by Mark Saleski Most people think of the mandolin as being a rootsy, countrified kind of instrument. Surely there is no denying the rich history of the bluegrass side of the mandolin. You May Also Like: Ross Hammond – ‘Riding Dragons in Winter’ (2018) Seth Walker – ‘Are You Open?’Read More

Tough times call for angry protest records, for political records, for records that produce rueful smiles. Ry Cooder has done that and more with “No Banker Left Behind,” a tart treatise on the recent financial meltdown You May Also Like: Ry Cooder’s ‘The UFO Has Landed’ Finally Put His AmazingRead More

Americana singer-songwriter Mike McGuire travels a land of heavy weather, echoing church bells, sad tales and long memories. But he never lets go of the one thing that binds us together: Faith, in ourselves, in our future paths, in our country. It’s something that adds a sustaining power to BeyondRead More

By Tom Johnson I spent most of the morning flipping between one disc and the next, restless for something that actually fit my mood. I just didn’t want to, you know, as they say, deal and nothing particularly appealed to me. On days like this, I tend to gather upRead More

by Tom Johnson Following her fantastic 2000 release Red Dirt Girl, this found the angelic-voiced Emmylou Harris continuing down the path she started with Daniel Lanois on the equally fantastic but slightly more stunning 1995 album Wrecking Ball, and that’s just fine with me. Once a country-goddess, Harris has incorporatedRead More

Los Lobos guitarist/accordian player and all around musical polyglot David Hidalgo got together with vocalist Mike Halby (Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to create this fantastic chunk ‘o blues. You May Also Like: Kevin Godley, William Shatner, Raphael Pannier + Others: Five for the Road Little Freddie King – ‘FriedRead More