Tag Archives: Americana music

Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show, McDonald Theater

Those who are only passingly familiar with the music of Gillian Welch tend to classify her music as bluegrass or old-time or Appalachian. But as she demonstrated on this night, Gillian Welch plays rock music, sometimes disguised as all of … Continue reading

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Amelia’s After All

Amelia is a four-piece combo based in Portland, Oregon, that rose from the ashes of the late-’90s alt-country band the Flatirons, which made one critically lauded album before splitting apart. Guitarist Scott Weddle, drummer Richard Cuellar Jr., and bassist and … Continue reading

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Tres Chicas’ Sweetwater

Duos are common in country music, but trios are less so. These three chicas have all made varying marks on the folk and alt-country scenes, and have been getting together for a while to sing and play. Finally this year … Continue reading

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Robyn Hitchcock’s Spooked

Here’s one that nobody saw coming. English psychedelic folkie Robyn Hitchcock’s latest album is a collaboration with American alt-oldtime darlings Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Hitchcock, who has been making his own idiosyncratic brand of music since 1977, when he … Continue reading

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Nels Andrews’ Sunday Shoes

The state of New Mexico is in the U.S. desert southwest, but it also straddles the Continental Divide. It has an entirely different landscape (and lifestyle) than you find in Texas to the east or Arizona to the west; it’s … Continue reading

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The Avett Brothers’ Mignonette

The Avett Brothers join acts like Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show and the Legendary Shack Shakers to bring a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility to Southern stringband music. The Avetts draw on the Piedmont blues, bluegrass and country of their … Continue reading

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The Silos’ When the Telephone Rings and Jonathan Rundman’s Public Library

The Silos have been making roots rock since before it was even called that. It was 1985 when Walter Salas-Humara formed the Silos shortly after moving to New York from Florida. Their debut album, 1987’s Cuba, influenced many bands in … Continue reading

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Calexico’s Convict Pool

The prolific desert-rock combo Calexico, after touring for a year behind their latest CD Feast of Wire, offered this EP as a sampler of what’s new in their live show. It features three cover songs that showcase some of the … Continue reading

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Various artists’ The Unbroken Circle: the Musical Heritage of the Carter Family

Tribute albums can be a dangerous thing. They can be so reverential that they miss the whole reason for the tribute. Sometimes they’re good if one band provides backup for the variety of soloists. Sometimes they’re better if lesser known … Continue reading

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The Waifs’ Up All Night

The Waifs have an interesting back-story of months and years spent travelling the byways of their native Australia, playing in bars and on the streets, honing their skills — instrumental, vocal and songwriting. That hard apprenticeship accounts for the strength … Continue reading

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