Eugene Chadbourne is not exactly a household name in country circles, alt or otherwise. He’s what you might call a “noise” or “free” guitarist whose vocals often resemble a bray, but he’s been experimenting with country material off and on for decades. His last album featured songs associated with Ernest Tubb, Willie Nelson, Bob Wills [...]

It seems like just yesterday that Los Lobos soared out of East L.A. on a hot wind blast of Mexican-American roots music and punk-inspired DIY spirit. The fact that the lineup is the same as it’s been since the get-go — high school buddies Louie Perez, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, and Cesar Rosas (plus Steve [...]

It was Sunday morning at South By Southwest in Austin. I was eating breakfast with my kid sister when Peter Jesperson stopped by our table to rave about Marah’s gig the night before. For years the former manager of the Replacements (now a New West Records VP) had been among the band’s most vocal boosters, [...]

Two words that show up repeatedly in reviews of David Baerwald’s albums are “intelligent” and “Bukowksi”. The former is because Baerwald’s lyrics eschew standard romantic fare in order to essay big ideas, such as faith and despair, and because their turns reveal both more and less than might be expected. The latter reference is because [...]

Texas singer-songwriter Jack Ingram has always worn his influences on his sleeve, which is underscored by the company he keeps. His last two records were produced by Steve Earle and Richard Bennett, respectively, and he has co-written with Earle, Bruce and Charlie Robison, Jim Lauderdale, and Todd Snider — i.e., musicians trawling the same confluence [...]

If there were any doubt that Jason Ringenberg is a friendly fellow, this collaborative collection scorches them. As Ringenberg explains in the notes, performing solo on his recent tour made him eager for company, inspiring this project of duets featuring kindred spirits from the alternative Nashville axis (Steve Earle, Todd Snider, Kristi Rose et al.) [...]

Two years after Life’ll Kill Ya found Warren Zevon coolly gazing at age and decay, My Ride’s Here swivels his mirrored sunglasses and wry derision toward death. And the NHL. Comrades have his back. Although he’s regularly performed and collaborated with artists ranging from Dwight Yoakam to screenwriter Tom McGuane, My Ride’s Here lines up [...]

For Dave Alvin fans, it may be enough to simply report that this new live disc includes “4th Of July” in the form of a touching ballad, and “American Music” rendered as a screaming, convincing answer to the oft-stated but tired proposition that “it was much better back with the Blasters.” In his second live [...]

No fuss, no mess, no struggle: This record of country duets is a simple, easygoing pleasure. And no wonder, as Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, both undersung heroes of the California country-rock scene, are longstanding country and bluegrass pickers who have worked together, on and off, over the course of nearly four decades. They first [...]

While I have no idea whether Alejandro Escovedo is much of an environmentalist, no artist in modern music has benefited more from recycling. Throughout his solo career, Escovedo has drawn from material dating back to his hard-rocking days in the True Believers, showing how the same body of work breathes very differently depending on whether [...]