On his first solo outing after a decade and a half of pumping out resonant honky-tonk party music with BR549, Chuck Mead remains happily awash in life-affirming twang and strum. Journeyman’s Wager is full of sing-along melodies, down-to-earth lyrics and rapid-fire instrumental breaks, courtesy of Nashville ringers such as guitarist Kenny Vaughn and keyboardist Jen [...]

The addition of keyboardist-vocalist Bill Starks to the longtime Wranglers lineup of bassist Greg Hardin, drummer Robbie Magruder and guitarist Phil Mathieu takes the D.C.-based honky-tonkers to a new, fresh level on Americana Express. This fast-moving collection of a dozen tunes, their fifth disc since 1996 and their first since 2003, will wow longtime fans [...]

Is it permissible to have a mulligan in music? In casual golf, if you miss a shot you sometimes get a do-over, known as a mulligan. I ask because in September 2004 I said this about Blackie & the Rodeo Kings in The Washington Post: “. . . a band that was never intended to [...]

Has any modern band defied labels as successfully as the Nighthawks? They want it every which way – rock, blues, roots — and the ‘Hawks always get their way, and have for 36 years and counting. Such skillful genre-hopping is the reason their fan base ranges from mohawked skateboarders to dyed-in-the-wool Chicago blues purists. American [...]

Kentucky veteran singer-songwriter Mickey Clark epitomizes the term “flying under the radar.” There’s no listing for him at the otherwise fairly comprehensive All Music Guide website; there are no back albums on Amazon for sale; Google searches for his name turn up “Mickey Gilley” and “Guy Clark” more than Mickey Clark. After an early career [...]

Walk Along is the second album from the Mickeys, a duo of lovely, talented twin sisters from Michigan who sing heartfelt songs in the kind of dulcet harmonies only siblings can. The album should swell the ranks of their following here and overseas (they’ve done a couple of European tours), and will no doubt please [...]

Perhaps when Jack White has lived a bit more, he might dig deeper into his blues roots, he might learn the “why” of what he does, and perhaps then he’ll finally begin channeling his experience into something that’s relevant and telling, something that resonates longer than it takes to scroll to the next download. Perhaps [...]

Who is happier when a labor of love turns out to be a beautiful thing, the artist or the listener? Tucson flatpicking guitar whiz Greg Morton has to be satisfied with this indie release, six months in the making; it’s sterlingly produced, cleanly picked and properly sequenced. But just as happy is the unassuming acoustic [...]

One of the categories I have in my mega-CD changer – it’s a 400-CD jukebox – is for holiday music. I have about 20 discs in there that I listen to on shuffle-play, usually when company is here, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Every November, I take out the ones I’m tired of, and [...]