With this utterly beguiling (and utterly unlikely) record, multi-instrumentalist Jason Holstrum seems to be making bid to be the Sufjan Stevens of island music. The Thieves Of Kailua is an ambitious orchestral pop suits inspired by Hawaiian and calypso rhythms. What emerges is a sort of bedroom recluse’s imagining of a spiritual, [...]

Strains of Britpop, garage rock and country slyly slink through Tormes’ sparse, gothic-leaning debut. The NYC-by-way-of-Nashville singer-songwriter possesses a gorgeous, soulful voice that at times recalls Margo Timmins, with a little more sugar and less smoke. “Darkness has been a friend to me,” Tormes sings on the disc-ending “Fade Away”, and by that [...]

With stomping takes on Jerry Lee Lewis’ “End Of The Road” and the 1950s Buddy Knox hit “Party Doll”, Red Hot From Blue rock follows in the steps of Lucky Tomblin’s 2006 release In A Honky-Tonk Mood. Tomblin’s all-star Austin assemblage specializes in loving recreations of deep tracks from classic artists, and even on [...]

Young, sincere and enthusiastic, the Farewell Drifters pulled together their debut disc in short order with some help from experienced engineer Ben Surratt and producer Glen Garrett. Sweet Summer Breeze is a terrific snapshot of where the group is now, with the bulk of the material written by rhythm guitarist / lead singer Zach [...]

As its title suggests, Tom Brosseau’s latest takes what seems like a cavalier attitude toward narrative and musical density. Yet Cavalier contains plenty of the North Dakota native’s weightless parlor-room blues guitar, and he’s funny. “Committed To Memory” contains the lines, “I’ve got the time we went to Portland / I’ve got the [...]

New York songwriter Care Burson’s second album begins with electrified turbulence, passes through wide-awake freedom, and emerges on the edge of an unmarked town stripped of nearly everything but her voice and her emotions. While the trend in singer-songwriters of the indie-rock persuasion is toward naiveté and pre-teen vocalizing, Burson sings like a grown [...]

Some may find Texan Terri Hendrix a little perky for their taste, but it’s hard not to feel well-disposed to someone who, in her liner notes regarding her cover of “Pastures Of Plenty”, writes “I wish it was mandatory that before you could hold public office you had to learn to play guitar and learn [...]

This disc pairs Pennsylvania accordionist Alex Meixner, who specializes in various eastern European styles, with former Brave Combo bassist Bubba Hernandez and a Tex-Mex rhythm section. The result is, if not a full-fledged freak-out, a mighty spirited and often weird time just the same, recommended to anyone who shares the Brave Combo penchant for [...]

A multiple-IBMA award winner and long-time member of Claire Lynch’s touring band, Jim Hurst is one of the most versatile acoustic guitar players on the contemporary bluegrass circuit. Hurst augments his flatpicking with hints of Merle Travis and Jerry Reed, bending and sliding until his notes take on an almost vocal quality. As [...]