Bobby BlackHat
Bobby Black hat is a newcomer to me, but, wow, am I happy to meet him. Put On Your Red Shoes is a wonderfully crafted release, sparkling, pulsing, pounding R&B … Read more
Album Reviews
Big Star
Left for dead after the soul-crushing commercial disappointment of 1972’s critically acclaimed #1 Record and the subsequent departure of songwriting savant Chris Bell, Big Star had risen again with Radio … Read more
The Social Power of Music
The Smithsonian Museums keep history and the evolution of our American culture alive. Smithsonian Folkways has been a force in keeping our musical heritage alive. With the release of The … Read more
Van Duren – Waiting: The Van Duren Story Original Documentary Soundtrack
Wade Jackson and Greg Carey were convinced they’d found pop-rock gold upon their discovery of the lost treasures of Van Duren. Awed by his flair for dramatic songwriting, which made … Read more
Ina Forsman Been Meaning To Tell You
This is a twelve-track release from a young blueslady from Finland. Forsman has a significant and growing fan base across Europe, where she is in steady demand as a live … Read more
Benny Turner and Cash McCall
Going Back Home takes two top blues veterans back to their Chicago blues roots, reuniting Turner and McCall with a recording that really pushes all the best musical buttons. This … Read more
William Tyler Goes West
Talk is cheap to virtuoso musician William Tyler, whose pastoral folk instrumentals on Goes West are touching in ways words can’t convey. Oftentimes, they stretch out like murals of rolling, … Read more
Watermelon Slim
Watermelon Slim is back and he’s on the Northern Blues label where he garnered most of his 20 Blues Music Award nominations and his two wins. After two obscure releases, … Read more
Hunt Sales Memorial
Assuming the role of snake charmer on drums and bashing out an unforgettably primal, hip-shaking groove that was wildly hypnotic and wantonly sexual, Hunt Sales lit a dancing fire under … Read more
Chris O’Leary
7 Minutes Late is harpist/singer-songwriter Chris O’Leary’s fourth studio release and fifth overall. Through a few changes and expanded lineup since his impressive 2010 debut, Mr. Used To Be, O’Leary … Read more
