Category: Country
-
It’s possible that more than half the people who’ll read this review have never even heard of Butch Walker. But he’s been one of my favorite artists for as far back as I can remember. When I was just a teenager he was the lead guitarist in a hair band I was really into called…
-
We really don’t know what to make of this… Has he been hanging out with Blake Shelton?
-
If you like light-hearted country tunes with lots of banjo, you’re in for a real treat here. As always, The Band Perry deliver top notch country music about, what else, love; sure to lift the spirits of anyone who listens. Unless, of course, you happen to hate banjo. But we’re down with the banjo, which…
-
Following two much beloved records on the indie label Wichita, Stay Gold is Klara and Johanna Söderberg’s first major label release. The album was recorded at Conor Oberst’s ARC Studios out in Omaha with Oberst’s Bright Eyes buddy Mike Mogis in the producer’s chair. He produced the band’s previously album, 2012’s The Lion’s Roar, the…
-
First Aid Kit are gearing up to release their third album, Stay Gold, on June 10th via Columbia Records. “Cedar Lane” is the first single and it’s one of their most gorgeous, glorious tunes to date. “This heavy heart of mine / It never fails / To bring you right back,” they sing, the lyrics…
-
The last time I saw Butch Walker — sometime last year, at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts — he did a bunch of new songs and talked about how they were going to be on a new EP he was releasing called Peachtree Battle. I really enjoyed all of the songs and was very much…
-
Kenny Rogers was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame last October. Maybe the 75 year old wasn’t eligible until then — I admittedly don’t know — but it seems odd that the guy who brought country to the mainstream with his hit-filled early albums, the first of which was released in 1976,…
-
It feels so surreal, listening to this newly unearthed collection of Johnny Cash songs recorded with legendary country producer Billy Sherrill in 1981 and 1984. Like most of his fans, by now I’d simply thought that everything he’d ever recorded that he would have wanted released was already released. And so it was a very…
-
17 year old Country singer Danielle Bradberry won season four of The Voice with her gorgeous renditions of such songs as Taylor Swift’s “Mean,” Carrie Underwood’s “Wasted” and The Judds’ “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Ol’ Days).” “I Will Never Forget You” is from Danielle’s self-titled debut and it’s one of the most touching…
-
Mindy Smith is an American singer/songwriter who was born and raised in Long Island, New York but eventually ended up in Nashville pursuing a music career. Her music has been called folk, country, Americana, bluegrass and even pop. She’s often compared to Norah Jones and Alison Krauss. Snowed In is her second Christmas release, following…
-
Of Montreal mastermind Kevin Barnes is not one to make the same album twice. Roughly a decade ago he shifted from doing indie rock/trippy twee to electro-centric albums that often felt like twisted — but always fascinating — experiments. The first three albums from this second period of his career were especially experimental; Satanic Panic…
-
I caught Butch Walker live at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts on the 11th of this month. It was my fourth time seeing him and he was, in a word, brilliant. Which came as no surprise. He’s been impressing me with his knack for super emotive songwriting ever since he was in a little-known hair…
-
Well, well, well, this is an interesting album. When this duo — Joy Williams and John Paul White — were riding the surprising success of their 2011 album Barton Hollow, which won them three shiny Grammy awards, they kept insisting that they weren’t romantically involved with each other. In fact, they were both happily married…
-
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Jann Klose was born in Germany and raised in Hamburg and Kenya, South Africa. He arrived in the United States as an exchange student in Cleveland. It wasn’t long before he was performing in the Cleveland Opera Chorus. He went on to perform in touring productions of such Broadway shows as Jesus…
