Rosie Flores - A Honky Tonk Reprise
I first became familiar with Rosie Flores because of the fine company she keeps -- dueting with Dave Alvin, singing along with Bob Neuwirth, appearing on A Town Sound of Bakerfield, backing Chris Gaffney, touring with Wanda Jackson, contributing a track to the Tulare Dust Haggard tribute. These are some dang
Tracy Nelson - Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country - The Best of Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth
Godmother of Americana? Perhaps the music of Tracy Nelson fits no more comfortably within the categorical confines of such terms than it did when she began recording it more than a quarter-century ago. Even so, these reissues suggest that this undersung heroine was way ahead of her time, both
Johnny Paycheck - The Real Mr. Heartache: The Little Darlin' Years
It's about time Johnny Paycheck got his due. A vastly underrated singer, arranger, and songwriter who's remembered mostly (as an artist, at least) for one song -- the David Allan Coe-penned "Take This Job and Shove It", a monster crossover hit in the mid-
Johnny Cash - Unchained
If there's a voice that spans the imagined gulf between country music and rock, it belongs to Johnny Cash. Not because he started out at Sun Records, roomed with Waylon, married June Carter, booked rock stars on his variety show, crossed between radio formats like a mountain goat
Wayne Hancock - Thunderstorms and Neon Signs
It's inevitable that within the span of that same breath that first mentions Wayne Hancock, you'll also hear "...sounds like Hank Williams." It's true. Looking like a character from a John Steinbeck novel, Wayne Hancock invites comparisons to country pioneers.
The simple
The Velvet Underground - Peel Slowly and See (5-disc set)
For those who might wonder what place the Velvet Underground in a country-oriented magazine, the answer is in the music.
Would "Pale Blue Eyes" sound foreign in the hands of George Jones or Lefty Frizzell? Absolutely not. A good part of Lou Reed's songwriting, subjects