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
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
Townes Van Zandt - The Highway Kind
Released on the heels of Sugar Hills reissue of Rear View Mirror, this album isnt the best place to start with Townes, but its a fitting way to end. Mixing live performances of some of Van Zandts bleaker material with studio covers in a similar vein, The Highway Kind is
The Jayhawks - 'Sound of Lies'
The situation is eerily similar, when you think about it. Both bands formed in the mid-'80s in the Midwest and had co-leaders who generally wrote separately yet shared songwriting credits on all their material. Both drew caringly from the deep well of country music's legacy,
Son Volt - Straightaways
Jay Farrar's voice hits like raw coffee on an empty stomach. It cuts into things -- the night usually -- with plain force and unkind certainty. He does not write songs to put you at your ease, and if perchance they inspire in the listener an impulse to harmonize, that
Gene Clark - This Byrd Has Flown: The Essential Gene Clark
While he certainly wrote a handful of enduring classics as a member of the Byrds, it's surprising that Gene Clark has never been given the recognition for his solo work that the music so obviously deserves. Between 1966 (the year he quit the Byrds, at the peak of