On their second album, South Carolina’s American Gun sift Uncle Tupelo, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen through a filter of southern gothic storytelling and rock ‘n’ roll energy, coming out with a batch of pure, stripped-down twang ‘n’ roll. Frontmen Todd Mathis and Donald Merckle trade songs throughout; Mathis offers up the drawling “Horses” and [...]

The regal, elegant voice of Fayssoux McLean drips with a graceful ease that comes only with experience. In her case, that includes singing with Emmylou Harris for many years and a first marriage to the Seldom Scene’s John Starling. Somehow this is the first album with her name at the top. Produced by fellow Spartanburg, [...]

The sophomore disc from South Carolina musician Chris Smith (a.k.a. Sunshone Still) may be a bit high-concept, but it’s also a fascinating, cinematic musical exercise inspired by the true story of Kit Carson and the Manifest Destiny years of the United States in the late 1800s. The tale is laid out in three “Book” sections, [...]

Music and life has been all about family for Johnny Irion the past few years, from a 2005 duo album with his wife Sarah Lee Guthrie, tours with her father Arlo. Ex Tempore puts his solo career back in the spotlight, picking up where 2001′s Unity Lodge left off. While that first solo disc garnered [...]

Over the past decade, weathered singer and guitarist Jack Williams has issued a handful of great albums that combine his skilled fingerpicking with a musical style that’s equal parts folk storytelling and Tin Pan Alley songcraft, delivered with the impassioned soul of an old blues singer. This one tops them all with a personal examination [...]

Recording in Nashville and using outside co-writers for the first time, Hootie & the Blowfish have shaken up their established formula with excellent results. “The Killing Stone”, written with Matraca Berg, is the high-water mark, with a ripped-from-scripture chorus and a gospel-tinged hook. “A Smile”, co-written with Walter Salas-Humara of the Silos, will bring a [...]

In the 1980s, John Brannen was a Springsteen-esque rocker; his song “Desolation Angel” was even an MTV Hip Clip. In the ’90s he re-emerged as a country singer and Nashville songwriter; a 1993 tour for his self-titled Polygram album was a package deal with two other newcomers — Shania Twain and Toby Keith. With a [...]