In the early ’70s, the quality of both Jesse Winchester’s rich, colorful songwriting and his folk-soul singing should have made him a star on par with artists such as James Taylor and Cat Stevens. But the Shreveport, Louisiana, native had fled to Canada to avoid helping blow up Southeast Asia, so he remained a relatively [...]

The texture and variety of One Fell Swoop’s playing — especially Andy Ploof on mandolin, fiddle, and dobro, and Cheryl Stryker on piano and accordion — is reminiscent of The Band, their obvious spiritual godparents. An instinctive singer in the Van Morrison tradition, Stryker belts and purrs in equal measure, her cashmere-coated voice moving between [...]

Easily Ray Wylie Hubbard’s most musically satisfying recording, Eternal And Lowdown is a blues album — but for Hubbard the blues works the way bluegrass does for Steve Earle, more guiding spirit than constriction. Propelled by Hubbard’s weathered but passionate voice, wicked slide work, and a spicy instrumental stew — producer Gurf Morlix’s swampy electric [...]

John Gorka’s thick, soulful baritone is as rich as homemade bread just out of the oven. Though Gorka was influenced by many ’60s folkies, including Stan Rogers and Tom Paxton, his most important model was Eric Andersen. Like Andersen, Gorka sounds rough and weathered enough to pull off incisive social critiques, yet sensitive and intimate [...]

Eliza Gilkyson has been making records for nearly two decades, but Hard Times In Babylon is a revelation, a bracing song cycle about the challenges of balancing art and eros. Like Lucinda Williams, she sings with a scratchy, wounded sensuality, suggesting a wise and generous soul beneath a rough and tumble surface. And she supports [...]

Best known for the wonderful folk-inflected bluegrass records she cut with her brother Tim, Mollie O’Brien presents herself here as a bluesy jazz diva, with pleasant, occasionally sublime results. The music, produced by Nina Gerber, is an eclectic blend of folky acoustic guitars, plaintive pianos, and saucy bass/drum arrangements similar to Joni Mitchell’s Blue and [...]

Though Charleston, West Virginia, stalwarts the Carpenter Ants aren’t exactly household names, chances are you’ve heard Michael Lipton’s guitar work on the nationally syndicated Mountain Stage radio program, supporting a wide variety of performers with his sinewy, swampy leads. The Ants have long been known as a reliable high-energy bar band, but this inspired and [...]

Anytime Tomorrow retains the intimacy of Neal Casal’s wonderful acoustic guitar-oriented Rain, Wind, And Speed while adding muscular, densely textured doses of roots rock as well as lovely touches of Beatles-flavored pop. This is Casal’s most musically sophisticated and satisfying outing (particularly noteworthy are John Ginty’s contributions on piano, organ, harpsichord and marching bells), but [...]