Let’s just cut to the chase: East Of Yesterday is one heck of a good record. Sweet melodies, rockin’ guitars, irresistible hooks, twangy steel and fiddle, knowing lyrics, and straight-ahead singing combine to form a string of fine songs propelled by a great sound. Hailing from New York City, the Hangdogs are singer and primary [...]

The adjective “Appalachian” may be overused, but Portland, Oregon, singer Little Sue — a.k.a. Susannah Jean Weaver — is in fact originally from West Virginia, and she sounds, well, Appalachian. Her voice has a rawness and a slight quaver, but it also has an Emmylou Harris-like quality and a confident presence. With her debut record, [...]

Wayne Hancock’s debut, Thunderstorms And Neon Signs, was one of those records I wanted to like more than I actually did. It featured a bunch of good songs, and it effectively reached back into the ’50s and conjured up a true honky-tonk sound. But the whole affair seemed a little forced, Hancock trying just a [...]

If you’ve spent time in Southern California and you like to go out and see a good country music show, chances are you already know a thing or two about Ronnie Mack. He’s the keeper of the flame at Ronnie Mack’s Barn Dance, a venerable Tuesday night institution that started more than seven years ago [...]

I first found out about Chris Wall a few years ago when Jerry Jeff Walker covered two of his songs on his Live At Gruene Hall record. Those songs reflected the two sides of Chris Wall’s work. The first, “I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight”, is a beautiful and smart country tune about pain, loss [...]

Perhaps St. Louis is uniquely positioned as the nexus of musical influences (country, rock, blues, boogie, pop, punk) that created bands such as Uncle Tupelo and the Bottle Rockets. If so, then Belle Starr leader and songwriter Kip Loui has extracted a different blend on this impressive debut from a band that really doesn’t sound [...]