Lost Continentals - Singin' and swingin'
Turning down Pearl Street into the Southern gothic neighborhood of Cabbagetown near downtown Atlanta, Amy Pike belts out her take on Big Joe Turner's "Love Roller Coaster" over the car stereo: "I've got atomic power," she croons, "Going a thousand miles
Mark Lanegan: You Might As Well Live
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
-- Dorothy Parker, "Resume"
The fingernails by which Mark Lanegan has been hanging these last few years -- maybe his whole life
James Hand - A long time coming
This is the stuff honky-tonk legends are made of.
For 25 years, James Hand, 45, has been playing at the Tokio Store, the honky-tonk owned by his brother Bimbo in their hometown of Tokio, Texas, a remote rural burg just north of Waco. Since the early '70s
Patty Griffin - Flaming Red
On her first album, 1996's Living With Ghosts, singer-songwriter Patty Griffin trod the trad-folk route, stripping her songs to the bone with only voice and acoustic guitar. It proved as satisfying a strategy as it was gutsy, setting in bold relief Griffin's intimate vignettes
Mark O'Connor - Midnight On The Water
Prodigies rarely prove out, mostly burn out, the bright, fast flame of youth replaced by smoldering charcoal and endless dates before the Paducah Ladies' Performance Society. Mark O'Connor started winning fiddle contests before he could drive, toured and recorded with the best Nashville has to offer, and
Chris Hillman - Like A Hurricane
Discussing the term "country rock" in the liner notes to his new album, Chris Hillman says that "The Byrds pioneered this style, Gram Parsons and I defined it and the Eagles took it to the bank." This assessment is probably true, and few are as qualified