Various Artists - American Primitive Vol. 1: Raw Pre-war Gospel (1926-36)
A bit of a misnomer, this. It's my understanding that sacred recordings of this era and nature usually fall under the heading of sanctified blues. But music this transcendent would put the fear of God in me no matter what you called it. Besides, that's not
Michael Hurley - Snockgrass
It's hard to put a finger on Michael Hurley. Emerging in the early '70s with a couple of homemade albums, Armchair Boogie and Hi Fi Snock Uptown (both on the Raccoon label), he appeared in the guise of a crazy backwoods Vermont folkie, singing about werewolves and
Butch Hancock - You Coulda Walked Around The World
Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind album has generated some of his best reviews in two decades and earned him the cover of Newsweek; Butch Hancock's self-released You Coulda Walked Around The World isn't likely to cause much of a ripple beyond the
Cheri Knight - The Northeast Kingdom
From start to finish, Cheri Knight's second solo album (and first for E-Squared) brilliantly bounces back and forth from Emmylou Harris-like ballads to Liz Phair-esque rock, touching on everything in between. This album arguably defines the moniker "alternative country" and at the same
J.D. Crowe & The New South - Live In Japan
J.D. Crowe & the New South were, simply put, one of the most important and influential bluegrass bands of the 1970s, but only their self-titled 1975 Rounder debut has remained in print (though Crowe's previous band released three albums on the tiny Lemco label). The reissue
Ricky Skaggs - Going back to old Kentucky
Ricky Skaggs in No Depression? I can already see some readers scratching their heads -- or, more likely, flinging their copies across the room. Skaggs, after all, has been a NashVegas mainstream country fixture for years, and though his latest country album (Life Is A Journey, on Atlantic) is doing well