Posts filed under: Roots/Americana

Jim Pepper ‘Witchi Tai To’ (1971)

Freshman year of college two of my friends disappeared one day to some record store, and returned later with a few offbeat choices: “German Drinking Songs,” “Gregorian Chants,” and “Music Of The American Indian.” I think the three of them cost a dollar combined, and they probably overpaid, but we sat in their dorm room...... Read More

Gregg Allman “My Only True Friend”

The Midnight Rider's final ride: with "My Only True Friend" Gregg Allman wrote his own farewell song.... Read More

The Mavericks “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down” (1995)

I’d be hard pressed to come up with a song that has a greater disparity between its dreadfully dour lyrics and the unmitigated joy of its music than this one. While singer and bandleader Raul Malo is crooning the oft-repeated depressing title line, he’s also leading his band through one of the happiest... Read More

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers “Heal Me” (2017)

See if the following three sets of statements shake you. 1) Sarah Shook is arguably one of Country/Americana music’s biggest current stars; she was born in the not-quite southern stronghold of Rochester, NY. 2) Shook was homeschooled and grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family where, among other things, music was severely restricted; she is...... Read More

The White Buffalo “Modern Times” (2015)

Here’s my quick description of the video to follow: Burly, long-haired and bearded man dances frantically in front of a tattered, wood-paneled wall. That’s not exactly selling you? Please, give it two-and-a-half minutes, I’m confident you won’t be disappointed. This is Jake Smith, a singer/songwriter performing for roughly 16 years under the moniker The White...... Read More

Brian Setzer “Let’s Shake” (2014)

You know who’s one of the most incredible, underappreciated guitarists/musicians of our time? Brian Setzer, that’s who. Besides being able to flat-out jump, jive and wail on his now signature model series of Gretsch hollow-body guitars, he’s a revivalist of two distinct, forgotten and historically significant musical genres: In two decades, first resurrecting Rockabilly, with...... Read More

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real “Find Yourself” (2017)

I don’t get out to the movies much. That fact is not merely a matter of my laziness or the presence of Netflix. In truth, there are just very few occasions when a new movie comes out that excites or inspires me much, let alone motivates me to actually get to a theater. So the...... Read More

Fabulous Thunderbirds “My Babe” (1982)

There’s an accepted code among musicians: Don’t horn in on another band’s gig. This rule is pretty absolute, and even more so if the prospective offender is already a known douchebag. My friend Tom “Clump” Clifford has been in bands most of his life; He’s fronted The Thangs, The Mistreaters, and currently King Soul, playing...... Read More

Lucero “For The Lonely Ones” (2018)

I recently saw the band Lucero in concert at Warsaw in Brooklyn, a cool venue in a former Polish community center where I had a kielbasa sandwich and some tasty pierogies during the show. I’m relatively new to Lucero, a 20-year veteran band out of Memphis, that’s in the country/punk family and lately has been... Read More

JP Harris “JP’s Florida Blues #1” (2018)

He may not look like it, but JP Harris is an absolute traditionalist. When he took the stage at a packed hole-in-the-wall in Brooklyn called Skinny Dennis this past Saturday night, he began by issuing the crowd a tongue-in-cheek warning: “I don’t know if any of ya’ll know who I am, so I hope you’re...... Read More
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