Fleetwood Mac was only moderately successful during Bob Welch’s 1971-74 tenure, but he helped push them from blues toward a more melodic direction.

I’ve never met Greg Brown (though I did once see my mom, all five feet and seventy-something years of her, run up to him to shake his hand after a show) … You May Also Like: Greg Brown’s ‘In the Hills of California’ Finally Reproduced His Nervy Live Sound GregRead More

Like its title, Nick Africano’s The Butterfly Bull succeeds in these brilliantly contradictory ways. There are, over the course of its 12 songs, both shadows and light You May Also Like: Wilco (The Album) echoed, but didn’t quite live up to Sky Blue Sky The Chick Corea + Steve GaddRead More

P.J. Pacifico’s voice, like a honeysuckle breeze, is inviting, deeply pastoral, almost hypnotizing. Not for nothing, it seems, do two of the first three songs here focus so completely on “home.” You May Also Like: No related posts.

Amanda Palmer? Yummy. Though, part of me wanted to run screaming in the other direction when I found out this solo record was a collaboration with Ben Folds. There is only one Folds song that I can remember (“Army”) that doesn’t make me want to shove an ice pick intoRead More

Oh, Carole. “I’d rather be number five, or even number ten, and stick around longer,” a once-reluctant Carole King says in remembrance of a time when she was urged to get in gear for a solo career. “I was hoping for career longevity…” You May Also Like: Lindsey Webster –Read More

With Song of Love, Berkeley-based singer-songwriter Steven Emerson’s long-awaited second solo release, you hear the somber quietude of Nick Drake, the acoustic alchemy of Iron and Wine, the soulful accumen of Van Morrison You May Also Like: Why Emerson Lake and Palmer Almost Ran Aground on ‘Love Beach’

The Bright Side, due May 15, 2012 on Fantasy Records/Concord, certainly lives up to its name with Meiko’s fizzy, almost hallucinogenically blissful opener “Stuck On You.” You May Also Like: Tracy Chapman Smartly Updated Her Approach on ‘Our Bright Future’ ‘Bright Size Life’ Gave Early Definition to Pat Metheny’s IncredibleRead More

An offbeat rumination on love, Debbie Miller’s new EP Measures + Waits finds a way to pull no punches, even as it pulls a few jokes — no easy task. You May Also Like: Debbie Gifford – Changes (2018) Of All the Tom Waits Albums, ‘Real Gone’ May Be theRead More

In May 2011, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot marked his 150th concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall over the last 40 years. You May Also Like: ‘Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings’ (2023)