My image of Mark Olson and Victoria Williams is utterly romantic and perhaps indelibly linked to an understanding of how seriously they must take the “better/worse, sickness/health” portion of their marriage vows. They inspire and comfort me on several levels; musically, they thrill me. Let me count the ways, as displayed on the fourth Original [...]

Rich From The Journey is a contemplative, spiritual album set on a seashore where, as the waves fall back from the sand, time — or what we do with it — seems to be all that matters.
Kimmie Rhodes’ 1996 album West Texas Heaven was filled with earthly travels. This album is about the hourglass, about [...]

One of 1999’s most disappointing developments was the untimely demise of L.A. drama-rock purveyors Grant Lee Buffalo, the missing link between Roxy Music’s romantic flights of fancy and The Band’s understated tone portraits. Singer/guitarist Grant Lee Phillips’ first solo outing, available only via his website, has a miniaturized, stripped-down sound that could pass for a [...]

Some singer-songwriter types truly are storytellers. Others specialize in placing one perfect couplet in each song. Then there’s Freedy Johnston, who can often tell a story, or at least create the intricate framework for one, in the cozy confines of that perfect couplet.
This new release, available only via Johnston’s website and at his shows, was [...]

Almost as delightful as coming across some unfamiliar masterpiece in a dusty used bin is finding a modest first draft that quietly hints of great things to come. The new self-titled EP from emerging Chicago band Cowlily falls squarely under the latter heading.
Led by former L.A. Rambler Steph Turner, whose powerful (if occasionally uncertain) voice [...]

An album that opens with a song called “Neil’s On The Radio” and finishes with a cover of “Cinnamon Girl” sort of telegraphs the gritty, post-grunge wavelength this Cincinnati band uses to beam us aboard their rattling pick-up truck. Hence, there are not many surprises, but the trip is worth the effort.
Bob Burns, who plays [...]

Somewhere Down The Road, Southern Californian James Intveld’s second release, continues in the path of his debut. His silky-smooth vocals and songwriting talents are applied to tunes that range in style from country to blues to rockabilly, with a general tone that recalls the early heydays of the likes of Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. [...]

The aftermath of the Dave & Deke Combo’s breakup appears to be one of those cases, to turn the cliche on its head, of the parts being greater than the sum. Both Deke Dickerson and Dave Stuckey are carving out solo careers that are yielding even better music than they produced together.
Deke’s ahead of Dave [...]

Taj Mahal-like, Alvin Youngblood Hart continues to forage where he pleases. Start With The Soul finds him combining ’70s soul, rock and jazz in the company of Big Star and Replacements producer Jim Dickinson. Hart covers Chuck Berry’s “Back To Memphis”, Black Oak Arkansas’ “Cryin’ Shame”, and, with a dollop of Sly/Stone horns, the Cornelius [...]