Because he writes mostly character-driven songs, it’s difficult to know just how much Mark Knopfler imbues a painter who lusts after more vivid colors in “Let It All Go” with his own attitudes and attributes. Yet it’s easy to read into the song’s bitter lyrics a distaste for his own profession, or rather what it [...]

Despite having numerous gold and platinum albums to her name, is it possible Ann Wilson is an underrated singer? It would seem so. As the powerhouse vocalist of Heart, Wilson, along with her sister Nancy, helped clear the path for a generation of female rockers to come. But by the time the Lilith Fair was [...]

Had Amy Allison been born a few decades earlier, she’d have been a perfect frontperson for a girl group. Her nasal croon — an acquired taste, to be sure — longs to be swathed in Wall-of-Sound-style arrangements as her lyrics catalogue every romantic slight and count every tear that falls. The production isn’t quite that [...]

Given that it’s been more than six years since the release of the last Martin Sexton album (save for a 2005 Christmas collection), Seeds feels at first a little slight, filled with songs about contentment, kicking back, and the ability to fail upward. Lucky for Sexton, though, that even trifles such as “Happy”, “Goin’ To [...]

“Sing like there’s no tomorrow,” John Gorka implores/instructs on “Broken Place”. He’d do well to heed his own advice. His fine baritone vocals have won him many fans, and his subtle observations of life’s small moments have led artists such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith and Maura O’Connell to cover his songs. But over [...]