It’s hard to explain to folks why some bands have “it” and some don’t, especially in the traditional music space. After all, every traditional band has a guitar, a banjo, and maybe a mandolin and/or fiddle. But the difference is all in the …
Category: Roots
Three bands from 2014 we should have covered (but didn’t)
Look – no one likes excuses. I have none. Sometimes there were “circumstances” that resulted in bands getting bumped down in coverage, but to these three bands I’d like to say SORRY. To make up for it… umm… we covered you! Yay?! Opal …
Crooked Brothers – Postcard EP – Good old fashioned toe-tapping music
Banjo, guitar, harmonica – check, check, check. The Crooked Brothers released an excited little EP that shows promise of much more to come. Bring your dancing shoes to this party because the Crooked Brothers will get your toes tapping. Actually, the first track …
Jacob Thomas Jr. – Original Sin – Stunning minimalist singer songwriter
I don’t always think of Woody Guthrie when I listen to folk music, but I sure do with Jacob Thomas Jr. Teetering on that ill-defined line between roots country and folk music, Thomas has the uncanny ability of using finger picking to sooth …
Siskin River – The Hours They Keep – Fun and Excellently Crafted
What’s not to love about Siskin River? Honestly, try not to immediately fall head over heels in love with the sisters that make up the band. Hailing from Australia, the duo has been on the rise with constant touring, energetic shows, and even living …
Hiss Golden Messenger – The Lateness of Dancers
As you may well know, an interesting band name will get me every time. Hiss Golden Messenger avoided my attention for a long time because I have difficulty reading, but it’s now in the running for my album of 2014 with their stellar album, The …
Free Music Friday! The Dirty Guv’nahs
Today is the first Free Music Friday of September, so we’re headed down south to Knoxville, TN and an old favorite of ours. The Dirty Guv’nahs are giving away their latest album, Hearts on Fire, for the next two weeks. Go, stop reading and …
Cahalen Morrison and Eli West – I’ll Swing My Hammer With Both of My Hands – Keeping traditional country music thriving
Every once in a while I run across an album that I find so endearing, so engaging, and so exciting that I struggle to find words for it. I kept this album in my car for my commute for literally weeks, thinking to …
Benjamin James Caldwell–timeless, nostalgic, beautiful.
If we were all on the Oregon Trail together, Benjamin James Caldwell would be the young gentleman still singing softly around the campfire when everyone else has all gone to bed. Somehow he would still be up at the crack of dawn with …
Br’er Rabbit–adventurous, mountain music.
The story of Br’er Rabbit has been rewritten. Instead of a racially insensitive folk tale set in the Deep South, it is a story of growing up in the Pacific Northwest;three kids running through the woods and around their small city like they …
