Optic Yellow Felt takes the rangy concepts of folk and jazz and sparks it up with the complex emotional underpinnings of classic turn-of-the-1970s rock on this deeply involving — and yet utterly listenable — self-titled debut.

Richard Thompson amps up the dying-light rage that has always made for his best albums, while smartly avoiding the studio trickery that sometimes muted his gift during the Mitchell Froom years.

Formed in 1985, the Optic Nerve garnered more attention and accolades in death than in life. Hailing from New York City, the band tooled about the local underground circuit and put out a couple of singles, but struggled to get arrested.

Last year, a British singer-songwriter living in Spain by the name of David Philips made a no-frills record, The Rooftop Recordings, a bare-bones set of home recordings that depended entirely on Philips’ songs

When going back and reading my take on John Hiatt’s last album Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns I almost thought I had already written my commentary on the one he’s got on tap next, because virtually everything you can use to describe Dirty Jeans could easily apply to Mystic Pinball.

In a career first, the Indigo Girls have announced a symphony tour, set to kick off in Chattanooga, Tennessee on July 18 and continue into 2013.

Nashville-based Seth Walker hits a sweet spot of soulful folk-blues where Keb Mo, Eric Lindell and Eric Bibb intersect, and like those three, he has little trouble communicating the intended feel of his lyrics.

May 24, 2012 marks the 21st anniversary of the passing of Byrds cofounder Gene Clark, whose early death couldn’t overshadow a remarkable stint as the band’s principal songwriter in the mid-1960s.

With all the media attention surrounding Axl Rose thumbing his nose at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week, it’s been a little sad to see the induction of 2012 fellow honoree Donovan Leitch become swallowed up in the hoopla.

Although New Multitudes is bound to draw some comparisons to Mermaid Avenue — the similarly Woody Guthrie themed project from Wilco and Billy Bragg from about a decade ago — the timing for a record like this couldn’t be better.