Tag Archives: Americana music

Kasey Chambers interview with Michael Hunter, August 2001

It’s fair to say Australian alt-country artist Kasey Chambers has come a long way in recent times. After many years performing with her family in the Dead Ringer Band, she released her debut solo album The Captain in 1999. It … Continue reading

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Buster Sledge’s Dreamer EP

American-Norwegian country band Buster Sledge released a well-received full-length album Call Home in mid-2022, and followed up with this EP of odds & ends and leftovers as the year was winding down. I hadn’t heard of Buster Sledge before, but … Continue reading

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SUSS’s SUSS

Ambient country pioneers SUSS have weathered an emotional roller coaster since the unexpected passing of member Gary Leib in March 2021, right after they finished recording the Southwestern road trip EP Night Suite. That EP was released in October 2021, … Continue reading

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Aengus Finnan’s North Wind

Judith Gennett wrote this review. North Wind is Canadian singer songwriter Aengus Finnan’s second album, after Fool’s Gold (1999). It is an album that you play through just once and say, “Wow!” North Wind is themed along life in the … Continue reading

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Melissa Carper Ramblin’ Soul

Melissa Carper is indeed a ramblin’ soul, as the title of her new record would have it. Just in the short time I’ve been aware of her and her music, she’s moved around quite a bit. She was living in … Continue reading

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Taj Mahal: A Career Overview, 1966-2002

Rising Sons’ Rising Sons: featuring Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder (recorded 1966, issued Sony, 1992) Taj Mahal’s Taj Mahal (Sony 1967, re-issued 2000) Taj Mahal’s The Natch’l Blues (Sony 1968, re-issued 2000) Taj Mahal’s Giant Step/De Old Folks At Home … Continue reading

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Craig and Kara Markley’s Once Upon a Winter Moon

Cleveland-area musician Craig Markley showcases the emerging vocal talent of his daughter Kara in this self-produced offering for the holiday season. In the title track, a plaintive flute melody over brooding synthesizer chords leads into a setting of the medieval … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Work & Pray: Historic Negro Spirituals and Work Songs From West Virginia

John D. Benninghouse wrote this review. This album is the fruit of the labors of Cortez Reece, who recorded these performances from 1949-53 as part of his doctoral thesis, “A Study of Selected Folk Songs Collected Mainly in Southern West … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Wade in the Water Volume 1: African American Spirituals: The Concert Tradition

Rebecca Swain wrote this review. I once read of Harriet Tubman, a famous African American who several times led American slaves to freedom, that she carried a gun with which to shoot anyone who tried to turn back once they … Continue reading

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Mozaik’s Live from the Powerhouse

In the late 1960s an aspiring young Irish folk musician named Andy Irvine traveled through the Balkans. He jammed with local folk musicians everywhere he went and absorbed the different traditions of the region. Irvine then brought these Balkan influences … Continue reading

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