Elizabeth Cook’s Gospel Set

Summoning memories of 'good rocking country bands twanging for Jesus,' hard country devotee ELIZABETH COOK goes hard gospel on her Gospel Plow EP. You are hereby sanctified.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Hard, Stomping and Merciless

Out of Seattle with a Chicago mindset and some southwestern sizzle, RJ Knapp & Honey Robin offer hard, stomping, merciless urban blues on Don't Blame the Dynamite..If You Can't Light the Fuse.
by David McGee
 

 

 

A Stop at Willoughby

Fresh off another Grammy nomination, the Time Jumpers pulled into Manhattan's City Winery on February 12 for a show of traditional country tunes and great picking that explained why the group has few equals.
by David McGee
 

 
 

With a Swagger and A Wink

CHRIS LEIGH wouldn’t be the first hard-core country artist to attribute a burst of inspiration to a wrecked marriage but he may be the latest. His impressive, bare-knuckled debut, Broken Hearted Friends, tells the tale.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Love From Both Sides Now

One voice, one piano, some chestnuts from the Great American Songbook, one quiet, powerful original and an unerring aim for the heart: the Wailin' Jennys' HEATHER MASSE and the legendary DICK HYMAN make art on LOCK MY HEART.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Chicago Blues Bonanza, Right on Time

Out of print for years, Delmark has reissued AL MILLER'S masterful ...IN BETWEEN TIME, a bonanza of Chicago blues featuring all-star Chi-town blues stalwarts Miller, John Primer, Billy Flynn and others.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Being About a Cold, Cold World

The Giving Tree Band earns Album of the Week honors for VACILADOR, an album for a world fearful of commitment, for the hookup culture of no-strings intimacy, for a society diffuse and disconnected, even though it doesn't know it.
by David McGee
 

 
 

All In a Day’s Blues

An alum of the late, great Calvin Owens's Blues Orchestra, guitarist CHARLES 'CD' DAVIS has a winner in his solo debut, 24 HOUR BLUES, featuring some Orchestra vets and four outstanding vocalists playing up a blues storm.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Then Came The Reign

Though nominally a bluegrass group, Mobile, Alabama's DELTA REIGN brings folk, blues and western swing styles to bear on its music, originals and covers alike,on Calm Before the Storm, our new Album of the Week.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Choogling On

Sagacious, well-traveled harp master Pierre Lacocque and his Chicago-based Mississippi Heat blues band offer Delta Bound, a thoroughly delightful hour of blues in various colors.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Between Rock and a Traditional Place

Lisa Matassa's impressive EP Somebody's Baby is not for country traditionalist, but fans of contemporary arena-style mainstream country will find much to admire in the rock-fueled anthems, but there is evidence here of a sensit...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Whither Passionate Kisses?

Boston-based Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos make a favorable impression on their debut album, No Regrets, by serving up pop-country with a bite. The long player shows Juliet Simmons Dinallo to be a songwriter with immense promi...
by David McGee