Tag Archives: Americana music

Riders In The Sky’s Public Cowboy #1: A Centennial Salute to the Music of Gene Autry

Gene Autry was one of my childhood idols. We reviewed his Essential CD set, his name came up in our review of Douglas Green’s book on Singing Cowboys, and he was very much the key behind the music reviewed in … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Riders In The Sky’s Public Cowboy #1: A Centennial Salute to the Music of Gene Autry

Richmond Fontaine’s Thirteen Cities

The Portland, Oregon, band Richmond Fontaine makes a distinctive brand of alt-country noir music. With Thirteen Cities (their eighth studio release in addition to two live albums) they’ve teamed up with a bunch of Tucson, Arizona, regulars to produce a … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Richmond Fontaine’s Thirteen Cities

Charlie Louvin’s Charlie Louvin

The Louvin Brothers were among the most influential of country singing acts in the 1950s and ’60s — particularly on their peers and succeeding generations of musicians. Charlie and Ira’s pioneering work in the close harmony style of country and … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Charlie Louvin’s Charlie Louvin

Tom Waits’ Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

Tom Waits is one of the great poets and showmen of our time. If you don’t believe me, spend some time with his utterly splendid three-disc set Orphans. For about 30 years now, Waits has been honing his craft. Starting … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tom Waits’ Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

Dickey Betts’ Bougainvillea’s Call: The Very Best Of, 1973-1988

The great guitar-playing member of the Allman Brothers Band will always be remembered as Duane Allman. His real claim to fame is that he played on Derek & the Dominos’ Layla, and that he died in a motorcycle accident in … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Dickey Betts’ Bougainvillea’s Call: The Very Best Of, 1973-1988

The Sadies’ In Concert Vol. One

The Sadies’ In Concert Vol. One is my feel-good disc of the summer. But then I’m one of the lucky souls who got a promo copy about the time the summer began. The rest of you who’ve had to wait … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on The Sadies’ In Concert Vol. One

Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete and Local Gentry

James Dickey wrote the classic novel of survival, Deliverance. You’ll recall the importance folk music (and especially a guitar and banjo duet) played in the film. Dickey was an amateur guitar picker himself, and in his followup book Sorties (a … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete and Local Gentry

Darrell Scott’s Theatre of the Unheard and Live in NC

Christopher Conder wrote this review. Theatre of the Unheard is a particularly significant release in Kentucky-born Darrell Scott‘s oeuvre. First recorded in 1991, it was, in Scott’s own words, the first time he found his ‘ “voice” as a writer’. … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Darrell Scott’s Theatre of the Unheard and Live in NC

Doug Cox & Sam Hurrie’s Hungry Ghosts

Every Wednesday night at the Edgewater Pub and Bistro in Comox, B.C., Doug Cox and Sam Hurrie take the stage to play some old blues and regale the audience with tales about the songs and singers they pay tribute to. … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Doug Cox & Sam Hurrie’s Hungry Ghosts

Dick Smith’s Woozy

The band behind one of my favorite CDs of 2002, Dick Smith, is back. Woozy, their third release, finds the Illinois-based trio becoming a quartet, and still making delirious acoustic music about life on the fringes. The addition to the … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Dick Smith’s Woozy