Tag Archives: Americana music

Laurie Lewis’s One Evening In May

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed a summer evening concert under the stars by Laurie Lewis and her fine band a few years ago. This live disc recorded in May 2013 at the famous Freight and Salvage venue in her … Continue reading

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Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas’s Abundance

Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and American cellist Natalie Haas have released their fourth album Abundance on Fraser’s Culburnie label. It is an impressive addition to their catalog and an entertaining tour through some of the many possible settings for Celtic … Continue reading

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Andrew Bird’s Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of …

I discovered Andrew Bird and the Handsome Family at about the same time, in about 1998. Both were based in Chicago, but their music couldn’t have been much farther apart. Fiddler Bird and his Bowl of Fire were playing an … Continue reading

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The Psycho Sisters’ Up On The Chair, Beatrice

Susan Cowsill and Vicki Peterson go back a long way as friends and artistic collaborators. Cowsill has been singing on record since the 1960s when she was the tyke in the family band The Cowsills. She and Peterson, guitarist in … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited

Just the other night I was pondering the question, “which musical act has been most influential on you?” It was asked by a member of an online music community I belong to. I had to say The Beatles, because they … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Sing Me The Songs: Celebrating The Works Of Kate McGarrigle

After Kate McGarrigle died of cancer in 2010, her children Rufus and Martha Wainwright and her sister and longtime singing partner Anna McGarrigle organized a series of tribute concerts in London, Toronto and New York. This album presents on two … Continue reading

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Doug Sahm and Band’s Doug Sahm and Band

I remember buying this album in 1973 when it first came out. It had such a cheesy cover, although I notice now that the cartoon portraits were drawn by Gilbert Shelton, underground comics genius and creator of The Fabulous Furry … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records 1963-1973

Roots music, particularly blues, folk and even bluegrass, were the basis of huge chunks of ’60s rock and other popular music. Nowhere is that more evident than in this superb new Rhino collection of music from Elektra. Subtitled The Golden … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s Good As I Been To You

I hadn’t paid much attention to Bob Dylan for a few years, other than his participation in The Traveling Wilburys, when his 1992 album Good As I Been To You got a good review in Rolling Stone (to which I … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, Volume One

Is there a more important singer-songwriter? Has there ever been? When first I heard Dylan was writing a book — another book — I worried. Would this be Tarantula revisited? I remember Tarantula all too well. In 1966 the bookstore … Continue reading

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