Despite David Allan Coe’s longstanding repu_tation as a rabble-rousing outlaw misfit, he was nowhere near as outside the Nashville power structure as Will Oldham and his Louisville cohorts are. Hell, that cast of players is pretty much outside all music industry boundaries. So it seems fitting that they take the time to give props to [...]

Remember the scene in Diner when the characters played by Daniel Stern and Kevin Bacon disagree about whether the A-side of a Ritchie Valens single was “La Bamba” or “Donna”? A similar debate, albeit a noncinematic and less historically significant one, could take place over this debut single from Drive By Truckers, a group of [...]

Get yourself a cup of tea and a cozy blanket for this one. Light a fire in the fireplace (or for those of you in those ’80s Reagan-boom condos, go flick that switch on the wall). Drop the needle down on this 7-inch, and just relax. Chris & Carla of the Walkabouts and Boston’s Willard [...]

Only 1,000 copies of this gorgeous package, containing demos and outtakes from Neal Casal’s previous releases, were pressed — which means that, like Casal’s excellent Zoo Records disc Fade Away Diamond Time and independent follow-up Rain, Wind & Speed, most people probably won’t get a chance to hear it. But it’s well worth seeking out.
Casal [...]

The arrival of a new Silos collection containing live cuts, alternate versions, and should-have-been hits on a French label begs the question: Does the world need such a Silos collection right now? Perhaps they do in France, but when The Silos signed with Watermelon a few years back, the first order of business was getting [...]

Over the past few years, this hard-working band from Portland, Oregon, has been performing around town with such frequency that one would guess most locals would have gotten their fill by now. Not even close. No matter the venue, Golden Delicious fills it to capacity with a throng of fans who appreciate the band’s infectious [...]

When I first heard Devil Of A Dream, the only thing I knew about Robin and Linda Williams was that a few years ago they’d had the wit and good taste to record “Herding Cattle In A Cadillac Coup De Ville”, one of the best comic songs you’ll ever hear. It turns out I’ve been [...]

Terri Binion’s Leavin’ This Town was originally released on her own label, Shinola, and nearly went unnoticed. But among those paying attention were the folks at Daemon Records (Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls is the owner), who gave this CD the wider distribution it deserves.
Binion is in the vein that earned Nanci Griffith the [...]

It’s rare for someone to play guitar with a style that can be described as unassuming, yet impressive enough to stop you in your tracks. John Jennings, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s longtime guitarist, arranger and producer, does an exemplary job of it on his solo CD Buddy. It’s a gentle mix of jazzy, folksy blues, one [...]

Harvester doesn’t have as much standard Americana in their sound as their name might imply. While perhaps the best thing about their second record is its broad reach, most of it falls somewhere into the alternative-rock heap — melodic, noisy guitar songs intelligently put together.
This disc was recorded for Geffen, but the band was let [...]