Category Archives: Album Reviews

Tim Easton – Not Cool

During my first spin of Tim Easton’s new Not Cool album, Little Village came to mind. If you don’t know or remember Little Village, look ‘em up: John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner – the same lineup who laid down Hiatt’s 1987 masterpiece Bring The Family and reunited to release a self-titled […]

The Royal Noise – Unbreakable

In some ways The Royal Noise’s sophomore effort Unbreakable picks up where their 2012 debut Keep On Moving left off: groove, groove, and more groove – with a side order of groove and a frothy mug of groove to wash it down with. Guitarist Johan Harvey and sax/keyboard wizard Mike LaBombard are masters of quickly […]

Bobby Whitlock: Domino, Solo, CoCo & Tellin’ The Truth

Bobby Whitlock and wife CoCo Carmel are riding a natural high – I can hear it in their voices when I call their Austin, TX home for our interview – and with good reason. This summer has seen two important releases added to their catalog; one a look back and the other a look ahead. […]

The Rides – Can’t Get Enough

Although The Rides’ frontline of Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Barry Goldberg is touted on the front cover of their debut Can’t Get Enough, drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton and bassist Kevin McCormick play no small role in the sound that truly makes this band deserve the “supergroup” tag. These five players are a wicked […]

Bob Dylan – Another Self Portrait (1969–1971)

When Bob Dylan released the original Self Portrait in 1970, it was looked upon as meatloaf by a public that was expecting steak. No – worse: it was treated like a weird loaf made of should-have-been-discarded leftovers, half-heartedly slammed together. Well, even that’s not completely accurate. Actually, a lot of folks just thought it was […]

The Smoking Flowers – 2 Guns

Razz me all you want about this being an album review and the fact that the backstory shouldn’t have anything to do with the music and all that – I don’t care. The ring-tailed facts of the matter are as follows: I’m a sucker for a good love story; I’m an admirer of folks with […]

On The Road To Spearfish with Crazy Horse’s Billy Talbot

No doubt the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of Billy Talbot’s name is the legendary catalog of work he and his bandmates in Crazy Horse have created over the years with Neil Young. The studio collaborations between Young and the Horse began with 1969’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere with the […]

Crushed Out – Want To Give

The Black Keys; The White Stripes; The Bonnevilles; Henry’s Funeral Shoe – just to name a few: blues-fueled guitar ‘n’ drums duos are this time around’s answer to the classic power trios of yesteryear. Brooklyn’s Crushed Out deserves a spot alongside the best of the best of ‘em: guitarist/vocalist Frank Hoier and Moselle Spiller (drums […]

The Dirty Streets – Blades Of Grass

Oh, boy: here’s 11 tracks of sheer rockin’ blues happiness, boys and girls, wrapped in a late 60s/early 70s-vintage vibe and served up all fresh and steamy. The Memphis-based trio Dirty Streets powerdrive their way through a selection of tunes on their newly-released Blades Of Grass that resound with echoes of all sorts of blasts […]

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette – Somewhere

The problem with the Keith Jarrett Trio is that the legendary pianist and his wingmen – bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette – are expected to be magnificent. They have been for 30 years now, having set the bar high with 1983’s Standards, Volume 1 and never faltering since. And therein lies the problem: […]