EMMYLOU HARRIS and RODNEY CROWELL The Traveling Kind Nonesuch www.nonesuch.com Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell won a Grammy for their 2013 release Old Yellow Moon and fortunately for us, they’ve followed it up with another … Continue reading →
BRIAN McNEILL and FRIENDS The Falkirk Music Pot Greentrax 383 www.greentrax.com What is Scottish music? Once one accepts the reality that what is glibly labeled “Celtic music” is more useful for marketers than ethnomusicologists, … Continue reading →
TOM CHAPIN 70 Sundance Music 027 www.tomchapin.com I‘ve been a Tom Chapin fan ever since I heard him at a midwest folk festival years ago. His personable stage manner and impeccable songwriting chops impressed me … Continue reading →
FAIRPORT CONVENTION Myths and Heroes Matty Grooves 053 www.fairportconvention.com Wow! Forty eight years and still going! Fairport Convention is now an institution in their native England; they host an annual festival which attracts around … Continue reading →
DELLA MAE Della Mae Rounder 613637 www.rounder.com This four-piece Americana band kicks ass on a variety of songs, from thoughtful ballads to up-tempo bluegrass. Produced by Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Buddy Guy), every arrangement … Continue reading →
MONOSWEZI Monoswezi Yanga Tugboat 1090 www.worldmusic.net The second release from Monoswezi builds on their impressive debut. With a sound built on the unlikely twin foundations of Zimbabwean mbira (thumb piano) and Scandinavian jazz. Fronted … Continue reading →
THE KROPOTKINS Portents of Love Mulatta Records www.cdbaby.com/large-river-music Named after the Russian anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin, this New York City and Memphis-based sextet was created in 1994 by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and neuroscientist Dave Soldier … Continue reading →
VARIOUS ARTISTS Rhythms of Labour Cambridge University Press 9781107000179 www.cambridge.org/large-river-music www.rhythmsoflabour.com Can you imagine it? Noon rolls around and office workers begin to sing: “Boss man called a meetin’ / At a time I should … Continue reading →
NORMAN BLAKE Wood Wire and Words Plectrafone www.westernjubilee.com Blake opens this album with “Savanna Rag,” a loose, syncopated instrumental that shows off his low key fingerpicking virtuosity. Descending bass runs and meandering flurries of … Continue reading →
LOST LEADERS Lost Leaders Lost Leaders www.lostleaders.net Lost Leaders is a trio of Byron Isaacs, Peter Cole and Justin Guip. Isaacs and Cole split the songwriting almost evenly on the set’s ten songs. Guip is … Continue reading →
