SHARON JONES AND THE DAP ...

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (from the soundtrack Miss Sharon Jones on Daptone Records) - The original sound track album for Miss Sharon Jones is the audio complement to the story that makes up the film. The documentary follows Sharon Jones as she jumps career and life hurdles. Her music found a home on Daptone Records, a label formed as a fertile ground that nurtured Funk and Soul, helmed by musicians in its roster. When industry doors were slammed in the face of Sharon Jones, told she was &l...

Read more

NATIONAL PARK RADIO - THE...

National Park Radio (from the album The Great Divide) - For such an old soul, National Park Radio’s Stefan Szabo is a late bloomer. Stefan began songwriting at age twenty-seven after marrying at eighteen and fathering two daughters by twenty-one years old. There is a timelessness to his songs on The Great Divide, the debut from National Park Radio. The themes that span The Great Divide could be drawn from any period of history. The stories are of personal exploration, the need of humans to...

Read more

QUIERO CREEDENCE - VARIOU...

Various Artists (from the album Quiero Creedence on Concord Records) - Top Latin American musicians push their way to the front of the stage to become fans with Quiero Creedence. North American radios in the 1960’s were not the only speakers blaring the hits of Creedence Clearwater Revival as the swamp music of CCR filtered into the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Quiero Creedence (I Want Creedence) is a multilingual translation of the songs that have become part of a world musical fabric. Lati...

Read more

YARN - NOW YOU'RE GONE

Blink and you will miss Yarn in the “Now You’re Gone” video. The tune is from the most recent Yarn album, This is the Year, and the video will be the last official video from the band for the release.

Read more

BRANDON FULSON - ZOMBIE T...

The mountains have their own walking dead ‘hillbilly heroin and alcohol’ turn small town to “Zombie Town”. Brandon Fulson sings of a life in decline as he watches the lead character go from hero with the pom-pom’s to zero with drug addiction.

Read more

KINGSLEY FLOOD - TO THE W...

Frontman Naseem Khuri shares secret in a Kingsley Flood video. He remembers ‘I used to have a job that was low-paying, totally mindless, and I would write songs blaming everyone else’. Kingsley Flood feed characters “To the Wolves” on a track from their upcoming (Oct 14, 2016) release, Another Other.

Read more

MASSY FERGUSON - RUN IT R...

Massy Ferguson (from the album Right It Right into the Wall) - There is a certain rock’n’roll language that Massy Ferguson speak. At its heart, it is three chords and the truth, a couple of minutes that look you in the eye and tell you something about yourself no one else had the guts to spit out. Anthems play to a universal community as Run It Right into the Wall takes confident strides to move “Away from the Devil”, orders a last call against sharp snare hits heading in...

Read more

MASON PORTER - HEART OF T...

Mason Porter (from the album Heart of the Mountains) - The music of Mason Porter soars over “Yosemite”, giving wing to free-form string band Roots on the Pennsylvania band’s recent release, Heart of the Mountains. The five-piece meld Bluegrass and Folk Rock into a transcendent symphony of sound on the album as they gently remember a Civil War-era mournful wish for home with “Shenandoah”, wander through dream-like melodies with “You and I”, and open a &ld...

Read more

CHELLE ROSE - BLUE RIDGE ...

Chelle Rose (from the album Blue Ridge Blood) - There are nooses hanging from the family tree of Chelle Rose as she exorcises ghosts on her recent release, Blue Ridge Blood. Chelle sings for the hungry faces gathered around a “Paintsville Table” as a miner does his best to trade coal for food as she digs deep into self-disclosure with “Hidin’ Hole”, takes joy watching a “Mean Grandpappy” dropped into a Knoxville grave, and rattles percussive chains to &l...

Read more

PLAINSONG - REMEMBERING R...

Plainsong (from the album Reinventing Richard; The Songs of Richard Farina on Omnivore Recordings) - Plainsong assembles above average resumes for its three musicians, Iain Matthews, Andy Roberts (Richard Thompson, Roy Harper, Chris Spedding), and Mark Griffiths (Cliff Richard’s Shadows, Bonzo Dog Band). The collective has been an ongoing musical meeting place for Iain Matthews and Andy Roberts since 1972. The songs of Richard Farina were an integral piece of Folk Music, their author a cor...

Read more

CAROLYN WONDERLAND - PEAC...

Carolyn Wonderland - Peace Meal - Carolyn Wonderland has a confidence in her playing that gives her a foot up on the blues ladder. Yes, Carolyn is a good songwriter with vocals that can roar in a whisper, and she is one A list guitarist. Listening to Carolyn on her latest release, Peace Meal, I get the feeling that the first fan she needs to please is the one behind the guitar and voice, Carolyn Wonderland. The daughter of a band singer, Carolyn picked up her Mom’s Martin at an early age...

Read more

THE TURTLES - ALL THE SIN...

The Turtles (from the album All the Singles) - History credits The Turtles as hit makers due to slate of chart toppers of the band during their initial five year run (1965-1970). The band, co-fronted by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, releases All the Singles to chronicle their releases, the two-disc set offering both the A and B sides of the 45’s. Tracks such as “Happy Together”, “She’d Rather Be with Me”, “You Know What I Mean”, She&rsqu...

Read more

CELEBRATING WORKERS WORLD...

The first steps for a day to celebrate the Labor movement dates back to 1882. New York City was ground zero for the need to honor the women and men with filled the jobs that keep the lights on, the hweel oiled and the food on our tables. A day was dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers, initially celebrated with parades. A yearly date was put in place by President Grover Cleveland to thank the men and women whose contributions aided the strength, prosperity, and well-being ...

Read more

TOP 100 FOR 2014 BY THE N...

The Top 100 takes a full year to become a proper list. The number one spot changed hands several times in the past twelve months. Our mid-year list took a listen to albums released between January and June. The list seemed like it was running strong yet the releases in the tail end of the year came on strong. For me, Old Crow Medicine Show was number one when I received their July release, Remedy. Nothing against the other players on the 2014 chart, but band for band, Old Crow will always be in ...

Read more

TOP 50 ALBUM OF 2014 ----...

January 1 through June 31, 2014; just six short months with a staggering number of albums released in the American Roots format. The Top 50 albums released so far in 2014 got a running start with the Top 25 posted last week. This week, we are handing over number 26 through 50. It might seem strange to see Royal Southern Brotherhood and John Fullbright so far down on the list. It will not be like that at years end, we received the music late and thought that the release dates were after July 1….w...

Read more