnt a criticism. In fact, the albums