Reviews
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River Whyless: Kindness, a Rebel
There are a number of elements that go into making a band a great band. Quality songwriting and engaging performances are certainly on the list. But one of the most basic pieces of that puzzle? A creative drummer. Four-on-the-floor is fine, of course. It has gotten a LOT of jobs done. Still, you can tell…
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Indigo Girls: Live with the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Live music, when it\’s good, is a full-body experience. It is an energetic give and take between the artist and the audience. That\’s why live albums have such a hard time capturing a concert well. At best, if you saw that particular show or tour, a live record makes for a nice souvenir. With a…
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Lori McKenna: The Tree
Truth is something that we each have our own version of, based on our unique perspective of a shared world. Two people could look at the same building from different sides and describe seemingly disparate experiences. One sees windows. One does not. Each tells their truth of that moment in this world, without elision or…
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Birdtalker: One
In her stunningly brilliant piece, Nanette, comedian Hannah Gadsby talks about how jokes have two parts: tension and release. The performer creates the former in order to provide the latter and, essentially, come out looking like a champ. She laughs that it\’s a somewhat abusive relationship, that of comedian and audience. Songs can be similarly…
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Lera Lynn: Plays Well with Others
Finding your voice, as an artist, is a multi-faceted endeavor. There\’s the style of singing that, albeit weighted with inherent gifts, still demands work on technique and timbre to be really great. Then there\’s the craft of songwriting which requires even more effort to hone. Figuring out what to say and how to say it,…
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Erin Rae: Putting on Airs
It\’s not as easy as it seems to make a record that stands the test of time. Great songs and classic sounds play their part, as do brilliant performances. But the key lies in the obvious restraint such an undertaking demands in the moment and rewards only in hindsight. Timeless albums are only timeless because…
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The Dead Tongues: Unsung Passage
When most people think of the banjo, they think of bluegrass banjo, with rolls and runs that don\’t always make the most soothing sound. But the banjo has so much more to offer than that, including deep, dark tones that evoke other worlds, geographically and metaphorically. That\’s the kind of banjo artists like Valerie June,…
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Gretchen Peters: Dancing with the Beast
American culture has a bad habit of dismissing the voices of its elders. Hit 50 and, as far as many are concerned, you might as well drift out to sea on an iceberg. Except that icebergs are melting, and mature voices should always be considered relevant because they have, indeed, been there and done that.…
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Ben Glover: Shorebound
Music, by its very nature, is a collaborative experience. Both giving and receiving are required for it to exist, if not demanded by it. Even when an artist writes, plays, and records every single note on an album by themselves, the collaboration begins once someone else hears their work. For when we listen, we overlay…
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Valerie June: The Order of Time
One of the best things about modern roots music is its conflation and innovation, of traditions and of visions. And many of the artists making the greatest strides in that regard are Black artists, including Alabama Shakes, Rhiannon Giddens, Son Little, and Valerie June. Each brings an inimitable style and an indelible spirit to their…