Tag Archives: Americana music

Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

“In 1997 I recorded ‘We Shall Overcome’ for Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger. Growing up a rock’n’roll kid I didn’t know a lot about Pete’s music or the depth of his influence. So I … Continue reading

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John Cohen’s That High Lonesome Sound: Films of American Rural Life and Music

John Cohen is perhaps better known as a member of the New Lost City Ramblers. This group of city boys playing the old time music of America influenced almost every musician interested in traditional American music who came along. Bob … Continue reading

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Mama’s Broke’s Narrow Line

When it comes to Americana music, I’m pretty definite about what I prefer. Simple acoustic instrumentation – say, a fiddle plus a banjo or a guitar or sometimes a mandolin. Playing music that combines Appalachian styles with influences from all … Continue reading

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Donna the Buffalo’s Positive Friction

Chris Woods wrote this review. At last! The second album from Donna The Buffalo. I have been waiting for this since I heard the first one a couple of years ago. Why is it that second-rate bands can bring out … Continue reading

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Jim Lauderdale with Donna the Buffalo’s Wait ‘Til Spring

Jim Lauderdale is one of the most respected and sought-after songwriters in country music. And what’s most impressive is that he’s equally popular with the Nashville establishment and the alt-country crowd. He’s also a prolific recording artist, waxing numerous solo … Continue reading

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Freakons’ Freakons

“How much more is there left to lose?” That’s a good summary of the spirit of this eponymous album, born of the fortuitous conjoining of two of the greatest underground bands on the globe – alt-country outliers Freakwater and U.K. … Continue reading

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Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves’ Hurricane Clarice

The coronavirus pandemic of the early ’20s has played a huge role in all kinds of arts and entertainment, which I’m sure scholars will be studying for decades to come. One thing I’ve noticed is that every musician or musical … Continue reading

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Sad Daddy’s Way Up in the Hills

Sad Daddy is a wonderfully diverse and versatile band. The music they make is broadly acoustic country music, loosely falling into the now so broad as to be nearly meaningless category of Americana. But all four members are top-notch songwriters, … Continue reading

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Maya De Vitry’s Violet Light

Maya de Vitry‘s third solo album Violet Light is a superb collection of country-tinged folk music. Raised in Pennsylvania and now based in Tennessee, she’s been a part of the U.S. folk scene for 10 years now since starting out … Continue reading

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M. Ward’s Post-War

M. Ward is on a roll. With Post-War, he has released his fifth full-length CD (third for Merge), and against all odds he keeps getting better. He’s still recognizably the same singer-songwriter he was on his first, Duets for Guitars … Continue reading

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