Though still in his 20s, Luther Russell has already packed nearly a lifetime into his career in music. He absorbed a lot playing in bands in Los Angeles since early adolescence, signing with American Recordings and releasing a record with his former band the Freewheelers. When all that didn’t exactly pan out as planned, Russell [...]

The Coal Palace Kings wear their garage-punk influences, not to mention a serious Neil Young fixation, squarely on their sleeves. Their bio also claims Hank Sr. and Merle as inspirations, but you’d be hard-pressed to discern just where those names fit into the scheme of things.
The band’s sound is based around only two modes of [...]

That Ward Dotson sure is a versatile son of a Gun Club. In addition to serving in the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s swamp-bluesy outfit, Dotson co-founded the appealingly Stonesy Pontiac Brothers and played in both the Hello Strangers and girl-group revivalists the Pussywillows. His current project Liquor Giants, now six years and four albums old, [...]

In matters of the heart, most of us get a little gun shy as we grow older. It’s a natural response to having your heart broken and your expectations crumbled time and time again. Moonshine Willy singer-songwriter Kim Docter already knows this, and if you don’t, she and the band are ready to teach you. [...]

Neither a solo artist nor a car dealership, Lou Ford is a Charlotte, North Carolina, quartet whose “So Far Gone” was arguably the highlight of the Revival compilation of Carolina-region roots bands. (For those who might care, the band is named after a character in a Jim Thompson novel.)
“So Far Gone” also was on an [...]

Virginia-based country singer Randy Thompson’s second album is a sturdy if derivative collection of honky-tonk that shows him to be a strong songwriter and evocative singer.
There’s one moment of genuine greatness. “No Future In The Blues (Ode to Hank Williams)” turns an overworked subgenre of country on its ear by forgoing the usual worshipful tone [...]

This husband-and-wife duo’s debut has hovered around the music box for over a month now, catching play time at numerous junctures as music and listener struggled to make a connection. Positive indicators abound: estimable guitar maven Albert Lee, steel legend Al Perkins, an Everlys chestnut, co-writes with Steve Earle and Chris Hillman, a Buddy and [...]

The “Lee’s” of the title is Lee’s Liquor Lounge, a renowned Minneapolis watering hole that has been home to Trailer Trash every Wednesday night for the past four years. Live At Lee’s consists of eighteen country standards and one original tune.
I suppose if you put together an album of the classic versions of these [...]

With a lyrical feel somewhere between the wry glimpses of Michael Hall and the candid conversations of Lonesome Bob, and characterized by sounds akin to Hall’s roots-aware smorgasbord — or, when an accordion makes the scene, maybe 5 Chinese Brothers — Ready To Hang has moved to the top of my listening pile mighty fast.
Ann [...]

At first listen, this album seems to be trying hard to be radio-friendly, which isn’t inherently a bad thing. The first four songs sound too formulaic, though, like the Hootie/Matchbox 20/Wallflowers sound that’s all the rage these days. Get past them, however, and things are looking up. “Cold” is a gorgeous, languorous song that sounds [...]