Tim Easton steps up in a big way on The Truth About Us. Backed by an impressive cast that includes three-fourths of Wilco, Mark Olson and Victoria Williams, Easton fully delivers on the promise of his 1998 solo debut Special 20. Easton’s move from his native Ohio to Los Angeles provides a fertile source of [...]

Old Man Motel kicks off with an old car engine starting, followed by a John Fogerty-esque chord and then a pummeling drum beat. The lead track, “Ride”, is, like many of the cuts here, a smartly structured roots-rock song performed with wonderfully reckless energy. Fernando’s fourth record (including last year’s tasty Pacoima, a side project [...]

So you’re thinking, “What is there new that could possibly come from yet another Texas singer-songwriter?” Well, what if I told you that this record glides comfortably from tuneful Beatlesque psychedelia to funky urban beats to trumpet solos to Hawaiian-influenced guitar to smooth pop vocals to raps delivered in Spanish? And all in the space [...]

Oregonians love to complain about the impact of transplanted Californians on their Eden — gridlocked highways, escalating property values, the “Californication” of the urban landscape. But the northbound migration has paid one dividend: an infusion of talent to the Portland music scene. Singer-songwriters are finding they can earn a living and even thrive in Portland [...]

Though still in his 20s, Luther Russell has already packed nearly a lifetime into his career in music. He absorbed a lot playing in bands in Los Angeles since early adolescence, signing with American Recordings and releasing a record with his former band the Freewheelers. When all that didn’t exactly pan out as planned, Russell [...]

Pete Krebs is a musical chameleon who fronts a couple of Portland’s most popular bands: Hazel, a noisy power trio, and Golden Delicious, a spirited gang of old-timey/bluegrass pranksters. But on Western Electric, Krebs gets serious and shows what a fine songwriter he is. The eleven songs here are all worth digging into, performed with [...]