Deep Roots Magazine

 
 

 
Spotlight Album
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For a Friend

Just over the horizon, out of sight, beyond the ear’s reach, love, like the road, goes on forever. NANCY CASSIDY celebrates life for an ailing friend on SONG OF JOY.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
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Message Delivered

Chicago blues man DAVE SPECTER is back with his first album in four years, MESSAGE IN BLUE, and it's a keeper in the blues, soul and R&B categories all. Soul singer OTIS CLAY makes his Delmark label debut in spectacular fashion...
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
sam butler raise

Tested In the Furnace of Affliction

SAM BUTLER, former lead guitarist with the Blind Boys of Alabama, makes his solo debut with a most unusual spiritual album--with songs by Springsteen, Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Johnny Cash, et al.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
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Blues, Classical & Corky Siegel Ascendant

Blues harmonica master and skilled composer CORKY SIEGEL returns with his CHAMBER BLUES string quartet for a blues-classical romp on DIFFERENT VOICES..
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
junior load wagon

In Praise of the Torch Holder

In his second solo outing, JUNIOR SISK honors Polonius's advice: "To thine own self be true." In doing so, he creates a traditional bluegrass gem in LOAD THE WAGON.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
Five Minutes for Earth Yolanda cover

Hope Is the Thing With Feathers

As birds go, so goes humanity. Three nominally classical albums poetically address the looming threats to the natural world.
by David McGee
 
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Reviews
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Michael Bram Goes Yard

Michael Bram's new Suitcase In the Hall is a tape-measure home run of soulful singing, inspired playing, terrific songs and great vibes from first to last.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
too slim blue heart

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.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
costello magic shop

Sean Costello, Fully Present

Finally seeing the light of day after being recorded in 2005, SEAN COSTELLO's IN THE MAGIC SHOP is more than a fitting final tribute--it's a masterpiece by an artist who is fully present in all dimensions.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
mass for oppressed1

Communing With Misfortune, In Search of Justice

Falsely convicted of murder, four Native Alaskans--the Fairbanks Four--were freed in 2015 after 18 years in prison. Composer Emerson Eads responded with MASS FOR THE OPPRESSED.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
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The Inner Light

The thirty-ninth album of his career may be JOHN MCCUTCHEON's finest yet. The storytelling is vivid and moving, the music is appropriately nuanced, the singing heartfelt and engaging. Let GHOST LIGHT take hold.
by David McGee
 
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Spotlight Album
al basile last

Always The Winning Hand

Ever-prolific AL BASILE returns with arguably his strongest effort yet, LAST HAND, a musical radio play concerning a May-to-December romance between an older man and a younger woman. Don't give away the ending.
by David McGee
 
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Before Deep Roots existed, it was TheBluegrassSpecial.com, from April 2008 through July 2012.