A song about hard-won acceptance, Stone Blind Valentine’s “Think What You Will” begins with a raw acoustic riff from Colby Maddox before Emily Hurd enters — all steely resolve, but barely obscuring a sweeping moment of heartbreak. You May Also Like: The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Down in New OrleansRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6TEcqDkTS0&w=500&h=305] This list is necessarily all over the map. Heck, in a lot of respects, there’s no map at all. You’ll find it in tatters down on the passenger-side floorboard. Delving into unsigned bands is like that. You May Also Like: David Sancious: The Albums That Shaped My CareerRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFgXoyoCIQ&w=500&h=305] With the average Christmas album, you dig it out sometime around Thanksgiving, then stuff it back in with the tinsel and garland sometime around New Year’s Day. Singer-songwriter Emily Hurd may have broken that pattern with Any Given Day. You May Also Like: Dan Markell, “Carnival Game” (2021):Read More

Little shards of sunshine peek through on Emily Hurd’s new Long Lost Ghosts, a moving acoustic folk-pop project that asks hard questions and doesn’t settle for easy answers. Recorded on a vintage grand piano at Chicago’s King Size Sound Labs, the album showcases Hurd’s finely wrought way with the languageRead More