Spotlight Album

The Game of Love

BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay B&N In a world festering with male-female duos, Austin’s Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay have some clear advantages over the competition. For starters, their dress is a bit retro (on the cover, a clean-cut Mad Men look for…

Spotlight Album

And Lo, She Flies

Violinist, guitarist and master of the cwrth, EMERALD RAE emerges as a serious singer-songwriter on IF ONLY I COULD FLY.

Spotlight Album

And A Proud Mama She Would Be

AUTUMN IN AUGUSTA, the blues-jazz-folk combo led by the wondrous LUCY SMITH, has a winner in SONGS MY MAMA WOULD LIKE. It's Ms. Smith's tribute to the music her mother loved. Mama, Ms. Smith writes, 'had awesome taste.' We agree.

Spotlight Album

AJ Being AJ

For more than a decade ALAN JACKSON has been musing about making a bluegrass album. Well, he finally did it, and produced a certified AJ classic in THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM.

Spotlight Album

Exquisite

Jazz pianist THOMAS SNOW goes Americana on his memorable new album, FRIENDS, and gets a major assist in his efforts from singer-songwriter JONATHAN EDWARDS and mandolin master JOE WALSH. This is one of 2013's major roots finds.

Spotlight Album

Steffani’s ‘Stabat Mater’: Sophistication, Beauty & Originality

A new recording of Steffai's STABAT MATER is a triumph not only for CECILIA BARTOLI and conductor DIEGO FASOLIS but for the entire surrounding cast of stellar vocalists

Spotlight Album

Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons: TOO SLIM AND THE TAILDRAGGERS are back with vengeance on BLUE HEART. Nothing much is at stake her, other than Slim's soul.

Spotlight Album

Godfather II, Eric Brace & Peter Cooper & Me

ERIC BRACE & PETER COOPER have come up with a rootsy gem on their third duo effort, THE COMEBACK ALBUM. Stellar in all respects, it's one of 2013's finest long players.

Spotlight Album

Hope, Redemption and a Sky Big as God

Having conquered his demons, MIKE ZITO explains how it all happened and what brought him back from the abyss on his powerful new album, GONE TO TEXAS

Spotlight Album

Musical Echoes of Days Long Past

Musical echoes of days long past abound in THE BEAUTIFUL OLD and MIKE SCOTT & FRIENDS' HOME SWEET HOME: CIVIL WAR ERA SONGS. Plus: a James Cagney VIDEO MOMENT OF THE WEEK.