If one must look for antecedents in Greg Jacobs’ music, look to the loose blues feel of many Bob Dylan tunes or the splendid story songs of John Prine — but Jacobs is not one to wear his influences on his sleeve. His is a personal vision that largely follows fellow Okie Woody Guthrie’s premise: [...]

Beginning with The Great Puzzle in 1991, Jules Shear has put out a body of work that proves great pop music is still built on solid songwriting. On Allow Me, Shear continues his penetrating look into the heart and soul of lives big and small. Stewart Lerman’s production serves the music well, as Shear’s limited [...]

In Oklahoma there is a spirited roots-oriented music that is simply referred to as “red dirt music.” The tag didn’t come from any record company publicist or music journalist but from the musicians themselves, who all migrated to the college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. This loosely knit group includes its [...]