Bottle Rockets “Better Than Broken”
I lost one of my best friends of the last 20 years this week, the Bottle Rockets, when the band stunningly announced that they were calling it quits. The decision actually came solely from the group’s ornery but always inspirational..... Read More
Paul Thorn “Bull Mountain Bridge” (2012)
With 'Bull Mountain Bridge,' Gospel-rooted Paul Thorn has a positively jubilant, uplifting tune about a cold-blooded murder. Rejoice!... Read More
Lone Justice “I Found Love” (1986)
Fireball Maria McKee led Lone Justice to a meteoric arrival. Two years later they were down in flames. But some scorching tunes remain.... Read More
Alejandro Escovedo “Bottom Of The World” (2012)
You never know where you might meet up with a famous musician at South by Southwest, maybe even the granddaddy of the festival.... Read More
The Band “I Shall Be Released” (1976)
Just my vibe on an historic day..... Read More
Bottle Rockets “I’ve Been Dying” (1998)
Aptly capturing the 2020 year, with lyrics written over two decades prior, the Bottle Rockets do as they reliably do: out of a boulder of misery they can still chisel a rock and roll jewel.... Read More
Charley Crockett “Run Horse Run” (2020)
Through a Texan drawl and a magnificent set of choppers, Charley Crockett sings of the old west in contemporary style.... Read More
Whitney Rose “In A Rut” (2020)
“Don’t ask me how I got this way / Oh, that’s asking too much” cries Whitney Rose amidst the whirlwind chorus as she rattles off the title line ‘I’m In A Rut’ an appropriately repetitive 28 total times. Only her delivery is so rapid-fire, gaps collapsed between the few words and syllables..... Read More
Rookie “I Can’t Have You But I Want You” (2020)
It’s just a moment, lasting but a second or two. The verse has come to a clipped end, the band pauses, as if taking a deep inhale on the precipice of something big, and then…the chorus blasts in! I really love that moment... Read More
Tyler Childers “Ever Lovin’ Hand” (2019)
“Seinfeld” had a whole episode (“The Contest”) about a certain solitary pursuit, so, I guess, why not a pop song. The Divinyls’ sultry 1990 hit ‘I Touch Myself’ certainly addressed the subject most directly, but many more only slightly less obvious allusions have existed than one might expect: ‘Dancing With Myself’... Read More