Ross Hammond calls ‘Batch 8’ “stripped-down groove music,” with songs that are simple riffs that serve as the stage for tasteful guitar performances.

Bob Dylan has played with a lot of electric guitarists. Fine players, all. One stands alone, however, in this long musical history: Robbie Robertson.

With its genre-defying songs, Joshua Burnell’s ‘Glass Knight’ returns us to a time when folk, pop and rock blended into a clever tapestry.

Stylistic influences aside, Jim White’s ‘(The Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted) Wrong-Eyed Jesus!’ is honest, original, un-glossed country at its best.

Somehow already gone more than 25 years, Jeff Buckley seemed to have been born with one foot already rooted in the beyond.

David Preston, Rob Meany and others are part of the latest edition of Five for the Road, an occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

Released 10 years ago, Bob Dylan’s ‘Tempest’ tells stories in which nobody is saved – or maybe even forgiven. Yet in the end, there were tender mercies for those who made it this far.

Released 15 years ago this week, Levon Helm’s ‘Dirt Farmer’ was so determinedly rustic that it made the Band sound like sleek electronica.

Su Andersson’s ‘Brave’ is an album that follows in the great assertive tradition of progressive folk, meeting the blue-jeaned coffee-house muster of old.

The new Charm of Finches album ‘Wonderful Oblivion’ is a delightful kite that floats in the airy beauty of folk chamber music, caressing melodic breezes.