This week's edition of 'EP'-The Extended Play Sessions features Lubbock, TX blues rockers Littlewolf from the Alternate Root TV Studios in Boston, MA. Littlewolf is Steve Lott on lead guitar and vocals, Kristi Clanton on slide guitar and lead vocals, Scotty Monette on bass, Ted Armstrong on keyboards and Billy 7 Frietas on drums. Littlewolf is on tour throughout the Northeast and stopped in to record the 'EP'-Extended Play Sessions prior to returning home to Texas to begin work on a new album due in 2014. Their blend of blues, rock, country and indie roots is a dynamic mix that makes them an unpredictable and incredibly solid live show.






 

For over two decades Peter Mulvey has been creating and perfecting a progressive blend of folk and indie rock music. He combines elements of rock, jazz and intelligent pop melodies with profound stories that penetrate the depths of the human condition. His music transcends the "folk" tag assigned as part of the Boston folk revival of the 1990's, foregoing traditions in favor of a more incendiary, percussive style of guitar playing and ethereal song crafting. Peter Mulvey is a master songwriter and musician and a consummate professional. He stopped by Alternate Root TV studios to film this week's edition of 'EP'-The Extended Play Sessions and it's one of the best shows of the year so far.





 

Mike Zito and the Wheel - The "EP" Extended Play Sessions - Mike Zito and his new band The Wheel play gritty, gulf coast Texas rock and roll colored with blues, funk, country and whatever else they can season the gumbo with to create a vintage, classic sound reminiscent of the hey day of rock and roll. The new album Gone to Texas has just been released to widespread critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the Roots Blues chart. Mike and the band stopped into Alternate Root TV studios on their way to Cleveland from Portland, ME while on tour promoting the album's release. Mike's guitar work has long been recognized as some of the best blues rock guitar around as his work with Royal Southern Brotherhood and a string of solid solo records can attest. Enjoy the words and music of Mike Zito and the Wheel on this edition of "EP" Extended Play from Alternate Root TV.





For Review - Gone to Texas from Mike Zito and the Wheel -

Mike Zito & The Wheel open Gone to Texas with a highway song. The album opener snags the recordings title for its own, and “Gone to Texas” as a song grabs the rhythm of the bus wheels carrying Mike as its groove. Gone to Texas, as an album, is a smooth ride that passes by with the riffs and rhythms that are second nature to guitar man Mike Zito.

Gone to Texas has Blues influences throughout its songs and its moods. That does not make it a collection that only lets Blues-based tunes through the door, however. The album offers folk blues (“Death Row”), Bourbon Street Blues (“Subtraction Blues”), breezy slides (“Voices in Dallas”) and slow jam love songs (“I Never Knew A Hurricane”). Mike Zito lets influence guide his songs but does not feel the need to make it obvious. The Blues lives inside the man, it translates into the tunes on Gone to Texas as form rather than structure.

Mike crosses the “Rainbow Bridge” as he moves through Port Arthur heading home from a show in New Orleans. He has company on the song ride with Sonny Landreth and the pair cruise along with southern swamp rock as fuel. Continuing on the asphalt theme, Delbert McClinton becomes Mike’s traveling companion on “The Road Never Ends”. The two duet and Mike adds some mean slides that move like rubber on rain wet streets.  Gone to Texas spends time on the highways but it stays true to heading home. There is a joy in Zito’s playing as he sings of ending the journey in his adopted home.

Mike Zito was born and grew up on the south side of St. Louis. It is no longer his mailing address, he belongs to that huge hunk of land known as the Lone Star state. Texas saved Mike’s life. He explains on the Gone to Texas liner notes that, historically, Texas was the last hope for men in debt or facing legal problems elsewhere. Like many before him, Mike Zito headed to Texas, though for Mike it was drug problems. The state was where he got clean and found a spiritual base that has become part of his core.

Gone to Texas has The Wheel as Mike’s backing band. The group was hand-picked over the years and they lock into each groove as one unit. The potential danger of ‘one more taste’ in “Hell on Me” comes through in the music just as the salvation sparkle of “Let Your Light Shine on Me” is front and center in it’s the gently strummed and picked guitar foundation flows like the love the song requests.

Gone to Texas is album number four for Mike Zito, and his first release for Ruf Records. His solo work is balanced with his role as guitar slinger for the Roots supergoup Royal Southern Brotherhood.

Listen and buy the music of Mike Zito from AMAZON or iTunes

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Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck released their latest album, Eden, in 2013 to resounding critical acclaim including our own at The Alternate Root. That album inspired us to list the 20 bands in the Roots Americana genre that were pushing the envelope and bringing the music to new heights. Never to rest on past laurels, Thayer and his newest configuration of Perfect Trainwreck are again pushing the music into new technical dimensions, incorporating new instrumentation and more complex arrangements around Thayer's signature lyrical intensity. These 5 songs have never been performed or heard publicly prior to this edition of The Extended Play Sessions. The songs are fresh and in most cases just beginnings of what will be more cutting edge final products some time in the spring or summer of 2014. We are all big fans of this group of musicians and are pleased they chose Extended Play to bring the music to fruition.


 

Mandolin Orange are a band of extremes. Musically, the North Carolina duo produce music that is pure and calming. Lyrically, their topics take a stand on human rights, environment and other pieces plucked from today’s news. Andrew Marlin (guitar) met Emily Frantz (fiddle) in 2009 at a bluegrass jam in Durham, NC. Andrew had played guitar since he was fourteen, Emily  has been in various bluegass bands around North Carolina. The duo came to Alternate Root TV studios in Boston in May to record The Extended Play Sessions.

Mandolin Orange added players for 'This Side of Jordan,' their label debut album for North Carolina based Yep Roc records. The album was recorded at the Fideltorium in Kernersville, North Carolina with bassist Jeff Crawford and a backing band, Religious faith and fable thread throughout the record with Biblical references that Emily Frantz sees as a way to “convey a different point. In the south especially, we hear the Bible construed in any and every way to justify people’s comforts and discomforts. Here band mate, and group lyricist , Andrew Marlin added, “and it’s so frustrating to watch those stories be used to limit people’s happiness.” This sentiment inspired “Hey Adam,” where Marlin and Frantz urge in unison during the chorus, “Our Father loves you all ways.”

For four decades the Queen of the boogie-woogie piano, Marcia Ball, has been gracing the stage worldwide. She's one the top female blues performers in the world, bringing the New Orleans/Mississippi Delta style to her unique brand of music. "It's what I know," she says, "I've been playing most of my life and I've been very fortunate." Marcia is also an activist, advocating for health care for musicians through the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and a similar program in her adopted hometown of Austin, TX. She also lends her voice to projects to reclaim the Louisiana wetlands and restoring New Orleans. In this week's edition of Extended Play she talks about her music, Irma Thomas, the plight of the wetlands and gives us a fabulous set of New Orleans style blues.



 

Shannon McNally and her band Hot Sauce stopped by the Alternate Root TV studio in Norwood, MA to perform a set from the recently released album "Small Town Talk" A Tribute to the Music of Bobby Charles. Charles was one of the most prolific purveyors of the New Orleans sound from the 1950's through the last decade and the album, produced by Dr. John and Shannon McNally, is a brilliant tribute to one of the great songwriters of our time. Shannon McNally is one of the top female vocalists on the Americana/Roots music landscape, a great writer and immensely talented performer with an equally powerful backing combo featuring Will Sexton (guitar), Matt Hubbard (keyboards, trombone), Jake Fussell (bass) and Wallace Lester (drums). This four song set and words from Shannon is some of the hottest music we've had on Alternate Root TV this year!

 

Gracie Curran has been featured on the Alternate Root lists for Top Female American Roots Vocalist, Top Roots Soul Acts and Top Bands in Boston and for good reason...she's a dynamic singer with a powerhouse voice. A blend of soul, blues, gospel and rock, she and her band mates, the High Falutin' Band defy description except for being a band to watch in the future. The sound revolves around Gracie's soulful voice and the solid guitar chops of Tommy Carroll with the strong rhythm section of Geoff Murfitt ion bass and Derek Bergman on drums, round out the quartet. The band ripped through a set of music from their debut album "Proof of Love" for this week's edition of "EP" - Extended Play on Alternate Root TV.




 

It's been 12 years since Tommy Malone released an album of his own material. The former  front man and co-founder of the legendary Subdudes has just released "Natural Born Days," a collection of deeply introspective songs that reaffirm his place as one of the best blue-eyed soul singers around. The album was recorded in his hometown of New Orleans and was produced by John Porter. Porter's work with such luminaries as Keb Mo' and Taj Mahal give the album a soulful, bluesy feel that perfectly suited for Malone's voice and allowed him to exercise his skill as a guitarist. He's out on tour promoting the new album and we had a rare glimpse into the music and story behind the album and bring it to you in this edition of "EP" Extended Play. The "EP" sessions were filmed in the Alternate Root TV studio in Boston earlier this month.



 

At just 24 years old, Boston native Xenia Dunford has seen a fair share of the road. "I'm kind of a loner, a nomad," she tells us, "I've traveled around and lived in a lot of different cities." That movement and the experiences gathered along the way have influenced her music; an eclectic blend of jazz, roots and indie pop that centers around her vivid descriptions of the human condition. She's a fine piano player with a voice that resonates within her stories and evokes shades of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Julie London. Her latest effort, His and Hers, recorded with Eastern Exile bandmates Forrest Pettingill and Scotty Mlodzinski, is a giant leap forward for Xenia, incorporating influences of alt-country, folk and blues.





 

Call it a New Orleans gumbo of delta blues, traditional jazz, gospel and soul if you need a definition. New Orleans based Luke Winslow-King is a traditionalist that finds his musical soul melding musical styles nearly a century old with a contemporary improvisational approach. A master bottleneck slide guitarist with a vintage voice, his music is fresh, fun and infectious. He's joined on Extended Play by Esther Rose on washboard and harmony vocals and Cassidy Holden on the upright bass. Esther Rose's voice is the perfect compliment to Luke Winslow-King's music with a tone reminiscent of Eilen Jewell. This is a fantastic show with great music and thoughts from Luke Winslow-King.

Listen and buy the music of Luke Winslow-King from AMAZON and iTunes





 

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The music of Nashville-based singer/songwriter Seth Walker is a hybrid of Americana, blues, and jazz. Seth sampled several genres before he figured out which worked best for his pleasantly-raspy voice and laid-back guitar playing. On his last release, the self-produced Time Can Change, he continued his musical partnership with legendary Nashville composer Gary Nicholson, On his upcoming release, Sky Still Blue (May 2014), Seth Walker and producer Oliver Wood recorded in Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Studios in Nashville, TN. Seth stops by Alternate Root TV Studios to debut some songs from the upcoming release for a special filming.

The Alternate Root is pleased to host a special night of filming with Seth Walker on Friday, February 28, 2014 in The Alternate Root studios for a live filming event.  Doors are at 7PM and you can be included by contacting us via e-mail through studioconcertseries@gmail.com.

Located just 25 minutes from downtown Boston and minutes off of I-95 and Rt. 1, Alternate Root TV Studios is a unique place to see top nationally touring artists in an intimate setting. With cabaret style seating for just 44 people, no seat is more than 25 feet from the stage. Food and beverages are complimentary and there is ample free parking just steps from the studio. Seating is reserved for guests on an invitation only, first come first served basis. It is an opportunity to see artists up-close and personal and interact with them. They are here filming our television series and you can be part of it.

Hayley Reardon has double-duty as both a nationally performing folk singer and her role as Peer Spokesperson with PACER, the National Bullying Prevention Center, was named 2012 Bostonian of the Year and has released her debut album, Where the Artists Go. No bad for seventeen years old. Hayley has put together a new set of songs to record and a new band to help with the recording and live show. Hayley Reardon will be filming the Extended Play series at Alternate Root TV studios.

The Alternate Root is pleased to host a special night of filming with Hayley Reardon on Friday, March 7, 2014 in The Alternate Root studios for a live filming event. Doors are at 6PM and filming begins at 7PM. You can be included by contacting us via e-mail through studioconcertseries@gmail.com.

Located just 25 minutes from downtown Boston and minutes off of I-95 and Rt. 1, Alternate Root TV Studios is a unique place to see top nationally touring artists in an intimate setting. With cabaret style seating for just 44 people, no seat is more than 25 feet from the stage. Food and beverages are complimentary and there is ample free parking just steps from the studio. Seating is reserved for guests on an invitation only, first come first served basis. It is an opportunity to see artists up-close and personal and interact with them. They are here filming our television series and you can be part of it.

Jimbo Mathus brings has a mission; to make catfish music for the masses. Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition are heading to Boston to celebrate the release of their new album, Dark night of the Soul. Jimbo Mathus is a southern curator of culture from literature to the almighty beat.  The band will stop by Alternate Root TV studios to film for the Extended Play series.

The Alternate Root is pleased to host a special night of filming celebrating the release of Dark Night of the Soul. Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition will be performing on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Doors are at 7PM and you can be included by contacting us via e-mail through studioconcertseries@gmail.com.

Located just 25 minutes from downtown Boston and minutes off of I-95 and Rt. 1, Alternate Root TV Studios is a unique place to see top nationally touring artists in an intimate setting. With cabaret style seating for just 44 people, no seat is more than 25 feet from the stage. Food and beverages are complimentary and there is ample free parking just steps from the studio. Seating is reserved for guests on an invitation only, first come first served basis. It is an opportunity to see artists up-close and personal and interact with them. They are here filming our television series and you can be part of it.

Ellis Paul is a singer/songwriter his performances and work helped revitalize the Boston/Cambridge Folk scene in the 1990’s and the national acoustic circuit with his urban, literate, folk rock style. A new album release is about to take off for Ellis and he will be celebrating the record release with a filming at Alternate Root TV studios for the Extended Play series.

In celebration of his record release, The Alternate Root is pleased to host a special night of filming with Ellis Paul on Sunday, March 9, 2014. You can be included by contacting us via e-mail through studioconcertseries@gmail.com.

Located just 25 minutes from downtown Boston and minutes off of I-95 and Rt. 1, Alternate Root TV Studios is a unique place to see top nationally touring artists in an intimate setting. With cabaret style seating for just 44 people, no seat is more than 25 feet from the stage. Food and beverages are complimentary and there is ample free parking just steps from the studio. Seating is reserved for guests on an invitation only, first come first served basis. It is an opportunity to see artists up-close and personal and interact with them. They are here filming our television series and you can be part of it.

It is the bait you use that nets the best catch. For The Far West, it was a Craig's list ad. No message accompanied the insert, just a link to a live clip featuring Waylon Jennings on YouTube. It was enough to get the five members to leave other bands and join the inspirations they were receiving from the music of Gram Parsons, Uncle Tupelo and The Band. The Far West live on the coastal shores of Los Angeles, CA. Opening their second release, Any Day Now, is a tune penned for their stomping grounds, written from the perspective of a newbie to Hollywood. The track, “On the Road”, walks in on minor chords, takes a look back at a thousand miles of dusty road behind and turns to view the mountains and the Hollywood sign. Vocalist/guitarist Lee Briante wrote the tune that sees his best intentions hit a wall of reality that have been found by many others seeking fame, “everyone’s chasing a ghost, everyone’s chasing a dream, everyone’s the next Monroe, everyone’s the next James Dean’. The cut was a snapshot in Lee’s scrapbook, and he recalls that “It’s about my perception of Hollywood after I moved here. It’s a place of self-created identities, and it may certainly seem like people out here think they are the next big thing, but there’s a bigger Tinsel Town ethos and mythology.”

Any Day Nowscribbles its songs on an Alt Country canvas. New Englanders might have a smidge of resentment as Lee, in the guise of a California kid, recalls home with a misty-eyed memory of the cold climes in “Hudson Valley”. “Leonard” focuses on the folk-artist that built the famed Salvation Mountain in the California desert. “Oh Love” shuffles in on the brushed drums of Travis Popichak, bouncing piano notes of James Williams and the solid bass foundation of Robert Black, and “The Bright Side” hits the gate at a quick clip, as Aaron Bakker’s guitar licks bring light into the dark corners that the song sees from its rust-colored glasses. “Words from a Letter” asks forgiveness over a forward thinking beat, and “Wichita” re-visits childhood memories and nods to Midwest bands (Wilco, Son Volt, The Jayhawks) that have given The Far West more than a spot on the map to find their musical path. “These Arms Will Be Empty” sets a slow pace for The Far West as they move towards the exit door of love.

Listen and buy the music of The Far West from AMAZON or iTunes

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Couples that are in it for the long haul tend to take on each other’s traits, maybe even start to look alike after time put in and years gone by.  After several decades as a troubadour, John Gorka and his songs have become one from their time traveling together. Long nights in the car going to or from a gig, sound checks, well lit stages and going-to-ember campfires; the constant for John has been his art---- folk music, the words and music of a singer/songwriter. Bright Side of Down captures John and his songs with one entry from a friend, the late Bill Morrissey, as a complete album listen. The tunes move between theme and tempo with each track built around voice and guitar as a center point. It is the first John Gorka studio album in four years. John and his songs come together on the road and in his home studio before heading into Brewhouse Studios to become one on Bright Side of Down. The finished album is an extension of the entire process, from creation to production. John sees the full picture and explained, “I think my experience living in Minnesota has brought a certain perspective to this record. You’ll find it in the images but also in the idea that in spite of bitter cold and wind, people find ways to hold each other up and keep going.”

Bright Side of Downrises up as a famous city in Iowa is shutting down. The true story of trying to get home in a blinding blizzard finds John on an ‘ice blue highway, blue sky byway’. The song keeps him “Holed Up in Mason City”; the town where the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Richie Valens made their last touch with earth. Closing the circle, the album exits with “Really Spring” and reflects on colors, any color that breaks the endless white of winter.  Recorded, produced  and mixed by Rob Genadek, the audio on Bright Side of Down does not miss any inflection in John’s voice. The recording offers the intimacy of a coffeehouse stage or a house concert. “Don’t’ Judge a Life” lets voice and strings sparkle in a tale that carries the weight of mortality. John Gorka makes the stories his experiences and the confidence in his delivery nurtures the words into easy-to-use advice. Over a caffeine-stretched heartbeat rhythm, “Procrastination Blues” outs inner conversations that keep us from action; “High Horse” reads a forecast on finance culled from the daily news,  and “Outnumbered” sees a clear dividing line between the solo past and the partnered present. John Gorka opens the diary songs of a traveling musician on Bright Side of Down; the tunes put together from a crop of phrases, glimpses of life in a thousand one-night stands and the joys that come from opening your front door after time on the road.

Listen and buy the music of John Gorka from AMAZON or iTunes

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Make no mistake, Joe Louis Walker has a powerful voice. It is not the volume that the man can call friend, though, but the sweet soul that acts as a perfect complement to Joe Louis’ fire-breathing guitar work. Voice and guitar are not a pair that beat a full house as much as a team that can smile and sizzle simultaneously….beat that, house! Joe Louis Walker stands as a top-shelf bluesman for his generation, a four time Blues Music Award winner and a 2013 Blues Hall of Fame inductee. Hornet’s Nest is his latest release for Alligator Records, following his blast of a debut for the label, Hellfire, and joining the ranks of over twenty career albums. Hornet’s Nest was produced in Nashville by Tom Hambridge. Joe Louis Walker's Blues rest in good hands; Tom Hambridge has a way of taking the Blues and presenting it as a contemporary of the time by honoring the music rather than the traditions.

Hornet’s Nestcarries Blues wisdom, Soul seduction and Rock assaults throughout its dozen tracks. “Ramblin’ Soul” is a good example of the mix, though do not believe the title of the track. This soul never rambles, it is on a mission and as it exits its time on the album, the boys in the band tear a hole in the known universe with one kickass boogie blues jam. Moody organ chords and a regimented lead riff welcome Joe into “As the Sun Goes Down” and give him the floor to tell how bad things are over a slow, sad Blues melody. The title track opens the album that bears its name, stirring up the stingers so that when they hit the air, they are sharper than the threats Mr. Walker makes about crossing the line with his baby. Nine originals do a masterful job of keeping the party going, and two covers fill out the lineup. Joe Louis Walker rides a snare shot smoothly on Roy Hamilton’s “Don’t Let Go” and goes deep in The Rolling Stones catalog to remake “Ride On, Baby” as seashore jukebox gold.

Listen and buy the music of Joe Louis Walker from AMAZON or iTunes

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Annika Chambers, like many singers, particularly blues and soul singers, had her first live performance singing in a church choir. That is where all similarities end for Annika. Singing was important, but her dream of enlisting in the army fit in with her path to obtaining a degree in Broadcasting. She was serving in Kosovo and entered a talent contest. After the event, she was approached by a guitar player who introduced Annika to the Blues----it was love at first listen. After serving seven and a half years in the US Army, Annika Chambers returned to her native Houston, Texas. She has been working on her career and recently released Making My Mark, a force of soul and blues music.

Annika Chambers heard a calling in the music, talks about the experience and how it has freed her in “Move”. Smooth vocals accompany Annika as she breezes into “Guitar Boy”, letting the man with the six-string know exactly how she feels over warm acoustic strums. “Lick ‘er” is funky blues where Annika puts her proof in a bottle with an easy pour. In “Let’s Get Down to Business”, she welcomes home love with crisp horns and come-on lines; “Barnyard Blues” struts as it lays out the red carpet for a farm boy with city chops, and “Down South” lets slow piano trills define a rhythm that flows like an easy-moving summer stream. Annika Chambers has control over a major set of pipes, knowing when to let them out and when to quiet to a whisper with equal effect as the Houston All-Stars offer support for the highs and lows.

Listen and buy the music of Annika Chambers and the Houston All-Stars from AMAZON or iTunes

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You Should Be So Lucky, the debut solo album effort from A-list keyboard man, Benmont Tench, is a collection of songs written over his thirty-seven years of session/touring work with artists such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Jayhawks, Elvis Costello, Ryan Adams and The Rolling Stones. As founding member of the band, Benmont has been with Tom Petty so long he can remember the names of the hearts that were broken to get their group moniker. You Should be So Lucky was recorded to tape, produced by Glyn Johns (The Band, Emmylou Harris, The Rolling Stones), features a core band of artists such as Don Was, and includes contributions from Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Tom Petty and Ringo Starr.   

Benmont Tench opens the album with a door shutting on the past. In what becomes a template for his songs, Benmont digs into the heart of the matter--  love is long gone, but the memories are still alive, and the hurt is still sharp---particularly when reminders keep staring you down. “Today I Took Your Picture Down” spreads out from the title to let in the full story behind the action. Relationships, the joys of having one, and the empty places that need filling, are the fodder for the songs on You Should be So Lucky. Benmont Tench does not have a wide range in his voice, but the up and down is more than compensated for by the melody in his delivery. His voice draws you in with its conversational tones. “Blond Girl, Blue Dress” puts you at the outside table passing time people watching on a warm, breezy summer day heated with tuneful organ swells. “Dogwood” bubbles like a passing stream, equaling the running waters perpetual motion; the title track percolates as it finger points opinion, and “Why Don’t You Quit Leaving Me Alone” raises questions but never raises its voice. The songs on You Should Be So Lucky share the authorship of the artist for the most part. Benmont Tench puts his touch on Dylan’s “Duquesne Whistle” and makes the standard Corrina, Corrina into a late-night whisper of longing. Benmont Tench crawls into the skin of the song, his pleading question laid bare over a respectfully reserved arrangement.

 Listen and buy the music of Benmont Tench from AMAZON or iTunes

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You can watch a band forming through the magic of the YouTube, not the Science Channel or DIY. Lake Street Dive were fellow students at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass. when the group gathered on a street corner in neighboring Brighton. The busking video has garnered a million and half views of Lake Street Dive performing a jazzy roots take on The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” with upright bass, snare, trumpet and a lot of voices. The harmonies of the band are the not-so-secret weapon and I am sure their folks are happy that the bands interlocking voicals have taken them off the street corners of Brighton, MA and put them on world stages, radio (NPR), film (Another Day, Another Time – Inside Llewyn Davis), television (The Colbert Report, Late Night with David Letterman), and a cameo on the Netflix series, House of Cards.

Lake Street Dive have moved forward and have kept their musical focus pure. They have traveled from up sidewalks, keeping their musical focus leveled on the sparkle of 60’s Pop. The songs on Bad Self Portrait, the band’s recent release, siphon sound from the heydays of 1960’s genre-blending Pop that mattered with nods to Brill Building girl-groups, British invasion bands, R&B, horn-fueled Stax soul and Motown. The bright musical bed softens the blows of the heartbreak and headaches of love in the tales on Bad Self Portrait. Lake Street Dive let the title track lead the song list on the album. The tune lets lead vocalist Rachael Price introduce a lady who needs some new subjects. She lost the face that had become her camera lens focus and is now relegated to taking ‘landscapes, I’m taking still lifes, I’m taking bad self-portraits of a lonely woman”.  Rachael has the voice that tells the stories on Bad Self Portrait yet it is the support of her harmonies (Mike Olson – guitar, trumpet, trombone, piano, Bridget Kearney – bass, piano, Mike Calabrese- drums percussion) that give her back-row vocals permission to go for the gold. “Use Me Up” bounces through its musical existence as the vocals rapid fire the abuse claims with harmonies accenting the message. The vocals of Lake Street Dive will get the attention and that is certainly deserved, but don’t let the vocals fool ya… there is a chaotic frenzy of subtle playing that allows the voices to get the kudos. The beat is a heartbeat stomp on “You Go Down Smooth”, somber piano notes and scratchy rhythms signal that final act in “Rental Love” and chopped chords keep the pace as the percussion sets of sparks in “What About Me”. Lake Street Dive use a tense note patterns to open a welcoming mat out for “Bobby Tanqueray” as they build up cred for the man behind the song. If songs were the lens the band talk about in the title track, the picture captured of Lake Street Dive would be all smiles; they are clearly good at what they do and happy to be doing it.

Listen and buy the music of Lake Street Dive from AMAZON or iTunes

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Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition continue to develop their home-grown style of Southern Rock Gothic (my words, not Jimbo’s) on recent release Dark Night of the Soul. Jimbo has way combining stories of heritage and tradition with his use of characters and settings. Where he differs from the literary tradition of Southern Gothic is the souls walking through the dark nights on the album are not alienated victims or self-righteous formerly well-to-do families living in crumbling surroundings. The literary tradition of great Southern writers, and of Jimbo’s hometown of Oxford, MS is a torch picked up by Jimbo for his songs. Dark Night of the Soul has been similar to a book from its beginnings. The album was recorded at Dial back Sound near his home in Taylor, Mississippi. The studio, owned by Fat Possum label head, Bruce Watson, made the recording process more like a residency gig. Jimbo would stop by the studio every few weeks to work on ideas and arrangements with engineer/instrumentalist Bronson Tew. Bruce Watson acted the part of editor, taking the forty songs accumulated and trimming them down to an album’s worth with edits.

The songs of Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coliation have a presence; they invade each arrangement making Dark Night of the Soul a majestic album on full listen. The band jumps into each song with a beautiful display of coordinated chaos. Luckily, the folks that roam the tunes halls fit perfectly with music that wears Jimbo’s rock and roll heart on its sleeve. The title track starts life on a scratchy church basement piano, pulling the curtain back slowly behind Jimbo’s stage soul pleas as the boys in the band plug in to back their brother behind the microphone. Dark Night of the Soul use Jimbo Mathus’s output from past albums as stepping stones, keeping the musical delivery that of true believers. “Burn the Ships” is an ominous echo of a message that rides waves of feedback chopped by the acts of Jimbo’s sword play and “Casey Caught the Cannonball” uses the rails to stoke its story. The south is alive in the songs through the places (“Tallahatchie”), the people (“Hawkeye Jordan”) and the southern settings (“Fire in the Canebrake”). Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition move slowly across acoustic-driven tracks with electric touches in “Medicine”, mix distortion and twang into psychedelic gospel frenzy giving glory to the “White Angel” and ‘dance to the rock’n’roll station’ in parking lots with each space filled with by “Rock & Roll Trash”.

Listen and buy the music of Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition from AMAZON or iTunes

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Like many others, Paul Janeway heard the call for glory later in life. Separating this particular Paul on his way to sainthood was the reverse curve his path took to leading St. Paul and the Borken Bones. Throughout his childhood in the small town of Chelsea, Alabama, Paul Janeway grew up in a devout household with little non-religious music being heard at home. Paul’s plan was to become a minister, a goal until he was 18 years old. He was seduced by an open mic night in Birmingham, AL, expanded his musical experiences beyond The Mighty Clouds of Joy and into Tom Waits and Nick Cave, and answered the call. Paul remembers the new experience of finding Waits and Cave, “they were really big attractions. They have that passion. They’ve built this aura. They’re showmen to the teeth. And that’s what got me – it’s like going to church, in a weird way. At about the same time, I began listening to the great soul singers like Otis Redding, James Carr, and O.V. Wright.” It is Soul that crowned St. Paul, and The Broken Bones became the chariot that carried him and the Birmingham, Alabama sextet to finally release their debut of rock’n’soul, Half the City.

The album was produced by Alabama Shakes' keyboardist Ben Tanner and recorded and mixed in Muscle Shoals studios. St. Paul and the Broken Bones start off Half the City with a simmer as “I’m Torn Up” whispers the pain of being alone. The slow groove moves through the song with the arrangement rising to raise a fist and lowering to be a little closer to the ground for the upcoming fall. The Broken Bones move as one unit, a superhero here to save the day with the healing powers of soul-- sweet soul music (“Let It Be So”), gritty Memphis soul (“Broken Bones and Pocket Change”), and Motown sunshine soul (“Sugar Dyed”). Paul Janeway may have made the move from spiritual to secular music, but he kept the salvation in his singing. St. Paul and the Broken Bones use “Dixie Rothko” to export Southern soul to the universe and head for darker streets to walk along beside the dangerous strut of “That Glow”.

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Meet your new music relationship, Hurray for the Riff Raff. Life being what it is, the road may not be smooth, but trust me, you will be together for a long time. Hurray for the Riff Raff play acoustic blues seen through a kaleidoscope of street-corner busking and present stories that use street smart as art. Hurray for the Riff Raff are mood movers, playing about the past amid the exciting sizzle of hearing the future and, at its core, Hurray For The Riff Raff is Alynda Lee Segarra. The 26 year old singer/songwriter grew up in the Bronx and was handed a love and appreciation for doo-wop and Motown from the neighborhood’s longtime residents. She headed downtown and found punk rock shows. Alynda remembers “those riot grrrl shows were a place where young girls could just hang out and not have to worry about feeling weird, like they didn’t belong. It had such a good effect on me to go to those shows as a kid and feel like somebody in a band was looking out for me and wanted me to feel inspired and good about myself.” She also met wanderers moving through the Lower East Side and, hearing the siren call, hit the road at seventeen hitching west and through the south before settling in New Orleans. The siren call became her own when she fell in with a band of fellow travelers, playing washboard and singing before eventually learning to play a banjo she’d been given in North Carolina. “It wasn’t until I got to New Orleans that I realized playing music was even possible for me. The travelers really taught me how to play and write songs, and we’d play on the street all day to make money, which is really good practice. You have to get pretty tough to do that, and you put a lot of time into it.”

Alynda Lee Segarra as Hurray for the Riff Raff delivers the band’s most recent release, Small Town Heroes. The New Orleans music community gets a high five for creating an environment that allows Alynda’s natural talents to nurture her own musical paths. She uses familiar sounds and presents them as an Indie rock’n’roll stew of folk, blues, Americana music foundations for stories that use sharp edged electric blues to chronicle street life up close (“St. Roch Blues”) and barnstorm the river front (“End of the Line”).  The cultural mix of New Orleans and its import of music from the delta to the Caribbean comes through in the music of Small Town Heroes. “No One Else” backs its box car harmonica and piano riffs with a Rocksteady breeze, note patterns float and flicker around a lonesome heart looking to get filled in “Levon’s Dream” and Alynda stops time she and her guitar construct a new level on a Jesse Fuller classic to create “The New SF Bay Blues”. Alynda Lee Segarra is still traveling, more so with the success of her band and Hurray for the Riff Raff will miss the home life carved out of the road. The band gets relates a tour tale in “Crash on the Highway” against a roots rhythm of fragile strings, snare brushed beats and shiny guitar riffs as Alynda looks out the tour bus window at a cold German landscape. The scenery is stopped from the road pile-up ahead and her mind wanders, thinking “I wanna get home to New Orleans, me and my baby all we do is fight, take me back home to BJ’s on a Monday night” and openly admits that “me I’m happy in some southern bar, just in some corner playing my guitar”.

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For her fourth official release, Lydia Loveless and band have embraced the sonic attitude and home-schooled Alt Country style that her two year-old breakout album, Indestructible Machine, promised. Her latest Bloodshot Records release, Somewhere Else, confidently offers songs that balance the love of classic country and the frank honesty of growing up in the ‘punk rules’ environs of Columbus, Ohio. Lydia Loveless could have easily ruled the Sunset Strip of the late 80’s Cowpunk days that flew a Black Flag while saluting Merle Haggard. Somewhere Else, however, does not need cubbyholes or categories to define it. The songs stand with the same DIY punk attitude of their stories; twanged flavor, distorted effect, three-chords-and-the-truth.

There is an underlying tension in the opening acoustic guitar chords of “Verlaine Shot Rimbaud" signaling a story of the tumultuous love affair of the 19^thcentury poets/lovers as a goal for her relationship. Lydia has an ability to capture sympathy for her characters that supersedes their edge, and the fact that they often wear animosity on their sleeves like a heart. Lydia Loveless plays out the movie in her head on “Really Want to See You”. Over a rhythm that left its brakes at home, she reflects about the times “I could be such a bitch, I could be really insensitive” and rambles over a memory “I went to a party, someone gave me some blow, tears came right to my eyes, remember how I used to get so emotional?” while she finds her hand reaching for the phone to make that call. Somewhere Else looks for love her way in “To Love Somebody” (‘I never did want you to be mine, well at least not all the time, but I want to be on your mind’). And she knows the right thing to do, yet is all too aware of what she will accomplish, (‘I sit here trying to make amends to myself for all the chances I’ve blown, but I know I’ll just sit here on my ass waiting for the day I finally grow up and get on my way’). Lydia Loveless and the band set fire to originals, like the flesh-tearing pain of “Hurts So Bad”, a story prompted by Lydia’s reading of a story about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Something Else sees the band owning Kirsty MacColl’s “They Don’t Know” and branding it their own.

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Will Kimbrough uses his latest release title, Sideshow Love, to focus on matters of the heart. The Love in Will’s Sideshow walks a carnival midway filled with bright lights and dark shadows, strong men and bearded women, exotic beauties and transient roundabouts. Will Kimbrough is the barker standing outside his album’s tent to draw you in with quality songwriting and styles that offer three-ring diversity. The album’s mix of music and moods fits the man behind the song, Will Kimbrough. Songwriter, performer and producer is a good resume, one that gets a hand up the ladder with work as sideman guitarist with Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Kim Richey, musical rambles with longtime friends Todd Snider and Tommy Womack and a quarter owner of the Willie Sugarcapps sound. The Sideshow Love title track sets up Will as a man looking to up the ante on love, and into even stake “a man like me has never, ever loved a woman fine as you” against “a woman like you has never, ever loved a man like me, you see”.

“Home Economics” does some schooling and grading on the male and female members of the household, “Dance Like Grownups” keeps the feet still but lets the libido loose, and “Let the Big World Spin” revolves around questions but circles the answers. Will Kimbrough has an easy songwriting skill. His words are snippets of our thoughts and snapshots of our day. The fix in his songs is the way out that he provides with his what-works-for-me advice. The sideshow has love on its poster, and Will delivers with shuffling whispers (“When Your Loving Comes Around”) and desperate searching (“Has Anybody Seen My Heart?”).  The stories on Sideshow Love boast understanding and overviews of the life outside our front doors and personal borders. Will’s songs never try to set you free. They sit down beside you and support as on “I Want Too Much”, as it gives permission to expect a little more.

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There is a glue that holds the Dirty River Ramblers together as performers and as a band; fitting it members, Josh Krohn (vocal, fiddle, banjo, guitar), Justin Kephart (vocals, mandolin), Mace Hathaway (vocals, guitar, harmonica, baritone ukulele) and Chris Hunke (bass), into one unit. . The tie that binds guides the melody and lets both the studied and intuitive playing seamlessly weave through the songs. Vocally, Dirty River Ramblers toss around the lead vocal mic like it was an Olympic category. Ramble On is the band’s debut. Styles mix as well as the Dirty River Ramblers harmonies and playing, with a sound they tag as down home jamgrass.

Dirty River Ramblers board the tour bus from around an Omaha, Nebraska base yet their sound breathes high country with every note. “Lost Weekend” may still be a little dizzy from its Saturday/Sunday but it could just as easily from the rhythm that turns like its coming down a mountain road. Instrumentals balance the space of Ramble On with “Wally the Hound Dog” playfully bouncing through the bluegrass, “Armadillo Shuffle” spinning off a dance floor reel and “Carp Skin Boots” navigates an arrangement that offers Roots movements. “Copper Coil Daydream” traces its heritage to the hills for a sad murder ballad and “Eliza Mae” marries the mountain with the delta with Blues taking the lead as it sways around the room. Classic Country (“Take It Easy with My Heart”), front porch jams (“Red Bird Stomp”) and shouts out to the ladies  ‘up in the big trees’ (“Hippy Girl”). Dirty River Ramblers flow, strut, stomp and sway through Ramble On with an Indie ear for channel styles to form something new.

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James Armstrong is a bluesman, that’s who he is, nothing can change it. What separates James from others is his ability to be a part of the blues without falling victims to its borders or accepting its pre-determined roles. Guitar Angels collects the songs of James Armstrong and acts as guide for his approach. His writing focuses on a contemporary standpoint to keep the music relevant without forsaking its roots. Nine originals on the album keep the present in the stories, seeming to refer right back to the man with the guitar, James Armstrong. Guitar Angels is a personal album, and whether the tales are part of James’ history or those of friends or strangers, he works his way into the skin of the stories.

“Runaway Train” gathers speed as it fast tracks the need for more, stopping at every station that promises a way to change or escape yourself through drugs or alcohol. “Goodbye Kiss” bends warm Blues guitar over some cold memories of a hot passion. James Armstrong is a survivor, and that spirit comes through in each role of his characters. James was the victim of a violent home invasion that left him without the use of his left arm and hand. He fought back through physical rehabilitation and returned, though he points out, ‘I am still unable to bend my third finger, or use my little finger’. It is that kind of humanness that introduces his songs as familiar friends. “Healing Time” is common ground for all humans, the loss of a friend, a brother, “Moving to Nashville” fine tunes a country blues to one sharp edge and “Guitar Angels” as the title track pays homage to the rock, country or blues six-string spirits that still guide our hearts. James Armstrong re-makes The Eagles “Take It to the Limit” into an uptown blues/R&B romp and tells-all about how Baby Boomers are redefining golden years as I-have-seen-the-light moments again, and again, and again with “Grandma’s Got A New Friend”.

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Sunshine Street is like an open field with its flora and fauna lightly shaken with the light breath of a breeze. The songs of The Men With Strong Arms have the sweep of an oscillating fan: once set in action, the tunes breathe in and out with perpetual motion. Paul Gunter’s percussion is a subtle, yet constant presence in the songs on Sunshine Street; his rhythm the blood flow that gets forgoes a beat for a pulse. Andrew McCabe places his bass notes over the melodies, each vibration a heartbeat. Andrew’s notes tend to be more improvisational while vocalist and songwriter Jon London’s fingers bring the most determined use of rhythms to the songs. The guitar notes take on the work of a metronome, allowing the bass and percussion access to the six-string’s usual role of playful riffing.

The Men with Strong Arms released their debut, the Sunshine Street E.P., January of 2014. The collection opens with an introduction to “The Men with Strong Arms”; other men with equally strong arms, backs and resolves. The group submits the men who built the railways, roads, mineshafts and built the ship for other men to sail the seven seas as the real heroes. The song nods to the men who created the foundation, the structure for the world we walk, and honors their tasks with a warm, slightly samba dance beat. “Precious Time” lets its rhythm roll and tumble over one another as the story offers teases and challenges to its characters, “My Bread and Wine” percolates under a story serving audio sustenance and “Late Walk Home” immediately offers solid rhythms for a dream-like night stroll. The Sunshine Street title track follows its lead character as he describes the environment and looks beneath the outer layer of its inhabitants, noting that the picture that meets the eye may not be the same behind the closed doors that line the street.

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John Moreland has a voice that stays true over a frenzy of gentle finger picking. The raw power of his voice helps you immediately understand the man in the story. In "3:59AM”, you can almost identify the shadow sitting in the fractured nighttime light. What wakes us up in the dead of night comes through in the story, his confusion can be heard in the voice he uses to explain himself. He is a man seeking salvation, his path is of the spirit, a man who believes in what he can see and touch; “got my ear to the ground, you got Easter Sunday in your eyes”. These thoughts will keep him up, he will see the dawn come in with questions still hanging in the air; he is frustrated by his need for answers and offended by the voices demanding allegiance….. “and I apologize if I seem a little overwhelmed, I’m thirsty but the holy keep on pissing in my well.” John Moreland draws you in…it is the voice that engages you in the story, staying non-judgmental in its telling.
 
In the Throesis John Moreland’s most recent album release. Ten gifts of songs capably carried into your world through the airwaves. John wonders if anyone is listening to the stories found in his songs, hearing and using the experience as “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore” reminds us that “I heard truth is what songs are for”. Life has beaten down the man under “Your Spell” as his tale goes from the bright lights of prom night to the faded glimmer still faintly burning in his relationship. He weighs his age against expectations in “God’s Medicine” and rocks gently on a rolling rhythm that asks “I Need You to Tell Me Who I Am”. John Moreland uses a folk music bed for his songs. An acoustic guitar anchors the tunes and drives the motion, allowing lolling electric riffs and pedal steel swells in for accent with John providing work on guitar, bass, piano, harmonica, organ, drums and percussion.

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Irene Kelley uses Crabtree, Pennsylvania to backdrop the story and album title,Pennsylvania Coal, for her recent release. “Pennsylvania Coal” is not about the black stuff in the ground, it is window dressing for Irene’s slice of America via Americana as seen through the eyes of bluegrass. The story shows a family willing to do whatever it takes to make it through the tough times, pointing out that granddad spent as much time working above ground as under after eight hours a day in the darkness of a mine and six hours in the sun for crops. Grandma still had to brew corn whiskey to buy shoes for the household. She didn’t talk about it, that is what it took to survive. Irene Kelley manages to talk family history like she is going through a photo album and pinpoint how family, and resolve, could turn hardship into strength, and how the drive of our ancestors has changed over a few generations from ‘work for it’ to ‘gimme’-- the mark of a good story teller, seamlessly turning the pages on the decades.

Crabtree was where Irene Kelley’s roots took hold. She returns to those roots in song and musically through the bluegrass accompaniment on the tunes that make upPennsylvania Coal.  She uses A-list players, and excitement can be heard in her vocals for achieving a bucket list wish to make a bluegrass album. Mountain music is a good bed for Irene to lay out for viewing her stories in song like she is singing a snapshot. “Rattlesnake Rattler” gives the lady with the guitar a little extra from her road kill dinner. She gets to keep the percussive part of the snake on the side of the road to stick in her guitar to keep a beat that is “warmer than the patter of a Carolina rain and steady as the rhythm of the wheels of an old boxcar”.

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Halley Devestern is having a fragile morning. She is suffering from the Johnny Walker flu and is “Tore Up (from the Floor Up)”. There are signs….she “woke with my clothes on but lost my underwear”. She peaks at her wrist for a time check and intuitively knows she will never see that missing watch again. Admitting “I am not well, I don’t think I’m gonna make it” and suggests that the band checking out of the motel “just leave me here and keep going”. Though Halley Devestern is shot at and hit, it does not stop her voice from rising up, up and away over funkified grooves courtesy of the HD Band, who will clearly not let the lady stay down, or leave her behind in the room or in the groove.

Halley Devestern is the owner of one big voice….and she know how to use it with the booty-shaking funk, blues, rock and R&B on The Halley Devestern Band recent release, Fabbo! Boffo! Smasho!. Halley and the boys are cartoon heroes on the album cover to support the comic book sounds they use for an album title. “Money Ain’t Time” slows the pace down with rolling Blues that Halley surfs on Joplin-esque vocals, holding on to notes like they won’t be making anymore. “American Pain” saunters on a Rolling Stones Main-Street rock-strut and “Code 9” spreads its rhythm like jam across the songs natural funkiness, filling in each and every crevice. “Boil” takes its name seriously. It creeps in on a banging bass boom as guitar notes flicker like night stars. Halley sings of “boiling, boiling, boiling over” in the tune while the rhythm heats to her vocal commands as if in a trance.

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Lyrically, bluegrass is a good match for gospel music. The story of a bluegrass song is seen in the best light as simple words that portray big emotion. Taking bible passages and mountain wisdom, gospel bluegrass delivers its message over a string band structure that, like the words, lifts spirits with its note-for-note joy. The High Bar Gang was inspired following repeat visits by guitarist/vocalist Colin Nairne to the Hardly Strictly festival in San Francisco. It was connecting with the music of Dr. Ralph Stanley and Del McCoury, as well as new bands like Crooked Still and the Punch Brothers that focused the band's direction to bluegrass. It was not only the sound but also a memory that brought the idea into on-a-mission territory. Colin remembered a much younger self in his first rock band and how they “would listen to The Dillard’s or Jimmy Martin while driving the freakishly long highways in northern Alberta in our converted school bus, trying to see the road through the blowing snow. Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley gave us comfort as Red Allen pushed us onwards”.

Lost and Undone; a Gospel Bluegrass Companionspreads that same comfort liberally through its songs, and the nearly physical enthusiasm that the players bring to the recording. The songs march to a greater glory and openly name check Jesus and the saints. In a time when religion causes fear and distrust, it is nice to hear songs that speak the same language without the need to demand allegiance. This collection of tunes from The High Bar Gang is extremely happy and content within themselves.Lost and Undoneopens up with a Ralph Stanley tune, “Over in the Gloryland”. The album is infectious, and the opening cut begins an ear infection that will continue throughout the album. The union of voices and determined banjo/fiddle gives the song propulsion that blasts it onto the album, as fired up as the Angel Band spoken of in the spiritual story. The band slows to a sway for the beautifully stated acceptance found in Julie Miller’s “All My Tears”. If your toes are not tapping for Bill Monroe’s “Walking in Jerusalem”, check your pulse; “Daniel Prayed” matches gospel text with Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass arrangements, and Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light” flashes by in a blur of glory.Lost and Undone; A Gospel Bluegrass Companionwas recorded live by The High Bar Gang----praise the lord and pass on the overdubs.

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The men in The Fleshtones have successfully maintained the same garage rock sound for decades. Long shelf life does not make the songs dated, the band check in for e-mail in album opener “Available”, so they must get wi-fi in the garage. The Fleshtones are into their fifth decade of making music. They have been crowned The Kings of Garage Rock and have had their mongrel mix of rock’n’roll, blues and soul dubbed ‘Super Rock’. On the recent release, Wheel of Talent, The Fleshtones are not claiming titles or looking for bigger stages. They are happy making music, and it shows. The songs are pure, made to be rock’n’roll songs, nothing more….which, given the genres history of turmoil, makes them a whole lot larger than life.

“I Won’t Do to You” is a bar band/jukebox gold pouring the many clubs down sandy roads stretching from the Jersey shore down through Beach Music ground zero in North Carolina. The band propels forward with punk venom in words and music on “What You’re talking About” with “Remember The Ramones” keeping the punk chords but shining the bare bulb center stage at CBGB’s on Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy (where it belongs). The Fleshtones brand the sound of Farfisa organs and fuzzed guitars into their songs, with default jangle and enough use of tom-tom chatter to give jungle drums a run for the tribal crown. “Stranger in My House” rumbles and roars, “Roofarama” nicely balances wah-wah guitar distortion with sparkling jangled chords and “How to Say Goodbye” rides through a spaghetti western sunset rhythm as the string section billows and blusts. The Fleshtones have managed five decades because they have never felt the need to change what works, an electric blender of influences like Rockabilly, Surf, Garage and Soul living life as stacked-up basement party 45’s that spin on a Wheel of Talent.

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Scott H. Biram is at a personal crossroads. On earlier release his pyschobilly blues seemed set to blow at every turn with f-bombs sprinkled like minefields throughout his songs. His music still explodes on Nothin’ But Blood but the punches are in your gut, not in your face. Conflicts arise from the penetrating look at life of Nothin’ But Blood, as seen through the unrepentant eyes of an artist formerly known as The Dirty Old One Man Band. What has not changed it that Scott is still a one man band and Nothin’ But Blood’s songs exist in equal parts wrongdoing and redemption. Some things you just can’t change.

Scott H. Biram is a hard-living, whiskey-loving lifelong Texan. His characters are peers, like the man-on-a-mission who is ‘going down on Fifth Street, gonna drink some alcohol’ in “Alcohol Blues” or the nostalgic stoner with top shelf thoughts about “Nam Weed”. “Only Whiskey” has a narrator that claims “only whiskey can sleep in my bed” as the guitar chords speedball the beat while on the album’s exit track, a scratchy rhythm wriggles around to intro “Around the Bend” before the song breaks free, outing Scott for his affinity to sludge metal. Nothin’ But Blood is folk music from, and for, another dimension, repositioning the protestor with the guitar as a man with something to say, bleeding chords and licks from a protesting guitar. “Gotta Get to Heaven” shouts ‘hallelujah’ in a last ditch effort to get salvation in order to get through the doors of heaven, and a way out of the troubles of this life. Scott H. Biram has opinions and he preaches talking blues with the spit and spite of a true believer.  

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We consider these to be the most important roots music recordings of the last 25 years. They are not the "best" albums or biggest selling albums. Some won prestigious awards and many did not. In fact many may have flown under the radar of even the most astute roots music fans.

Roots music has been around since Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie in many of the forms you see and hear today. Alt-Country didn't start with Uncle Tupelo it started in Bakersfield in the late 50's and was continued with artists like Poco, Pure Prarie League in the 70's and on to The Del Lords, The Beat Farmers and Jason and the Scorchers in the 80's. We narrowed it to the last 25 years and maybe some time we'll open up to all-time.

One of the struggles we had will no doubt be a point of contention from the onset. What about Robert Plant and Alison Krauss "Raising Sand?" Oh, what T-Bone Burnett can do with an aging rock legend and a bluegrass singer who happens to also be the most decorated artist in Grammy history. We have a tough time including this roots music but the fact is it made great strides in bringing Americana Music, a genre that was misunderstood, mislabelled and mishandled to the popular concience. It sold gazillions of copies, won a Grammy for Album of the Year and to this day is no more Americana music than Led Zeppelin IV. Many will disagree.

Without further ado, her's our list of the 35 Most Important Roots Albums of the Last 25 Years.

1. OMP Soundtrack - Oh Brother, Where Art Thou - (2000) - “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” One of the most if not the most influential roots music albums of the past 25 years, the soundtrack to the film “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” took the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001 and almost single-handedly placed Americana Music on the map, at least for the general public. Produced by legendary producer T-Bone Burnett, the album featured Allison Krauss, Colin Linden, Gillian Welch, The Fairfield Four and John Hartford among others.
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2. Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball - (1995) - Wrecking Ball- Flying Burrito Brothers member and Byrds alumni, Chris Hillman, referred Emmylou Harris to Gram Parsons, who had been looking for a female vocalist to back him on his first solo record. History was made and a career was born. Multiple Grammys and a stellar recording career have made Emmylou Harris ground zero for country rock, Americana and roots music of every shape and form. Wrecking Ball was released well into her career and the experimental album was lauded as one of the most important releases of the decade. Country radio ignored her but alternative audiences found what country lost.

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3. Johnny Cash - American Recordings - (1994) - American Recordings - Johnny Cash is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century and could have staked a claim on a number of the spots on this list. We reserved his for American Recordings, a stripped down album performed by Cash with a guitar in his living room. The wild card in the equation was producer Rick Rubin who pulled out emotion, inflection and powerful performances by Cash with the end result being the best Johnny Cash album since the late 1960's.

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4. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind - (1997) -  Time Out of Mind- We're not much on the significance of Grammy Awards, but Time Out of Mind won 3 of them including Album of the Year in 1998 which almost redeemed the institution for us. Time Out of Mind could easily be at the top of this or any list of influential albums in terms of writing, production and performance. Producer Daniel Lanois along with session players Jim Keltner, Augie Meyers and Duke Robillard created atmospherics not heard before or since in the Dylan collection.

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5. Uncle Tupelo - No Depression - (1990) - No Depression - Uncle Tupelo 'sNo Depressionlaunched a thousand ships, influencing damn near every roots rock, alt-country band that followed, not the least of which are the two spinoff bands Son Volt and Wilco from band members Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy respectively. While Uncle Tupelo is credited by many as being the founder of the "alt-country" genre, we dispute that along with Jay Farrar. Alt-Country music existed before Uncle Tupelo but No Depression is a part of the history that is not in dispute.

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6. The Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig - (2010) - Genuine Negro Jig- Three young black virtuoso musicians have the entire world ahead of them musically, but they chose to go back a century and a half to find the lost art of black string band music. Add their breakout album Genuine Negro Jig to the mix along with a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album and you have one of the most important roots bands of the decade. Genuine Negro Jig inspired a host of albums honoring the old-time American music that has long been forgotten.

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7. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - (1998) - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Though Lucinda Williams had been recording music since the late 1970's, it wasn't until her monumental breakthrough album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road that she garnered the acclaim globally that she so rightly deserved. Known prior as a country artist, Williams infused blues, rock, country and roots together on Car Wheels... and found her signature groove. Time Magazine dubbed her America's Best Songwriter in 2002 based on the album's intense lyrics. She's become an influence to millions of women (and men) since.

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8. James McMurtry - Childish Things - (2005) - Childish Things- His novelist Dad, Larry McMurtry, gave son James a guitar at age seven and his English professor Mom taught him how to play. James McMurtry claims, "My mother taught me three chords and the rest I just stole as I went along. I learned everything by ear or by watching people." Childish Things in 2005 was a breakout for James McMurtry in a recording career that began in 1989. The album generated the song “We Can’t Make It Here” and a timeless anthem was born.

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9. Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session - (1988) - The Trinity Sessions- It was mostly a family affair for Cowboy Junkies with siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins counted as band members. Their 1986 recording debut was blues inspired, but the sound culture clash of their 1988 release, The Trinity Session, brought a larger audience from a rock camp. The Trinity Session married classic country covers (“Walking After Midnight”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”) with classic rock (“Sweet Jane”) all played out of a moody groove and airy arrangements.

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10. Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now - (2004) - The Revolution Starts Now - We tossed and turned over The Revolution Starts Now or Jerusalem being the most influential of these two monumental Steve Earle recordings, and the truth is, both could be here. We picked The Revolution Starts Now because of its subsequent influence on popular counter-culture. The album took a hard stand against the war in Iraq, the death penalty, the policies of George W. Bush and became a megaphone for the left, inspiring Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.

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11. Band of Heathens - One Foot in the Ether - (2009) - One Foot in the Ether- A shared bill brought the three core songwriters for Band of Heathens together at Momo’s in their hometown of Austin, TX in the mid-2000’s. After several live albums and a Ray Wylie Hubbard produced self-titled debut, Band of Heathens released One Foot in the Ether in 2009. The album continued to hone a sound that referenced rock, roots, soul and gospel in songs like “Shine a Light”, “L.A. County Blues”, “Somebody Tell the Truth” and “Golden Calf”.

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12. The Jayhawks – Hollywood Town Hall - (1992) - Formed in Minneapolis, MN in 1985, The Jayhawks released albums in their home base until their major label debut, Hollywood Town Hall, in 1992. The Alt Country group it produced had a softer tone than many of their feedback distorted brethren, and stuck to the California Country sound of Poco and the Burrito Brothers -- sounds that added a lot of folk to the twang. Hollywood Town Hall gathered the dual vocals and finely crafted songs of band members Gary Louris and Mark Olson.

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13. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights - (2007) - Former Rikers Island correction officer Sharon Jones was called in for session work as a backup vocalist. Sharon was the only one of the call outs to show up and impressed the production team by performing all three parts herself.  Daptone Records, the Brooklyn label owned by its musicians/producers, released their first recording, Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings in 2002. The grass roots popularity of the band expanded, and their song mix of funk, soul and roots music lined up perfectly with the 2007 release, 100 days, 100 Nights lighting a torch for a Soul revival.

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14. Old Crow Medicine Show – O.C.M.S. - (2004) - Old Crow Medicine Show busked across upper New York State and through Canada before finding themselves on a street corner in Boone, North Carolinapassingthe hat to Doc Watson. The musical statesmen helped Old Crow Medicine Show along and the band moved to Nashville, again finding luck with a Grand Ole’ Opry residency playing between shows. Produced by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, O.C.M.S. was the band’s first studio recording, containing the song that has become the Old Crow Medicine Show worldwide greeting card, “Wagon Wheel”.

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15. Ryan Adams – Gold - (2001) - Gold-  Ryan Adams moved from punk rock to Alt Country with the formation of Whiskeytown. The band made great music and drew critical acclaim before folding. Musically, Ryan Adams’ first release, Heartbreaker, seemed to follow in Whiskeytown’s critically favored footsteps. With his 2001 release, Gold, Ryan Adams hit mainstream love with songs like “When the Stars Go Blue”, “La Cienega Just Smiled”, “Harder Now That It’s Over” and “New York, New York”, in a video filmed with the NYC skyline in the background, captured four days before 9/11.

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16. The Bottle Rockets - Brooklyn Side - (1994) - The Brooklyn Side- Formed in 1992 with Uncle Tupelo guitar tech, Brian Henneman, leading the charge, The Bottle Rockets hit a good altitude with the Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel produced album, The Brooklyn Side, their second release. The Bottle Rockets music chronicles Middle America-- Brian Henneman referring to the band as ‘reporters from the heartland’. “Radar Gun”, from The Brooklyn Side, put The Bottle Rockets on radio charts.

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17. Todd Snider - East Nashville Skyline - (2004) - East Nashville Skyline - Todd Snider has released a continuous string of critically acclaimed albums; perhaps none more well-received than the introspective East Nashville Skyline. The album confronts a trail of poor decisions, addiction, rehab, controversy and a political shot across the bow of "conservatism" for good measure. Picking a "most" anything out of Snider's catalog is tough, but this one stands out for us as his best.

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18. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More - (2010) - Sigh No More - Mumford and Sons emerged from what is dubbed the "West London Folk Scene" in 2007 and landed on the shores of America after receiving two Grammy nominations in 2010. Their performance at the Grammy's put "roots music" onto the lips of a generation that only thought of roots in the context of different colored hair or possibly cracks in the driveway. Their debut album Sigh No More is influential in that it opened the minds of a lot more people to acoustic based traditional music.

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19. Will Kimbrough - Americanitis - (2006) - Americanitis - Will Kimbrough is probably better known for his guitar skills and, more recently, as a top shelf producer than for his solo work, but that's reserved for those who have yet to discover Americanitis. In darker days, it could have landed him on the McCarthy Un-American List with other artists and musicians who dared to confront the issues America swept under the rug. This is what "patriotism" is all about, and it also places Kimbrough among the craftier lyricists in roots music where he justly belongs.

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20. Rodney Crowell - Fates Right Hand - (2003) - Fate’s Right Hand - Rodney Crowell has been one of Nashville's most prolific writers for over four decades. Considered a staple of country radio for much of his career, Crowell turned to a more roots-driven sound when country radio went down the toilet in the 1990's. He confronted a lifetime of demons on Fate's Right Hand and drove it home with a roots rock onslaught both musically and vocally. Lyrically, it's Crowell's finest hour in a career filled with many fine hours.

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21. Son Volt – Straightaways - (1997) - Straightaways- Formed in 1994, Son Volt was the group relationship that helped frontman Jay Farrar get over his time with Uncle Tupelo. The band caught instantly with their debut, Trace, and the momentum continued to build and percolate on album number two, Straightaways. Jay Farrar’s deep voice resonates and strains at its borders as the band bangs out Alt Country guitar riffs over a solid beat on “Picking up a Signal” and “Caryatid Easy”. 

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22. Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera - (2001) - Southern Rock Opera- Drive-By Truckers released their third studio album in 1991. Southern Rock Opera proudly stood for the duality of the south with the album’s cut, “The Southern Thing”, explaining “ain’t about excuses, or alibis, it ain’t about no cotton fields or cotton picking lies”. Southern Rock Opera took a look at topics from growing up in the south amid 70’s arena rock, race politics and Lynyrd Skynyrd, as Drive-By Truckers use the southern rock powerhouse as a cornerstone from which to build the album.

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23. Dave Alvin - King of California - (1994) - Dave Alvin has had a steady release of albums where the musical mood changes with the album art. Fans come to expect, and enjoy, the path of Dave’s muse in recording. When King of California came out in 1994, the album was the first to change up the pure, unadulterated, unapologetic, rock’n’roll force of his work with The Blasters and his first three solo efforts. King of California showcased acoustic instruments, but it was in no way an acoustic album. Dave Alvin showed that unplugging did not lessen the intensity of his playing. The album may turn down the volume, but it raises the flame on the old (“Border Radio”, “Little Honey”, “4^th of July”), the new (“Blue Wing”, “Every Night about This Time”), and offers a classic country style romp with Syd Straw (“What Am I Worth?”).

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24. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow - (2011) - Barton Hollow- The Civil Wars won both Best Country Duo/Group and Best Folk Album in 2012 with Barton Hollow. They moved the needle for Roots music the week after the Grammy’s with Barton Hollow selling 35,000 units and helping to take the duo to #10 on the Billboard album charts. The album continues to blur musical lines in the Roots genre, as musicians like The Civil Wars play what they hear in their heads, not what the industry decrees. The Civil Wars, comprised of singer/songwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White, met in a songwriters group in Nashville, TN.

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25. Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now - (2005) - Her early life provided Mary Gauthier with experiences for her true tales, fueled by the alienation that life handed her in the form of birth mother abandonment and dealing with her sexuality. Her late teens were spent in drug rehabs and jail followed by schooling and opening a Cajun restaurant in Boston, all before writing her fist song at age 35. Mercy Now (2005) is the fourth in a series of recordings that began in 1997. The album wraps the emotive passion of Mary Gauthier’s songs in the title track’s pleas, the world of non-stop alcohol consumption (“I Drink”), the perspective of a road weary traveler (“Falling out of Love”) and Mardi Gras in New Orleans (“Wheel Inside the Wheel”).

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26. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies - (2009) -Midnight at the Movies- Justin Townes Earle hit his stride and album #3 nicely straddles the more roots feel of his earlier releases and the Indie Soul of the current. Midnight at the Movies visits extremes with folk blues (“What I Mean to You”), gospel Soul (“Someday I’ll Be Forgiven for This”), bluegrass (“Dirty Rag”) and Roots Rock (“Mama’s Eyes”).

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27. Blue Rodeo – Diamond Mine - (1989) - Diamond Mine- Formed in 1985 in Toronto, Canadians Blue Rodeo released their first album, Outskirts, in 1987, which would exclude them from our 1988+ list. Luckily, their second album, Diamond Mine (1989), is date friendly and keeps the same intentions of their debut. Blue Rodeo marry rock and country with a true Indie Rock feel and form, with organ swells sharing the sonic space with guitars and rhythm. Diamond Mine balances Indie Rock tunes (“God and Country”) with torchy twang (“How Long”) and a mix of both (“Love and Understanding” and the title track).

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 28. The Old 97’s – Too Far to Care - (1997) - Too Far to Care- The Old 97’s started their engines in Dallas, Texas before taking it on the road as a hard touring band. Too Far to Care was The Old 97’s third album release, the group’s first album for a major label (Elektra). Too Far to Care offered rock and twang together in Alt Country glory with frontman Rhett Miller’s wry humor and smart lyrics. It offered immediate classic status to the world with “Timebomb”, “Barrier Reef”, “Just Like California” and a duet with X/The Knitters vocalist, Exene Cervenka, on “Four Leaf Clover”.

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29. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind - (2008) - Trouble in Mind moved well-deserved recognition for Hayes Carll beyond his native Texas fan base. The album registered Hayes Carll as a member of a Texan singer/songwriter club that included artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson. Trouble in Mind gave the real life experiences in his songs a touch of wit and wisdom as evidenced in tracks such as “Bad Liver and A Broken Heart”, “She Left Me for Jesus” and “Drunken Poet’s Dream”.

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30. BR549 - BR5-49 - (1996) - Gary Bennett and Chuck Mead formed BR-549 and became the house band at Robert’s Western Wear in Nashville, TN. The Roots feel of their music and the humorous subject matter did not warm them to country radio, but it did give them an instant fan base. Their debut album, BR-549, gave the world covers of the Moon Mullican song, “Cherokee Boogie” and The Byrds/Gram Parsons “Hickory Wind”, the tunes bookending the band’s sound and influences. 

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31. Various Artists - Things About Coming My Way - A Tribute to the Mississippi Sheiks - (2009) - Things About Coming My Way- A Tribute to the Mississippi Sheiks - (2009) - The brainchild of producer and guitar virtuoso Steve Dawson, the Tribute to the Mississippi Sheiks not only brought the music of America's first "popular band" to the fore, but  it also was a music history lesson and civics lesson rolled into one. The Mississippi Sheiks were the first black musicians to play in the White House and were the first popular band to record and tour. The album was a who's who of Canadian and American roots musicians including John Hammond, Colin Linden, Bruce Cockburn, The North Mississippi All-Stars, Madeleine Peyroux, The Carolina Chocolate Drops and Jim Byrnes.
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32. Roseanne Cash - The List - (2009) - The List- When your dad is Johnny Cash and he hands you a list of 100 songs you should learn if you want to be a country singer...well, you stash that list away until the right moment. After her father's death, Roseanne Cash took out the list, picked twelve of those songs, and recorded them with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Rufus Wainright and Neko Case. An album of covers might not be influential, but when the songs are hand-picked by Johnny Cash as "must knows", it deserves attention.

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33. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - Kings and Queens - (2011) - Kings and Queens- The power of three caused a ripple in the solo careers of Colin Linden, Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing when the trio came together to record a tribute album to Canadian singer/songwriter Willie P. Bennett. Taking their name from one of Bennett’s albums, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings continued after the success of the one-off recording project and released Kings and Queens in 2011. The album paired with Roots singing females such as Rosanne Cash, Exene Cervenka, Janiva Magness, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Lucinda Williams and Patti Scialfa. 

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34. Eilen Jewell - Boundary County - (2005) - Boundary County- Eilen Jewell busked on the street while attending college in Santa Fe, NM and then on Venice Beach when she made the move to California. Massachusetts club work in Cambridge, Boston and Somerville brought her attention and Boundary County let the rest of the world hear Eilen Jewell’s jazzy delivery over Roots and Americana arrangements. Eilen Jewell has a relaxed timbre to her singing that makes her voice memorable and immediately addictive.

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35. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - (2002) -Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- Frontman Jeff Tweedy continues to move Wilco further from the Alt Country of the band’s debut, 3AM (and even farther from his former band, Uncle Tupelo), with each Wilco release. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot remained true to roots with songs like “I AM Trying to Break Your Heart”, “Pot Kettle Black”, “I’m the Man Who Loves You” and stretched the genre on “Ashes of American Flags” and “Kamera”. Wilco became Indie banner wavers when Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was rejected by their Warner Bros. label heads for not having a commercial single. The band took the album from WB and took it on the charts with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot being their biggest selling album to date.

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Roots musicians are as much fans as they are performers. We have had some friends call, write and text from the road with their own lists of songs. These lists will feature musician and friends sharing the must-hears, desert island favorites and songs they have loved since they woke up this morning. This week's special guest is East Nashville bluesman Mark Robinson with his Blues Records You Need to Listen to.....

1. Robert Johnson—“Traveling Riverside Blues” (from the album The Complete Recordings) - Everyone knows the legend of Robert Johnson and his deal with the Devil. This legend was credible in rural Mississippi in the 1920’s because Robert Johnson was an amazing player and singer—with power and subtlety. His playing is more complex and beautiful and his lyrics are more sophisticated than his contemporaries. There is a reason he is called the “King of the Delta Blues Singers”.

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2. Willie Dixon – “29 Ways” (from the album The Legend of Willie Dixon) - Willie Dixon was the most prolific blues songwriter in the original group of Chicago Blues artists. Willie wrote a lot of the songs that we know by Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf . He also played bass on, and produced a lot of records at Chess Records in the 50’s and 60’s.  He was not as well known as a singer or artist. “29 Ways” is a prime example of his fine blues songwriting. Willie is one of the great blues poets—using the language of the blues to tell great stories and to paint vivid pictures of the blues lifestyle.  This is an unusual recording- the cool jungle drumbeat and the doo-wop vocal backups are really different than most of what was coming out of Chess Studios at the time.

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3. Muddy Waters — “I Can’t Be Satisfied” (from the album Muddy Waters) -This Chicago recording pairs Muddy Waters with Willie Dixon on upright bass. It is a reworking of an acoustic song Muddy recorded for Alan Lomax called “I Be Bound To Write To You”. This song sits right in the middle—between Muddy as a Delta Bluesman and Muddy as the pioneer of electric Chicago Blues. And it rocks hard with just guitar and bass. Thisis the beginning of the electric Chicago blues sound.

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4. Etta James — “I’d Rather Go Blind”   (from the album Tell Mama) - Etta James was one of the great singers of her time, or of any time. She was able to communicate emotion so completely that everyone hearing her sing could relate to her songs. Her singing on “I’d Rather Go Blind” is understated, but full of pain and emotion.  And it’s beautiful to hear her pain. We love to hear someone really let out their feelings in a song.

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5. Howlin’ Wolf — “Howlin’ For My Darlin’” (from the album The Definitive Collection)  - I could pick any Howlin’ Wolf recording, and it would contain his power, his mystery and a sense that something sinister lurks just below the surface of the lyrics and the voice in every song. The recordings capture the Wolf’s primitive energy—70 years later his voice reaches through the speakers and grabs the listener.  Even on commercials for Viagra…

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6. Tracy Nelson—Down So Low  (from the album Living With The Animals) - In the late 60’s Tracy Nelson was part of a rock band called Mother Earth. Their first album “Living With the Animals” had several members taking turns singing lead on their own songs. The song “Down So Low” by a young Tracy Nelson, was so deep and drenched in emotion that classic blues records paled in comparison. This was raw pain radiating from this young woman. It still stands as one of the most beautiful moments in popular music.  I know Tracy, and I have played music with her, and listening to this recording still stops me in my tracks.  Listen to some deep blues by a young white girl from Wisconsin. Transcendent!

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7. BB King — “Everyday I Have The Blues”  (from the album Live at The Regal) - BB King took the Delta blues uptown. And he took his arrangements, his vocal style, his horn section, and his sharp looking suit with him. He was swinging hard and playing with fire and finesse. He could deliver that fire to a high class white audience and they loved it. He escaped the chittlin’ circuit by classing up his act. But it didn’t diminish the power of his music, his singing or his playing. How many guitar players can be identified by their first note? That’s BB—unique. BB had a number one hit with “The Thrill Is Gone” in 1970 and everybody in America and Europe knew what the blues was about because of him.

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8. Sonny Boy Williamson — “Don’t Start Me Talkin’”   (from the album The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson) - Sonny Boy II (he was the second singer to take the name Sonny Boy Williamson) was a great singer and harp player, and an eccentric storyteller. “Don’t Start Me Talkin’” is a favorite of mine. I can’t follow the entire story, but I get the idea. A fine example of what I call Blues Poetry. Great lyric writing in a very different form than other popular song lyrics.

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9. Blind Willie Johnson – “Dark Was the Night”   (from the album Dark Was the Night (Mojo Workin' - Blues for the Next Generation)) - This is an early recording of Blind Willie Johnson. It is an eerie melody, the beautiful slide guitar echoing and doubling the wordless vocal. One of my favorite early recordings of a bluesman. I think of this as “pre-blues”, almost more of a field holler than a true blues song. Maybe it’s not really a blues song, but I hear the blues in there.

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10. Freddy King  – “I’m Tore Down”   (from the album Blues - 20 Hits) - Freddy King was younger than the other Kings—BB and Albert. He was hipper—wearing bell-bottoms and playing surf rock instrumentals. This caused some blues people to think of him as a rock guitarist. But Freddy was deep and not to be taken lightly. One of the most formidable blues guitar players, ever. His piercing tone and swinging phrasing incorporated rock and jazz licks. His powerful, high voice took the blues to a new, cool place. Freddy lived hard and died fairly young. I often wonder what he would have done if he had lived longer. His ability to incorporate more modern ideas into his music might have taken him to some fantastic places. But we can still enjoy his instrumentals, slow blues moaning and rocking up-tempo shuffles.

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The decade of the 1980's can be looked at musically in a number of ways. On the surface it's easy to dismiss the decade as one of the worst in terms of popular music. What wasn't being dominated by the horror of Journey, REO Speedwagon, Survivor, Toto and Styx was being dominated by Duran Duran, Kenny Loggins, Culture Club and Michael Jackson. The rockers had their own mindless decade being fed a steady diet of Def Leppard, Van Halen, Molly Hatchet and Aerosmith.

We noticed that bands moved the Roots needle further than their album did. It was not a time when artists had the control over their music, or the ability to make music at home. If you were recording, you had someone attached to the project that saw things a different way. There were budgets and every album needed the 'hit single'. The artist development that had existed in the 1960's and 1970's was virtually gone. The major labels were simply showing up and collecting cash. The invention and proliferation of the compact disc started around 1982 when the discs became commercially available. Major labels were more interested in mining the catalogs and reselling hit records in a different format, so radio waves started championing the term 'classic.'

Soul music was either too Pop or too dance. Folk music was still riding high on the success of 1970's singer/songwriters, bluegrass was still traditional. Blues had some artists that were making noise and some were starting to expand with it and have some fun. Rock was the king and the genre took chances. Many of the artists on our list considered themselves to be rock bands but the groundwork laid would have a rippling effect. There were scenes rather than breakout artists. Los Angeles had cow punk and a roots scene that was very much part of punk rock with bands like X, Dwight Yoakam, Lone Justice, The Knitters, The Blasters, Rank and File, Cruzados, Blood on the Saddle and The Long Ryders all fighting for a small piece of ground. The lower east side of Manhattan was still taking pride in its birthing of punk but bands like The Del-Lords, Mike DeVille and Robert Gordon were playing their music and using their influences to create a more roots sound. Athens, GA had the rock of R.E.M., Pylon, The B-52's and Dumptruck. Nashville was set on taking country into modern times and away from the classic sound of Hank Williams. Lefty Frizell and others. The outlaw country was headed in the roots direction with a lot of steam but the music was still more Country than Roots.

As we set out to search for the albums of the 1980's that shaped the Roots Rock movement of today we found that the 80's thrived in terms of great music even though most of the albums we chose as our Top 40 Most Important by and large flew under the radar and we didn't even get into R.E.M., U2, The Alarm, The Clash, The Pretenders or The Psychedlic Furs. We left a ton of great albums off of our list that were in our stack to narrow down from a list of hundreds to a list of 40.

This is not a history lesson about Roots Music in it's purest forms. That music started in the early 1900's and we'll get to it in time. Everyone that followed was influenced by the great masters. These albums and these artists paved the way during the decade previous to our list of the last 25 Years but make no mistake, these albums and these artists were influenced by music from the previous decades and so on. We'll tackle the 70's, 60's and 50's in time and in order.

So here it is. The Alternate Root Top 40 Roots Rock Albums from 1980-89

1. Paul Simon - Graceland (1986) - Graceland brought the indigenous music of South Africa to the world stage and launched the International careers of  more than a few South African musicians. The album combined traditional American elements of pop, a capella, Tex-Mex and zydeco with traditional South African elements of isacathamiya and mbaqanga and the eclectic, critically acclaimed album changed the way the world looked at South Africa at a time when the world wasn't looking at South Africa very favorably. 27 years later this album still stands as a monumental achievement in music and continues to influence musicians around the world.

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2. The Blasters - The Blasters (1980) - The Blasters self titled album caught the music world by surprise...a mix of rock, country, rockabilly, mountain music and early rhythm and blues that burst onto the American music landscape in 1980, ripped your head off and screamed into your soul. It was sweaty, smokey, loud and so original that few people knew what to make of it. Brothers Phil and Dave Alvin along with John Bazz on bass and Bill Bateman on drums comprised the band that had more talent and energy than it should be legal to have in one band. Critics loved it and people associated with the industry shouted about it but the album never found it's way to the masses.

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3. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (1982) - Nebraska is a bit of an enigma and marks a turning point in the illustrious career of one of America's greatest musical treasures. Springsteen recorded the tracks as demos for an album that was to be recorded by the E Street band. The entire album was actually recorded with the full band but those recording were never released. Springsteen instead released the demos, recorded at home on a four track with very sparse instrumentation. The album's dark subject matter, centered around everyday American blue-collar characters facing challenges without hope or salvation, is unlike any other in the Springsteen catalog.

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4. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985) - Rain Dogs was sandwiched between two other brilliant Tom Waits albums Swordfishtrombones and Frank's Wild Years forming a trilogy of sorts. Waits wrote the songs for Rain Dogs in a basement in Greenwich Village in 1984. The album documented the malaise and urban depression of New York City through sounds that included recordings of street noise and a wide range of instrumentation from Waits' dark piano to accordion, marimba, trombone, banjo and upright bass. The album was dark, drifting from old blues to New Orleans funeral dirge and a slew of points in between.
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5. Townes Van Zandt - At My Window (1987) - At My Window was the only release by Townes Van Zandt in the 1980's and was his first studio release in nearly a decade. By then his place on the pantheon of great American songwriters was already secure and the album re-affirmed that Townes still had the songwriting chops. At My Window was different in that it was richer musically than most of his previous material which can be attributed to the production of the legendary "Cowboy" Jack Clement. Clement brought in a host of notable session players including Mark O'Connor, Mickey Raphael and Roy Huskey Jr. and the result was a brilliantly crafted and performed album.

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6. Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time (1989) - The appropriately titled Nick of Time came at a point in Bonnie Raitt's career where she needed a jolt both professionally and personally. She notes that Nick of Time was the first album she had done sober. Raitt's career was sliding backwards after a string of mediocre albums and  was being kept relevant by appearances on a series of political projects including MUSE, Amnesty International, Farm Aid and Sun City. Nick of Time took off after a sweep of the four Grammy's Raitt was nominated for in 1989 and her career has been on an upward trajectory since. The album was more soul than straight on blues and proved that Bonnie Raitt still had it all.

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7. Los Lobos - How Will the Wolf Survive (1984) - East L.A. has a long history of contribution to the American musical landscape with the influences of brown-eyed soul, R&B and Latino rhythms. Artists that rose up from the vibrant East L.A. scene including WAR, El Chicano and Malo combined Latino rhythms with funk, early R&B and blues. Los Lobos took it a step in another direction, combining traditional Mexican music, rock, folk and Latin rhythms together on their major label breakthrough album How Will the Wolf Survive. The album stands as a benchmark for Americana music and helped to usher in a new genre of music.

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8. k.d. lang - Angel With a Lariat (1987) - Though her albums Shadowland and Absolute Torch and Twang would spawn more 'hits' and radio success than Angel with a Lariat we chose it because it was Lang's coming out party for America and the rest of the world outside of her native Canada. Produced by Dave Edmunds, the album was seasoned with hints of rockabilly, country and British pop and mixed with Lang's unmistakable mezzo-soprano vocals to form a vintage that gets better with age. k.d.lang influenced millions of young women not only as singers but as social and cultural activists as well.

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9. Cowboy Junkies -  The Trinity Session (1988) - It was mostly a family affair for Cowboy Junkies with siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins counted as band members. Their 1986 recording debut was blues inspired, but the sound culture clash of their 1988 release, The Trinity Session, brought a larger audience from a rock camp. The Trinity Session married classic country covers (“Walking After Midnight”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”) with classic rock (“Sweet Jane”) all played out of a moody groove and airy arrangements.

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10. Steve Earle - Guitar Town (1986) - Steve Earle's breakthrough album Guitar Town topped the country charts and garnered two Grammy nominations in 1987 and it was the first and last time that "country radio" would recognize Steve Earle. It also marks the starting point for one of the most prolific, politically charged and culturally significant careers in American music history. Little of the subsequent Steve Earle catalog even closely resembles Guitar Town musically but the album sparked a new era of country based rock with intelligent lyrics that continues today.

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11. Blue Rodeo Diamond Mine (1989)- Formed in 1985 in Toronto, Canadians Blue Rodeo released their first album, Outskirts, in 1987, which would have excluded them from our 1988+ list. Luckily, their second album, Diamond Mine, is date friendly and keeps the same intentions of their debut. Blue Rodeo marry rock and country with a true Indie Rock feel and form, with organ swells sharing the sonic space with guitars and rhythm. Diamond Mine balances Indie Rock tunes (“God and Country”) with torchy twang (“How Long”) and a mix of both (“Love and Understanding” and the title track).

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12. The Subdudes - The Subdudes (1989) - The Subdudes debut release The Subdudes proved a couple of things. One is that a major label in 1989 couldn't find it's ass with two hands and a flashlight when it came to roots music. Second was that the "music business" wasn't really about music at all. It was about cash registers although that was pretty much agreed upon by most people already. Had a label like Rounder or Sugar Hill had the album, the effect The Subdudes had on the musical landscape might be much different. The Subdudes combined a plethora of innovative musical styles to their music including blues, swamp rock, cajun, funk, soul, R&B, folk, country and just about everything else and their influence resonates still today.

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13. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (1983) - Blues music post WWII has a tendency to ebb and flow with periods of great popularity followed by periods where it searches for a popular voice and becomes seen as a historical genre. Like Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and The Bluesbreakers before him, Stevie Ray Vaughan arrived on the scene when blues needed a shot in the arm and a popular voice. His debut album Texas Flood may not have been well received by critics or blues purists but it resonated with the public and changed the way a million kids felt when they picked up a guitar. Vaughan's influence on blues based rock will be felt for generations.

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14. Danny Gatton - Unfinished Business (1987) - Danny Gatton was a monster guitar player that fused together a variety of styles including jazz, country, rock and blues to create a sound that mesmerized both his followers and his peers. His fans included guitar greats from Les Paul to Roy Buchanan to Eric Clapton and just about everyone in between. His album Unfinished Business never garnered him the commercial success he deserved although it was met with a mass of critical acclaim. His later releases 88 Elmira Street and Cruisin' Dueces put him on the radar screen and captured a legion of fans but depression would overcome Gatton and his life ended with his suicide in 1994. Unfinished Business would prove to be a prophetic title that many before him from Buddy Holly to John Lennon could have used.

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15. The Del-Lords - Based on a True Story (1988) - The Del-Lords rose up from the post-punk, New York City scene of the 1980's and changed a lot of the status-quo at the time. Ex Dictators guitarist Scott Kempner and ex Joan Jett guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel along with bassist Manny Caiati and drummer Frank Funaro created a sound that melded rock, country, blues and a gritty form of garage together and became one of the most important bands of the decade. The Del-Lords would become the main innovators of the roots rock sound that resonated throughout the following decades and on to today. After two stellar openers, their third album, Based on a True Story would prove to be the Del-Lords crowning acheivement although one more album, Lovers Who Wander would follow.

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16. KoKo Taylor - Queen of the Blues (1985) - One of the original female giants to come out of the Chicago blues scene in the 1960's, Koko Taylor learned from the master himself Willie Dixon who discovered her in 1962. Although her music was well received by critics Taylor pinnacled commercially in 1965 with her song 'Wang Dang Doodle.' Queen of the Blues took the Grammy for Best Blues Album in 1985 and put the name KoKo Taylor back on the map of innovative and electrifying blues performers. In the 1980's Blues was again regaining popularity on the heels of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robert Cray and KoKo Taylor.

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17. The BoDeans - Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams (1986) - The BoDeans emerged from the vibrant Wisconsin music scene that erupted in the 1980's with the Violent Femmes. Their debut Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams was an instant success and pushed the band too fast into territory they had scarcely earned. Jangly guitars, Beatle-esque harmonies, synergy and simple, light hearted lyrics all wrapped in a masterful work of production by T-Bone Burnett made Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams the BoDeans finest moment. Although they would have a long run as a band and amass a solid body of work, the BoDeans never matched the magic of Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams.

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18 (tie). Semi-Twang - Salty Tears - (1988) - Another band that broke out of the  Milwaukee music scene of the 1980's, Semi-Twang released only one record until re-uniting in 2009 resulting in a subsequent album due in 2013. Salty-Tears united an all star cast of producers, (Mitch Froom, Chris Thomas and Jerry Harrison,) a group of outstanding musicians, a budget from Warner Bros. records and a brilliant collection of songs. The result ushered in the alt-country movement and while it was lauded by critics, there was no radio outlet for it and it floundered commercially.

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18. (tie) Georgia Satellites – Georgia Satellites (1986) - Hair metal was king. and radio rocked. Top 40 was synth dance and lots of hair spray. Into this environment came the simple phrase, “I gotta little change in my pocket going jing-aling-aling”. The Georgia Satellites looked and acted like rock stars on holiday. The sound liberally borrowed from the Faces and The Stones. They took “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”, the Roots/Rock version of “if you like it, put a ring on it”, to Number 2 in Billboard and gave Rock’n’Roll another chance on the charts.

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19. The Neville Brothers - Fiyo on the Bayou (1981) - The follow up to the dbut album, The Neville Brothers, Fiyo on the Bayou incorporated more elements of funk, reggae and New Orleans, cajun flavored R&B than it's predecessor. The result resonated with critics and the public and The Neville Brothers have become synomymous with American R&B world wide as a result. It contains the monumental songs, 'Hey Pocky Way,' 'Sitting in Limbo,' and 'The Ten Commandments of Love' that have become 'standards' of the standards.

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20. The Stray Cats - The Stray Cats (1981) - Though the Stray Cats US debut Built for Speed was released in 1982, we chose the debut album and British release Stray Cats for this list. The Long Island band founded by guitar ace Brian Setzer along with upright bass player Lee Rocker and drummer Slim-Jim Phantom had a solid following in the New York City post-punk scene but hit their meteoric stride after re-locating to London in 1981. Stray Cats, both album and band, revitalized the rockabilly movement, created a sub-culture centered around vintage fashion and style and turned millions of American kids on to a forgotten form of American music. 'Rumble in Brighton,' 'Stray Cat Strut,' 'Rock This Town' and 'Runaway Boys,' could have made for a career alone.

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21. Richard and Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights (1982) - After several critically acclaimed albums, Shoot Out the Lights ignited the careers of Richard and Linda Thompson just as the pair were falling apart as a couple. The album stuck with the folk with a strong rock side that Richard Thompson cultivated and shepherded since his first recordings with Fairport Convention. Darkness falls over the songs, like much of the material from Richard Thompson, with love songs taking on an edge in “Don’t Renege on our Love” and “Man in Need”. Richard Thompson can even bring danger to a day in the (amusement) park, with the high climbing tension of “Wall of Death”.

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22. Jason and the Scorchers - Fervor (1983) - Formed in Nashville in 1981, Jason and the Scorchers looked country, played hard rock and crafted songs with the attitude of a punk rocker. Their E.P., Fervor, raised and set the bar for Alt Country earsplitting volumes with six fire-breathing originals, including “Hot Nights in Georgia” and a blistering cover of Bob Dylan’s “Absolutely Sweet Marie”.

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23. The Morells - Shake and Push (1982) - The Morells released Shake And Push in 1982 with a sound that relied heavily on good old rock’n’roll riffs, the simplicity of rockabilly and story lines that dug deeper. Based in Springfield, Missouri, The Morells gave the world producer/player Lou Whitney. Shake and Push has become one of those legendary releases, with new copies of the disc selling online for close to $200.

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24. Melissa Ethridge - Melissa Ethridge (1988) - Time magazine announced that ‘She’s the Boss’ when Melissa Etheridge became a contender in the crown formerly worn by Bruce Springsteen. Her self-titled debut showed a woman with spit and snarl to her tales of love gone wrong. She balanced her audio attacks with a teasing emotion that lets you think you just might be able to tame her. Don’t count on it!

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25. The Rave-Ups – Town and Country (1985) - The Rave-Ups began life in Pittsburgh, PA but took hold in a second incarnation that set up roots in Los Angeles. The group successfully took Roots/Rock into Pop without getting any of the Pop smear on itself. All four members were at a major label before any deal was signed. Each member of the group had mailroom jobs at A&M Records, and they rehearsed in the basement at night when the offices were closed. Town and Country met with critical acclaim, The Rave-Up’s were an MTV buzz, and they made their movie debut with an appearance in John Hughes’ film “Pretty in Pink”.

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26. T-Bone Burnett - Trap Door (1982) -  In the days before becoming the man set on moving Americana into the mainstream, the Grammy winning producer (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) was a guitarist for Bob Dylan on Rolling Thunder Revue. Trap Door was an E.P. released on the Warner Brothers label that showed how T-Bone Burnett performed on his own. Trap Door contained an in-your-face version of “Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend” and the memory of a chance meeting with The Faces/Pink Floyd go-go dancer, Kim English (Kim Boston in England).

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27. Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure (1980) - As a band, Rockpile made several records before their name appeare on the cover. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds brought name recognition to the four-piece which also included Billy Bremner (guitar) and Terry Williams (drums). Seconds of Pleasure was the only release from a band that got everything right in music, but could not get past the more human side of group management, ego. “Teacher, Teacher” used old Rock’n’Roll riffs, like many of the Rockpile songs, and let the rhythm tear. Rockpile created great music for a short space in time, but when the wind blows just right, you can still hear the sound hammering away.

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28. Lone Justice - Lone Justice (1985) - Maria McKee and Ryan Hedgecock were playing country covers on the tiny L.A. cow punk scene. Adding in veteran players like bassist/producer Marvin Etzioni helped the band to craft originals. A supporting hand by fan Linda Ronstadt helped them seal a Geffen Record deal, and U2 tapped the band as tour openers. Lone Justice self-titled debut is a roots/rock masterpiece with Maria McKee guiding the songs into Pop (“Sweet, Sweet Baby”), country rock (“After the Flood”) and lunch for the spirit (“Soap, Soup and Salvation”).

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29. Steve Forbert - Streets of this Town (1988) - Steve Forbert returned to recording after a legally imposed six year hiatus with his first release on Geffen Records, Streets of This Town. The album maintained and expanded on the smarts of his lyrics and laid a new found maturity over the story lines. Produced by E-Street bassist Garry Tallent, Streets of This Town further secured Steve Forbert’s  status as a singer/songwriter who would stick around rather than leaving the building when Pop had its fill of the genre.

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30. Joe Ely - Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (1981) - Joe Ely formed The Flatlanders with fellow Lubbock natives Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore in 1970. Following some great album releases in the late 1970’s, the singer/songwriter caught a big break from British punk rock gods, The Clash. The band talked about and championed Joe’s music after meeting during a 1977 U.K visit and tour together. Musta Notta Gotta Lotta received lots of love from underground rock radio due to The Clash thumbs up and became his highest charting album with rock friendly tunes like “Hard Livin’” and the title track.

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31. Beausoliel- Bayou Cadillac (1989) - Beausoleil have become world ambassadors for Cajun music. The band hit a creative groove in the 1980’s, and Bayou Cadillac was album number seven for that decade. Bayou Cadillac kept the French language lyrics in place, and amped up the rock punch, adding in English lyrics for crossover appeal. The album’s title track fused Rock’n’Roll classics “Not Fade Away”, “Bo Diddley” and “Iko Iko” into a zydeco reel.

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32. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett and His Big Band (1989) - On his third recording as Lyle Lovett and His Big Band, Mr. Lovett took home a Grammy for best Country Male Vocal performance for the 1989 release. Lyle Lovett’s slightly hesitant delivery never sounded better and his take on classics such as “The Glory of Love” and the gender-bending “Stand By Your Man” took him to a new audience.

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33. The Paladins - The Paladins (1987) - The Paladins formed in the early 1980’s and set the knobs on their amps for rockabilly and roots. Their first, self-titled album was produced by The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Kim Wilson and fanned the fires for roots and maintained a heart on for twang. The Paladins stands firm as a statement to the glory of Roots/Rock that the band maintained until Dave Gonsalez left in 2004 to focus on the Hacienda Brothers.

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34. The Del Fuegos - Boston, Mass (1985) - What was an in-house project for the kitchen workers at Boston’s Hoo-Doo BBQ took greater form when Chef Jimmy Ryan handed the microphone over to guitarist/songwriter Dan Zanes. Dan recruited his brother Warren (at Mom’s request) who took on lead guitar chores and the name OrkBoy. A Miller beer commercial gave them a national TV stage and hits from Boston, Mass such as “I Still Want You” and “Don’t Run Wild” from their second Slash Records release put them on the charts.

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35. Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray - Showdown! (1985)  - “Three guitars, no waiting” could have been the sub-title for the 1985 Alligator Records recording of Showdown! by blues guitar men Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland. Nine tracks and barely a moment of quiet throughout as Blues axes make quick work of everything in their path.

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36. Nanci Griffith - Once in a Very Blue Moon (1983) - Nanci Griffith brought in musical backing for her third album release, Once in a Very Blue Moon. The folk-fed sparseness of her earlier releases was replaced by a fuller sound that contained a little more Country. Guest musicians Bela Fleck (banjo) and Mark O’Connor (fiddle) bring in musical magic as support for the dream texture of “Year Down in New Orleans” and the nod to favorite venues “Spin Around the Red Brick Floor”.

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37. Joan Armatrading - Walk Under Ladders (1981) -  Joan Armatrading came further into the full-on rock world with the Steve Lillywhite produced Walk Under Ladders. The mix of studio personnel was all over the map with new wave representation from Thomas Dolby and Andy Partridge (XTC), Elton John percussionist Ray Cooper, reggae rhythm man Robbie Shakespeare and Orleans’ Peter Gabriel and Hall & Oates alumni, Jerry Marotta.

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38. John Mellencamp - Scarecrow (1985) - Pre-production for Rain on the Scarecrow was simple, and sounds like a lot of fun. John Mellencamp and his band spent a month playing about a hundred Rock’n’Roll songs from the 60’s before heading into the studio to record. The album took a stand in and for the heartland. Without changing the Roots/Rock sound, John Mellencamp brought lyrics that had meaning, talking about good lovin’ in Middle America (“Lonely Ole’ Night”) and touring ala Motown caravans (“R.OC.K. in the U.S.A.”). Rain on the Scarecrow would be the first volley heard for the plight of America’s farmers and for Farm Aid.

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39. Chris Isaak - Silvertone (1985) - Chris Isaak had the snarl and the chops to be the next in line for Elvis Presley comparisons. His band was equally stripped down but the resulting sound was more ethereal and dream like. The tone of the music was a good match for filmmaker David Lynch, whose work in films had the same dreamscape attached. The director’s use of the tune “Gone Ridin’” from Silvertone jettisoned the album to much deserved recognition.

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40. The Beat Farmers - Glad N' Greasy (1985) - The Beat Farmers traveled to England to record Glad N’ Greasy for U.K. label Demon Records. The album, produced by Graham Parker and Rumor keyboardist Bob Andrews continued to put cow punk, Roots/rock, twanging rockabilly and swampy Americana into a blender. Glad ‘N Greasy included a dance hall version of Neil Young’s tune “Powderfinger”, and fellow roots rockers Dave Alvin, Nick Lowe, Gene Taylor and Loudon Wainwright III joined in for the community chorus on “Beat Generation”.

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American Roots music sets the new standard for holiday songs this year and we have collected 44 songs for a free digital download to fans, friends and family of The Alternate Root. The samplers are broken up into two separate downloads, Part One and Part Two. The music is offered by The Alternate Root but the gift is from the artists who have given their words and music to make stories ripped from real life in December 2013. The stories portray life as-is and all manage to find inspiration in tales from the mountains to the sea to the prairies, from the high rise to the low rent to the no rent. Love is in the air and love is headed for the exit. These songs let their feelings show in many ways.

The Alternate Root 2013 Holiday Sampler, Part One starts off with a Mary Gauthier peak under the Cow Key Bridge into the lives of two homeless comrades in the open air, sleeping with the Southern Cross overhead and enjoying “Christmas in Paradise”. Jon Byrd sends a troubadour’s “Silent Night” to traveling musicians everywhere and Yarn to send a holiday greetings to our troops with “Christmas Song”. There are some reindeer games with Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys, Amelia White softly sings as “Bells Ring” and Brian Ashley Jones lights up like a tree with “Let’s Get Blazed for the Holidays”.  Mike Surber lets some talking blues tell his holiday tale, Joe Jencks spies Christmas past filling in the blank spaces on “Christmas in Mansfield”, the ladies of Underhill Rose chime in to remind of “One Time a Year” and Erika Chambers follows a gypsy fiddle into “Bethlehem”. The Wild Ponies turn out the lights for the season knowing that “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”, Keith Miles is decorating a “Cactus Christmas Tree”, Loretta Hagen wonders “Santa Are You Listening” and our favorite pirate crew, Tom Mason & The Blue Buccaneers, step to “It’s Christmas Day”.  James Lee Stanley, Reverend Jimmie Bratcher, Laura Zucker, Dave Hogan, James and the Devil, Wink Burcham, Alan and Martin and Jeff Maddox fill in the 22 holiday songs on Part One.

The Alternate Root 2013 Holiday Sampler spins a beautiful winter tale that spreads across the opening of Part Two with a track from Over the Rhine, letting personally hand over their audio gift in "Here It Is".  Julie Christensen reminces about Christmas past, present and future and Steve Everett finds “Love in Snow” and offers the track that he has on the yearly compilations released by Rock By The Sea. The Rock by the Sea benefit album helps the group hosts concerts and festivals, releases CDs and sell other merchandise to raise money for pediatric research and treatment. Calico the Band aren’t expecting much this year, they have been bad, and their song “Santa Have Mercy” is looking to trade unwrapping for something wrapped under the tree while Ireland’s bluegrass crooner Niall Toner goes round the floor for some memories and to spend time “Waltzing at Christmas”. The Habit march in beating the tambourine for a slow hymn hum and an enclosed HabitMark psychedelic holiday greeting, Suisan O'Rourke steels herself against winter “Up to Saginaw Bay” and The Union Revival give “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” a Roots makeover. Deborah Holland joined former Police drummer Stewart Copeland and jazz bassman Stanley Clarke in the indie band Animal Logic in 1988 but where she excels is as a singer/songwriter and she weighs with seasonal pros and cons on “Hannukah Oh Hannukah”. The VooDUDES tune Santa’s sleigh radio for swamp boogie in “Christmas on the Bayou”, BumpKin Pie head out to “Party in the Stable” and Sunday Wilde knows that the love of the season travels miles and will get the message out “No Matter How Far”. Annie Sellick, The Appleseed Collective, The Altar Billies, Todd Wolfe, Pat Lamanna, FunkyJenn, Dean Bastone, Susan Kane, Tokyo Rosenthal, Michael Rank & Stag and Aarn & The Shurman Boys join together to raise a song for the season on Part Two.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE ALTERNATE ROOT 2013 HOLIDAY SAMPLER, PART ONE

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE ALTERNATE ROOT 2013 HOLIDAY SAMPLER, PART TWO

The Alternate Root 2013 Holiday Sampler, Part One

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The Alternate Root 2013 Holiday Sampler, Part Two

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The events on Monday April 15th at the Boston Marathon left the Country in shock and Boston with a bit of a bloody nose. Cities around the US were rallying around Boston and watched as the police, FBI, EMT and firefighters and citizens all responded with heroic grace and then tuned in as the perpetrators of the terrorist acts that upended the city were hunted down and captured. Boston responded as it always has; with style and grace and a stiff upper lip. There's a lot to this great city. It's a great sports town, a political and social hub, the top city in the world for education and medicine and Boston is one great music town with a long and storied history.

Our Top 20 Boston Roots artists this week took more time making a decision about what to include rather than whom. The climate in Boston is very music friendly. Roots music in Boston never needs to take hold, it is already there. Celtic Roots brought fiddles, banjos and acoustic guitars as default instruments for the 1960’s Folk scene that took place right across the river in the Harvard Square folk clubs that dotted Cambridge. The artists that have broken out of Boston are extensive. The amount of colleges supports taking a chance with your music as well as giving an audience.James Taylor, Martin Sexton, Ellis Paul, Tracy Chapman, The Del Fuegos , Tom Rush, The J Geils Band, Crooked Still, Morphine, Frank Black, Aimee Mann; the musicians and music that have used Boston as their breeding ground is nearly as endless as the line of future musicians that will continue to utilize the atmosphere of the Boston music scene.

The Boston scene is tough, both to get ahead and to stay fresh. The 20 artists compiled here represent Roots music. Some have been making independent music for decades, some with a recent debut. Boston has taken a stand since the days of the American Revolution. Its citizens are proud and do not like getting punched around. Music is the soundtrack.

1. Adam Ezra Group - After a clean sweep at the 2012 New England Music Awards, and Best band at the 2013 ceremonies it's obvious how the music fans in Boston feel about The Adam Ezra Group. They scooped up the awards for Best Band, Best Album and Best Song. But this band is not just a force in Boston, they sell out shows from coast to coast with relative ease. Ezra's music centers in on  the human condition; provoking their audience to think and motivating them to feel what they're feeling. The band is an absolute monster, combining jazz, rock, roots, funk and soul into marathon concerts that leave the crowd drenched in sweat and filled with passion. Through The RallySound Foundation, the Adam Ezra Group contributes 25% of their earnings on tour to community and global charities. Hands down the best roots rock band to come out of Boston since the Del Fuegos. The Adam Ezra Group was accidentally left off of our Top 50 Roots Bands List where they would have ranked comfortably in the Top 5.

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2. Eilen Jewell - Eilen Jewell is not originally from Boston but "the Queen of the minor key" makes her home here. She broke onto the national scene playing the local club scene in Boston and Somerville. Now seven records into a stellar career, she is highly regarded as one of the most unique and innovative artists on the Americana Roots circuit based, in part, on her hauntingly beautiful voice and a band comprised of solid, accomplished players that back her up. She's dabbled in traditional country, swing, gospel, and roots music with authenticity and a maturity that belies her years. Eilen and Band walked off with Best Folk/Roots at the 2013 New England Music Awards.

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3. Girls Guns and Glory - The main cog in the Girls Guns and Glory wheel is front man, singer, founder, songwriter and rhythm guitarist Ward Hayden, whose voice echoes somewhere between Hank Williams, George Jones and Dwight Yoakam, at times, in the same verse. The band has seen a variety of transitions since the first album. Fireworks and Alcohol, in 2006 but has settled on the current and most formidable line-up for the 2012 release Sweet Nothings. The album is centered around Hayden and the blistering twang of guitar slinger Chris Hersch. They've hoisted a number of local music awards over the years, including a surprising win at WBCN's Rock and Roll Rumble and Boston Music Award for Best Americana Act.

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4. Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters - Ronnie Earl first appeared on the national scene as the replacement for Duke Robillard in the band Roomful of Blues in 1979 and was quickly recognized as a guitarist with immeasurable talent and a signature tone. He went solo in 1986 and formed the first version of the Broadcasters in 1988. The Broadcasters, over the last 25 years, have included a who's who of New England blues staples including Bruce Katz, Jerry Portnoy, Per Hanson, Darrel Nulisch and even a stint with Gregg Allman, but it's the current line-up that tops them all and includes Jimmy Mouradian (bass), Dave Limina (organ), and Lorne Entress (drums). Earl has won 2 Blues Music Association awards for Guitar Player of the Year, and he also spent 5 years as an Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Listen and buy the music of Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters from AMAZON or iTunes

5. Sugar Ray and The Bluetones - It seems all things blues in New England, at some point, owe six degrees of separation back to Roomful of Blues and Duke Robillard. Sugar Ray Norcia was the harp player and front man for Roomful of Blues during the band's highly prolific years in the 1990's, but he's been a blues fixture in Boston and around New England since the 1970's when he and his band The Hound Dogs were backing Big Mama Thornton and other blues greats at the Speakeasy in Cambridge. For decades, his band the Bluetones, formed in 1977, has been another of the important "schools" that dozen's of blues musicians have passed through on their way to other high profile gigs. The current line-up includes guitarist "Monster" Mike Welch, considered to be among the world's top blues guitar players.
 

Listen and buy the music of Sugar Ray and The Bluetones from AMAZON or iTunes

6. Johnny A. - It's been a while between "events" for virtuoso guitar player Johnny A., but he's working on a new album for 2013 to follow up the critically acclaimed DVD "One November Night" (2010). Johnny A. is in a class that includes only a few names, but when those names are Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Jeff Beck, B.B. King and Wes Montgomery, well, that's a good class to be in. It's been said that Johnny A. has "one of the best voices in music today and never sings a note," letting his guitar do all of the heavy lifting. He's a master of intonation, melody and technique and with Les Paul and Chet Atkins gone, probably the best "soul" for the instrument that's around today. Few artists have ever been able to garner as much critical and commercial success with instrumental music as Johnny A..

Listen and buy the music of Johnny A from AMAZON or iTunes

7. Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck - Bow Thayer is originally from the Boston 'burb of Hingham, MA and now makes his coffee in the morning in Vermont, but he and his band Perfect Trainwreck are the "house band" for Boston's innovative and progressive roots Americana music scene. They won the Rock and Roll Rumble (which is a rite of passage for bands that want to be considered among Boston's greats) and they frequently choose Boston for the band's more important events. Rising stars on the national stage, Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck released an ambitious and critically well-received album, Eden, earlier this year. Their music is progressive, forward-thinking and innovative with a keen eye on the world around them and the human condition that exists within it.

Listen and buy the music of Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

8. Patty Larkin - Patty Larkin was born in Iowa, grew up in Milwaukee, went to college in Oregon and then arrived at Berklee College of Music in the mid 1980's, but Patty Larkin now calls Cape Cod home, and Boston calls Cape Cod the summer house, so Patty Larkin is all ours. That and the fact that she, along with other Boston favorites Ellis Paul, Shawn Colvin and Patti Griffin were among the artists that revitalized the Boston music scene, and subsequent folk-revival in the early 1990's. Ellis Paul, Shawn Colvin and Patti Griffin have moved on to other places to reside or we'd be claiming them as well. Her unique brand of urban-folk music, concentration on women's issues and her philanthropic work make her an American as well as Boston treasure. She celebrated 25 years of recording with her album, 25, in 2010.

Listen and buy the music of Patty Larkin from AMAZON or iTunes

9. Kingsley Flood - The Boston Globe described them as "The Rolling Thunder Review with a punk edge." We placed them in our list of 20 Bands Pushing the Roots Americana Envelope. Kingsley Flood meld a variety of influences, both internally and externally, borrowing equal parts Dylan, Stones, Who and The Jam and the powerful musical talent each of the band members brought to the party. The Kingsley Flood star is rising, as evidenced by their invitation to the Newport Folk Festival this summer, a host of Boston Music Awards and an opening slot for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Their latest release, Battles, takes on a lot of sensitive subject matter and leaves little doubt where the band stands on the issues of the day.

Listen and buy the music of Kingsley Flood from AMAZON or iTunes

10. Peter Parcek 3 - One of the best 'un-sung' guitar players in a city that hosts a multitude of great guitar players, Peter Parcek is a student of the blues, jazz and roots music and combines all of them together to create a spiritual, soulful sound that can't be cornered into anything genre-specific. It's really just outstanding music performed by three outstanding musicians. Peter Parcek is an incendiary player when the song calls for it and also soulful and elegant when it doesn't. His album, Mathematics of Love, was well received critically and landed him a nomination by the Blues Foundation at the 2011 Blues Music Awards in Memphis. He was recently named Best Blues Act at The New England Music Awards and has been nominated for Best Blues Act at the Boston Music Awards.

Listen and buy the music of Peter Parcek 3 from AMAZON or iTunes

11. Sarah Borges - Like many coming-of-age girls with guitars, Sarah Borges tried her hand in rock bands. It was a nice fit for her stage show that included high kicks, sassy shakes and buckets of sweat outfitted with red lipstick and six strings.  Sarah made it into her 20’s before Americana and Roots were an option- "I felt like I had spent all of this time trying to couch everything in metaphor, and when I started writing Americana songs. I could finally say it plain.” The ball of energy that is Sarah Borges is alive and well on upcoming album number four, Radio Sweetheart, produced by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin. The new album is just another step in the continual evolution of Sarah Borges.

Listen and buy the music of Sarah Borges from AMAZON or iTunes
 

12. Gracie Curran and the High Falutin' Band - Ms. Curran is possesses an amazing voice. It is the kind of voice that could easily smoke the competition. It is to the credit of the High Falutin’ Band that they can not only be seen but heard beyond the sunspot force of Gracie. Proof of Love, the band’s debut album, rounds out HFB with Geoff Murfitt on bass, Derek John Bergman on drums and the almighty, roof raisin’, can-somebody-get-me-a-glass-of-water guitar work of Tommy Carroll. Tommy is Berklee trained and crossroads bartering good on the guitar. His leads, and funky chord chops, are the perfect foil for Gracie Curran’s voice. Think Aretha Franklin on lead vocal with Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar…okay, you got the sound of Gracie Curran & the High Falutin’ band.

Listen and buy the music of Gracie Curran and the High Falutin' Band from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes


13. Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers - Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers proudly refer to their mix of delta blues, country, Americana, soul, and world music as “Charles River Delta Blues”. It puts their brand in the dirty water that everybody in the city of Boston loves. On album, and in live shows, The Delta Swingers produce an upbeat, danceable sound featuring original tunes and classic blues from 1930’s delta blues and ragtime to the Blues/Folk of the late 60’s/early 70’s. The band features Erin on electric and acoustic guitar and lead vocals, backed by Jim Countryman on bass, Bob Nisi on drums and vocal harmonies, and a revolving cast of Boston’s best blues soloists, including the blistering electrified harmonica of Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt, slide guitar and barrelhouse piano. Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers are currently hard at work on their debut album, which will be released later this year.

Listen and buy the music of Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

14. Dropkick Murphys - Dropkick Murphys started life in Quincy, Mass but have become inseparable from big city Boston through yearly St. Patrick’s Day week shows and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”, their track featured on the Academy-Award winning film, The Departed. The song has become an anthem for Boston-based sports teams. The group stayed Indie through five albums, singing with Warner Brothers in 2007, through their vanity label, Born & Bred. Dropkick Murphys made room on the Billboard charts for American Celtic Punk with both of their last two releases, Going Out of Style (2011) and Signed and Sealed in Blood (2013), finding homes in the chart Top 10.

Listen and buy the music of Dropkick Murphys from AMAZON or iTunes

15. Mr. Nick and His Dirty Tricks - Nick David's harmonica playing has a swagger - developed over thousands of one-nighters from Massachusetts to Memphis and from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, and all over Europe. Maybe it's a swing, or a little extra hip-shake, just like the grooves generated by the powerhouse band he's formed with four other kingpins of the New England blues scene: Mr. Nick & His Dirty Tricks have jukebox Soul waiting for the coin to drop on Oh Wow!

Listen and buy the music of Mr. Nick and His Dirty Tricks from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

16. James Montgomery Band - The James Montgomery Band deliver on From Detroit to the Delta, the band’s recent release. Full frontal horns, courtesy of the Uptown Horns, crisp, clean leads from JM Band member George McCann, guests such as James Cotton on harp, Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitfield (guitar), Johnny Winter lending his Firebird slide guitar skills and a rock solid rhythm held down by JM backers, David Hull (bass, producer) and Seth Pappas (drums). The man that holds down the mic, and harmonica, is James Montgomery, a position that he has filled for forty plus years. Whether the tunes honor the Detroit or Delta side of the album title, the music is all Saturday night. There are no quiet mediations, no rambling jams, you have to stay alert and in the pocket of the groove to keep up with From Detroit to the Delta.

Listen and buy the music of James Montgomery Band from AMAZON or iTunes
 

17. The Bandit Kings - The Bandit Kings have a sunny, singer/songwriter tone to the songs on their recent release, III. The group incorporates an Alt Country jangle and rock rhythms as a foundation for two female lead vocalists, Renee Dupuis (vocals, keys) and Ann Marie (vocals, tambourine). Rounding out The Bandit Kings is Dan King on lead guitar, Dennis Monagle on drums and Joe Cardoza on bass. III offers vocals that snake around the music, weaving in and out of arrangements, playing tag with guitar leads. BK craft smiles into the bright playing, even when the ladies are telling their respective love interests that “I can’t wait for you to throw me away” (“I Can’t Wait”).

Listen and buy the music of The Bandit Kings from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes
 

18. Sarah Blacker - Sarah Blacker adds ukulele and mandolin to the traditional singer/songwriter guitar and mic default accompaniment. Her most recent release, Perfectly Imperfect E.P. (2012) wraps a story about being humor with the ukulele on the title track. The E.P. follows her 2009 debut, The Only Way Out is Through, and Come What May (2010). Sarah Blacker is a full-time, hard-working, touring singer/songwriter who still manages time to give. Sarah is a part-time Music Therapist for children and adults with special needs. Sarah Blacker was named Female Performer of the Year at the 2013 New England Music Awards.

Listen and buy the music of Sarah Blacker from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

19. Jesse Dee - Jesse Dee is a Boston-based soul man. He released his debut, On My Mind / In My Heart, his debut recording for Alligator Records in 2013. The album is soul music through and through. Perfectly placed horns, chopped guitar chords as rhythm, a bumping bass that pops out notes like spitballs and drums that never let the beat wander, all create a groove that sticks like glue. All the elements are present but what wraps it all up is the voice of Jesse Dee. On My Mind / In My Heart holds within its border eleven Jesse Dee originals that are equally filled, like Jesse, with hooks of hope. It is the sweet soul music that you have heard about, the kind stuck with a 1960’s stamp and put in the closet with sharkskin suits, beehives and aspirin in soda pop as a go-to high.

Listen and buy the music of Jesse Dee from AMAZON or iTunes

20. Jo Henley - Putting together a tradition of Roots music with a rock stance and delivery, Jo Henley is the band home to longtime musical collaborators Andy Camplieto and Ben Lee with drummer Mike Dingley. The group released their independent full length, Sad Songs and Alcohol, in 2008. In 2012, Andy lost his Dad, a man who had not only been a supporter but, with son Ben, had handcrafted most of the guitars heard on Jo Henley albums.  Andy and Ben headed to a remote cabin to sing a catharsis for the loss and returned with demos of songs that would become the base of The Fall Comes Early, Jo Henley’s December 2012 release. The album is a deeply personal look at universal themes of life, death, relationships, and time playing out over jangly mid-tempo rock, train-beat folk and classic country and top tappin’ bluegrass.

Listen and buy the music of Jo Henley from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

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Not so long ago, the Roots and Americana field was an open playing ground. It was a place where artists could take chances with their music and develop sounds that were outside the borders that corralled music into certain shapes and forms. Like any genre or style, once a bar is set, up and coming artists can choose to follow or lead into the future. Innovators like Buddy Miller, Bela Fleck, The Band, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas set the standard. Many bands have gone the easy route of simply sounding like the originals. Luckily, there are many others that avoid falling into the same old ruts and decide not to join the 'band wagons'. Here is a list of artists that are moving the genre forward, taking chances and deciding that is better to lead than follow, better to die on your feet than live on your knees worshipping at the altar of what has gone before.

These artists are the 'progressive' artists of the Roots Americana genre. Pushing the envelope in terms of sound, recording techniques, instrumentation and amplification. They are bringing new influences of Indie rock, swamp, post punk and psychedelic into the indigenous forms of music that lie at the roots of the sound. Risk takers, innovators and definitely worth checking out. Here are The Alternate Root's 20 Bands Pushing the Envelope.

1 - Uncle Lucius

Uncle Lucius is an Indie Rock band out of Austin, Texas that lets the roots of rock shine in its sounds and songs. The band borrows from classic rock, taking influence from The Black Crowes and The Tragically Hip. Lead vocalist Kevin Galloway takes to the mic like he is on a mission to save the world one song at a time. Uncle Lucius makes it all seem easy on their most recent release, And You Are Me.

Listen and buy the music of Uncle Lucius from AMAZON or iTunes

2 - Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck

Bow Thayer plays electric banjo, running the instrument through both a bass and guitar amp to get the desired sound. The band’s latest effort, Eden, is a Roots album that follows one story line throughout the entire release with the topic that it’s the economy that kills people, not guns. Thayer writes deep, heavily textured music with complex layers both sonically and lyrically and has the band and the chops to pull it all together.

Listen and buy the music of Bow Thayer and Pefect Trainwreck from AMAZON or iTunes

3 - Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition

Former Squirrel Nut Zipper frontman, Jimbo Mathus, drives Southern Rock, Blues, Soul and Roots sounds as a vehicle for his smart, Southern Gothic-influenced story lines. The music created could receive a Southern Gothic Rock name tag, with The Tri-State Coalition setting fire to notes and beats that send smoke signals to announce the start of something big on the album White Buffalo.

Listen and buy the music of Jimbo Mathus and Tri-State Coalition from AMAZON or iTunes

4-The Wood Brothers

Two brothers decide to form a band, adapting the blues, folk and other roots‐music sounds they grew up with into a sound that is unique. They have that natural lonesome harmony and a blend that could only come from blood. For many years, the brothers took separate musical paths, Oliver brought soul, funk and country elements into the blues that he loved and Chris attended New England Conservatory of Music to study bass at the feet of jazz men. As the Wood Brothers, they bring family back together and create a new sound in the process on Smoke Ring Halo. 

Listen and buy the music of The Wood Brothers from AMAZON or iTunes

5- Birds of Chicago

Birds of Chicago, is a collective based around JT Nero and Allison Russell. The group tours both as a duo and with the full family band. JT Nero has country soul vocals that fit well with the warm, sun-dappled voice of Allison Russell. Somewhere between street corner doo-wop and folk soul sounds, Birds of Chicago bring the power of voices and play them out over banjo and guitar accompaniment.

Listen and buy the music of Birds of Chicago from AMAZON or iTunes

6 - Vintage Trouble

Los Angeles-based Vintage Trouble have a sound and live show best described as  live-wired, straight-shootin’, dirty-mouth'd, pelvis-pushing juke music. The four-piece bring Soul back into a Rock’n’Roll band format using guitar, bass and drums to fuse songs. Manager Doc McGhee (Bon Jovi) took the band to England where they were honored with Music Weekly’s  “Breakout Artist of the Year” title. Vintage Trouble have released The Bomb Shelter Sessions on home turf to grab the same love.

Listen and buy the music of Vintage Trouble from AMAZON or iTunes

 7- Elephant Revival

Elephant Revival filters their existence as a band through five words, “Where words fail... music speaks”. They believe that we can be moved by a rhythm and soothed by a song. The five souls in Elephant Revival share vocals and play an arrangement of instruments that include banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle, washboard, djembe, musical saw, and stompbox. Group member Bonnie Paine delivers additional beats via footstomps on plywood, her stockinged feet doing near jigs as her hands, encased in antique leather gloves, rub silver nickel against corrugated metal you can hear in beatiful scratchings on their most recent E.P., It's Alive.

Listen and buy the music of Elephant Revival from AMAZON or iTunes

8 - The Wild Rumpus

The hills of Fayetteville, West Virginia are home to the three men of The Wild Rumpus. The band owns these mountains due, in part; to their marathon live shows and the pride they show for the hills in their songs. Andrew Adkins’ deep, soulful tones and Allan Sizemore’s playing his guitar like a banjo make for a combination that sets them apart from traditional bluegrass and string bands. The Wild Rumpus are set to release the floow-up to 304.

Listen and buy the music of The WIld Rumpus from AMAZON or iTunes

9 - The Howlin' Brothers

The Howlin’ Brothers sound is as old as the mountains that gave birth to bluegrass. The band honors traditional music and gives it a touch of today by incorporating slide banjo with old time fiddle, harmonica, and upright bass, letting the scratch of dancing feet keep the beat. Produced by the Raconteur’s Brendan Benson, their recent release, Howl, lets out a roar that will shake tradition into something new.

Listen and buy the music of The Howlin' Brothers from AMAZON or iTunes

10 - Sons of Fathers

Sons of Fathers open their recent release, Burning Days, with a forceful thrust of sound. Moments into the opening track, “Hurt Someone”, that sound drops out to let the soul of the combined vocals and swaying Roots mix with psychedelic guitar licks,  genre-bending folk rock,  and gospel harmonies to create their own Texas rock sound.

Listen and buy the music of Sons of Fathers from AMAZON or iTunes

11 - Over the Rhine

Over The Rhine consist of southern Ohio-based husband-and-wife team of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. The duo adds humanness to the music that they have been creating since their 1991 debut. Their most recent album, The Long Surrender (produced by Joe Henry), has the feel of a living thing, its senses alert, feet planted firmly on the earth.

Listen and buy the music of Over The Rhine from AMAZON or iTunes

12 - Jonny Fritz

Jonny Fritz is a Nashville-based songwriter set to release an ATO Records’ debut under his real name, dropping the Jonny Corndawg tag he has used for the past ten years of recording and performing. His upcoming release, Dad Country, was produced by Jonny and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, recorded at Jackson Browne’s Los Angeles studio and finished up in Music City. The album balances Jonny Fritz humor and unfiltered worldview with a Nashville sound born on a Southern Californian wind.

Listen and buy the music of Jonny Fritz from AMAZON or iTunes

 13 - Kingsley Flood

Kingsley Flood spend their time between two home bases-- Washington, DC and Boston. The band debuted in 2010 with a sound that used the dusty tones of Americana mixed with a punk rock sneer. Their upcoming release, Battles, ups the ante with songs that blend Dylan-esque storytelling, Kinks-inspired melodies, and the urgency of The Clash. The albums songs are inspired by everyone from delusional dictators to spray-tanned politicians to laid-off workers trying to get back on their feet.

Listen and buy the music of Kingsley Flood from AMAZON or iTunes

14 - Pete Ahonen

Pete Ahonen is a San Francisco East Bay area native. Pete is a singer-songwriter that blends Alt Country with Folk/Rock and partners the mix with an incredible knack for storytelling.  There’s never been anything marginal about Pete Ahonen’s commitment to the art of putting words to music to describe life being lived in all its glory and complexity, as evidence on In The Blood.

15 – Henry Wagons

Henry Wagons’ recent solo release, Expecting Company, follows the form and feel of his band’s 2011 album effort, Rumble, Shake and Tumble, with a more personal take on his tunes. The album features duet performances from artists such as Allison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather), Jenn Grant and Robert Forster among others. As a group, Wagons will use 70’s arena rock bombast for the gut bucket glory of the sound that they create.

Listen and buy the music of Henry Wagons from AMAZON or iTunes

16-Hymn for Her

Hymn for Her may be your local band depending on where they parked their 16 foot, 1961 Bambi Airstream last night. The Airstream comes complete with dog, baby and recording studio. Their latest release, Hymn for Her Present Lucy and Wayne’s Smokin’ Flames, is a gritty, distorted cacophony of sound that bleeds through your speakers and tears a hole in your brain…..sweet!!

Listen and buy the music of Hyman For Her from AMAZON or iTunes

17-Boo City

Boo City formed in Providence, Rhode Island in 2009 by singer/songwriters, and longtime friends, vocalist Tai Awolaju and guitarist Andrew Moon Bain. Boo City is a creative mix of music that goes from Country-blues to Indie Rock, channeled through Soul and Folk. The vocal blend of Awolaju’s smokey, sultry voice and Bain’s deep tones are a foundation for the dual lead voices. Horns and a determined rhythm section cement the sound on their recent E.P. release, Anchortown.

Listen and buy the music of Boo City from AMAZON or iTunes

18 - The Crackling

The Crackling’s debut release, Mary Magdalene, delivers Roots music in a slow motion sound that lets the songs flow over the listener, letting every nuance of emotion seep in.  The Vancouver-based band revolves around the man that set the fire burning, Kenton Loewen, known for his work with Dan Mangan and Mother Mother. Kenton Loewen is a trained jazz musician, best known for his work as a drummer. The Crackling is Kenton’s first project as composer and singer.

Listen and buy the music of The Crackling from AMAZON or iTunes

19 – Spindrift

Spindrift sprinkle psychedelia liberally over their Roots music. The western sound of the Los Angeles band can be viewed through a kaleidoscope of musical colors, channeled and corralled by an electroacoustic backdrop. The most recent release, Classic Soundtracks Volume One featured theme songs to film scores and showcased the band’s music through a diverse mix of genres such as Bollywood, Sci-Fi, Exploitation films, and Film Noir.

Listen and buy the music of Spindrift from AMAZON or iTunes

20- Sam Marine and County

The music of Sam Marine and County contains lots of well-used styles such as straightforward classic rock n' roll, country, blues, and folk. What makes them different is the way the band jumble it all together with the passion of punk rock deliveries over an acoustic force of rhythm.

Not sure about some of the outstanding musicians? Here's a taste of 20 tastemakers...enjoy the ride!

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    Here's our list of The Alternate Root Magazine's Top American Roots Guitar Players. There's probably 100 guitar players that could have been on this list that appear on every "Best Guitar Player List." These are our favorites. The one's we write about; one's we've worked with on Alternate Root TV or we've   interviewed here. They're our guys and gals and all of them can play. Chances are we've forgotten a few and we're counting on our readers to remind us of who's supposed to be here.









  
    1. Kenny Vaughan - Marty Stuart Band, solo - One of the most, if not 'the' most in demand session players in Nashville, Kenny Vaughan is an absolute monster player that is in a league with just a few others on this list. Combining the most eclectic, fringe elements of jazz, punk, rock, country and whatever else into his unique style and combining it with near flawless technique is what sets Vaughan apart from most.   

Listen and buy the music of Kenny Vaughan from AMAZON or iTunes 

   2. Will Kimbrough - Emmylou Harris Band, solo  -     Kimbrough's work with Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris is well documented. His solo work is equally compelling and as one of the top producers in the American Roots music world you can find him on a slew of other really good records. He can play any style from blues to country, rock to soul and everything in between    .

Listen and buy the music of Will Kimbrough from AMAZON or  iTunes

 
3. Richard Thompson - Fairport Convention, solo - One of the founding members of Fairport Convention, Thompson has spent most of his career in relative public obscurity save guitar heads and critics. Guitar people have known about Richard Thompson for decades and critics have been heaping praise on Richard Thompson for both his playing and his writing for nearly as long. His mark is on more music than most anyone on this list. Probably the best folk guitarist in history.

Listen and buy the music of Buddy Miller from AMAZON or iTunes

4. Buddy Miller - Band of Joy, solo - Like Will Kimbrough, Buddy Miller appears on more recordings than can be listed here. He's worked as a guitar player for Steve Earle, Robert Plant, John Fogerty, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Linda Rostadt. His solo work is at times breathtaking and at other time a bit puzzling but never typical. Miller is just downright brilliant.

Listen and buy the music of Colin Linden from AMAZON or iTunes

5. Colin Linden - Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, solo - One of the true virtuoso players on our list. A scholar of the roots of the guitar, from earliest recordings of blues and jazz to folk and country, Colin Linden was called upon by T-Bone Burnett to help produce the soundtrack for "Oh Brother Where Art Thou." He's one of the top American Roots producers in Canada and the U.S. and has a guitar playing resume that would take up more space than we have here.

Listen and buy the music of Bill Kirchen from AMAZON or iTunes

6. Bill Kirchen -solo - One of the most respected and acclaimed players of the last few decades Kirchen may be best known for work with Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen but his work over the past 30+ years is more impressive. His version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" where he rips into a solo for every guitar god hero is amazing.

Listen and buy the music of Pete Anderson from AMAZON or iTunes

7. Pete Anderson - solo - He's a bad-ass player. He's a bad-ass producer who created the sound for Dwight Yoakam, k.d. Lang, Michelle Shocked and even the latter-day Roy Orbison. If you don't know him as a player you don't know the half of it.

Listen and buy the music of Derek Trucks from AMAZON or iTunes

8. Derek Trucks - Tedeschi Trucks Band, Allman Brothers Band - The nephew of Allman Brothers great Butch Trucks, Derek Trucks first appeared on stage with Buddy Guy and The Allman Brothers at age 12. One of the best slide players out there right now, Trucks is heavily influenced by Buddy Guy, Elmore James and the like but his style incorporates blues, rock, soul and classic jazz elements.

Listen and buy the music of Derek Trucks from AMAZON or iTunes

9. Raul Malo - Mavericks, Los Super Seven, solo - Raul Malo may be more well known for his incredible voice than his guitar playing but he should never be overlooked as one of the top American Roots guitar players. His work with the Mavericks, Los Super Seven and as a solo artist contains some incredibly good guitar playing by any standards. See him live playing jazz, blues, country, Tejano, rockabilly and you'll get the picture.

Listen and buy the music of Raul Malo from AMAZON or iTunes

10. Junior Brown - Junior Brown Band - Junior Brown is so good he needed to have a guitar invented just for him and the "guit-steel" was born. He's incendiary style blends Western Swing, honky-tonk, Bakersfield country and Texas blues often in the same solo.

Listen and buy the music of Junior Brown from AMAZON or iTunes

11.  Patterson Hood - Drive By Truckers - The power behind one of the powerhouse American Roots bands Patterson Hood is actually more Clash than Cash. The Drive By Truckers are one of the few roots bands that when it's all said and done, will have done pretty well.

Listen and buy the music of Patterson Hood from AMAZON or iTunes

12. Eric “Roscoe” Ambel - The Del-Lords, Steve Earle Band, solo - He's more into producing and engineering now than when he was barnstorming for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Del-Lords or Steve Earle but "Roscoe" shows up in rare form on a lot of really cool recordings from bands like the New Heathens, Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition and DL Marble. Ambel is a great guitar player...period.

Listen and buy the music of Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel from AMAZON or iTunes

13. Rosie Flores - Rosie Flores Band - The "Rockabilly Filly" broke the glass ceiling for female guitar players right along with Bonnie Raitt and Patti Smith, just to a different crowd. She's the "Queen of Twang" and one of the pre-eminent figures in the Austin Alt-Country music scene. She's fun, she's good and she looks great at 63. Her work with Pete Anderson on her debut album drew major critical acclaim.

Listen and buy the music of Rosie Flores from AMAZON or iTunes

14. Mark Robinson - Mark Robinson Band - He can shred, pick, bend and slide with the best of them. Robinson has a resonant tone that would fall somewhere between Albert King and Ronnie Earl but has developed into pure Mark Robinson. Only two solo efforts to date but both have garnered high praise for Robinson's guitar work.

Listen and buy the music of Mark Robinson from AMAZON or iTunes

15. Devon Allman -Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe - The son of Gregg Allman and another example of the fruit not falling far from the tree, Devon Allman has the chops of his father and the soul of his uncle. In his case the soul is what makes him great. His blues are hard edged and spacious; making each note count rather than counting how many notes there were. An awful lot of Allman Brothers Band offspring are making great music. Makes you wonder about the effects of sex and srugs.

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16. Sergio Webb - David Olney, solo - Sergio Webb can be seen on a stage in Nashville making someone sound good most any night. He's a great picker of just about anything that has strings on it. Webb is a throwback to the old-style country guitar player like Chet Atkins or Les Paul.

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17. Seth Walker - solo - Seth Walker started as a cellist at the age of three growing up with classicly trained musicians as parents. His clean soul-jazz-pop sound has garnered some high praise critically both as a skillful player and soulful singer. He's paved the way for a host of blues/soul performers in the Americana Roots movement. His cool west-coast tone is reminiscent of Wes Montgomery.

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18. Martin Sexton - solo - His playing is a lot studio tricks and loops but since he's playing all of it and putting it together in some sort of predetermined sequences we'll have to call that innovative and highly skilled playing. Not your dad's "folkie," Martin Sexton is a gifted player that experiments outside the lines.

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19. Chris Hersch - Girls, Guns and Glory - The lead guitar slot in Girls, Guns and Glory has been a bit of a revolving door and the predecessors to Chris Hersch have all been pretty solid. That said, none of them can stand with the current "lead chair." Hersch's work on "Sweet Nothings," the latest effort from GGG is astounding.

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20. Garrett Lebeau - solo - He's a young guy from rural Wyoming that resides in Austin every now and again. An enigma of sorts, Lebeau posesses an almost majestic tone and incendiary improvisational skill. His playing is a combination of bluesey soul and jazz in a gospel wash. Infectious is a good way to describe Garrett Lebeau's music.

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21. Colin Thompson - Randy Thompson Band - Who? From where? At 15 he had chops it should have taken 40 years to develop. Randy Thompson is a known entity in many Americana/Alt-Country circles especially in Europe but his son Colin might end up as the one who scores it big. Now 19, He's a sponge for style and technique and by the time he hits middle age he could be the best player on this list.

Listen and buy the music of Colin Thompson from his website

Here's the list of the Alternate Root's Top 50 Americana Roots Music  Bands...Right Now!

We took a list of over 150 bands and narrowed the list to the Top 50. We did not consider bands that are put together solely for touring purposes or for studio sessions...Emmylou Harris' band or Band of Joy would have landed on this list otherwise. We tried to keep it to bands that record, tour, fight, eat, sleep and fix vans together and are currently active in at least some regular form. We know members and line-ups change from album to album and sometimes even show to show but for what it's worth...here's what we think are the top 50. Talk amongst yourselves.



1. Band of Heathens – The number one spot was the easiest to place. Band of Heathens epitomize Indie, building their band business from the ground up and keeping everything in-house. What began as a songwriters residency at Momo’s in the group’s home base of Austin, the Band of Heathens have grown to release two live early career discs, from Momo’s and Antone’s. Their music combines rock, soul, Americana, alt Country, blues and folk, sometimes within the space off a song. They have three studio albums under their collective belts and recently released the two-disc live DVD of Denver shows.

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2. Old Crow Medicine Show – Old Crow Medicine Show began band life busking on the streets of New York state and up through Canada. A chance meeting with Doc Watson started a path that has led the group through MerleFest, a residency at the Grand Ole Opry, playing stages at Bonnaroo, Coachella, and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, a Platinum single certification for Wagon Wheel and record sales of over 800,000. Old Crow Medicine Show’s latest release, Carry Me Back, showcases the sound of Roots music played by a band that continues to push themselves in new directions.

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3. Carolina Chocolate Drops – In 2005, the future members of Carolina Chocolate Drops attended the first Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina. They took to their instruments and went to the traditional music of the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina for inspiration. The lineup has expanded from the original three and The Drops balance the old time feel and form with modern inflections that fit seamlessly into the repertoire.

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4. Los Lobos – Thirty years into a recording career and Los Lobos can still use the same liner notes for band members. The music can still brag of East L.A. Roots in its instrumentation, though their sound has become more universal. You can’t take the homeboy out of East L.A. and Los Lobos returned to their original turf to record their first studio album in four years, the recently released Tin Can Trust. Group member/producer Steve Berlin sees their longevity as “We’re long haul guys. If you’re in it for the long haul it makes staying together a lot easier. It’s a challenge, but the thing I’m most proud of is that we’ve never rested on our laurels. We keep trying to make every record feel like the first one and try to do the best we can and not tread on territory we have already trod on. What you hear is exactly what we wanted to do.”

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5. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings used an old Ampex 8-track to record their latest studio release, I Learned the Hard Way. The album, like the band’s three previous releases, was recorded at Daptone Records House of Soul studios. Their album mix gospel, soul and funk but it the relentless touring of an incredible live show that has earned the group their spot on our Top 50 list. The high power energy, low moans and swagger of soul are alive and present in Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings music and their live show is a celebration of its potential.

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6. Tedeschi-Trucks Band – Like their marriage, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are better as a united force than solo or with Roots founding father, the Allman Brothers. The Tedeschi Trucks Band gather top drawer musicians for a sound that mixes funk, blues, soul and rock into a near jam band form, if jam bands played with the prevision the members of TTB deliver.

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7. Drive-By Truckers – Drive-By Truckers once talked about Southern Rock in their songs, crafting a concept album around their love of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the aptly titled “Southern Rock Opera”. Thy have become modern Southern Rock, though the sound is uniquely their own. Sonically, DBT are one big sonic stew that boils up from Muscle Shoals recording studio. Distortion from the bands guitar army floats through every song.

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8. Yarn – Yarn has a guru in lead singer/songwriter Blake Christiana who sees Yarn fans, under the banner of Yarmy, as “Our fans are like family. We are so grateful to people that love music and will help support us in creating it. It’s just remarkable. That’s half of my love of the road; we’ve got what feels like family in tons of cities across America.” Based in Brooklyn, New York, Yarn transforms the potential of Americana into something bigger. Blake’s vocals are the voice inside your head and his words are the daily decisions that act as the angel or devil on your shoulder.

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9. Beausoleil – Beausoleil are the famous sons of Lafayette, Louisiana and world ambassadors of the music of the Cajun and Creole people. The group moves past the traditional folk sound of its instrumentation by incorporating rock ‘n’roll, jazz, blues, calypso, and other genres in original compositions and re-workings of traditional tunes. The band members reference their playing by pointing out that they “take the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana and artfully blend elements of zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more into a satisfying musical recipe.”

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10. Alabama Shakes – Alabama Shakes originated when lead singer/guitarist Brittany Howard and bassist Zac Cockrell, both attending East Limestone High School in Athens, began meeting after school to write songs. The two played prog rock and other genres but soon found a calling playing roots rock. The duo approached drummer Steve Johnson, who was working at the local music store, to bring it to a trio. Guitarist Heath Fogg joined the band after hearing the demo.

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11. Blind Boys of Alabama –  In 2013, the Blind Boys of Alabama are living legends of gospel music on a worldwide level. Formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939, the group toiled for almost forty years almost exclusively on the black gospel circuit, playing in churches, auditoriums, and even stadiums across the country. Though they began recording in 2948, the Blind Boys of Alabama achieved a career turning point in 1982 with their Gospel at Colonus release and in the 1990’s received two Grammy nominations and performed at the White House. The band’s most recent release, Take the High Road, draws from traditional country to balance their nearly 70 years of gospel dominance. Founding member, Jimmy Carter, confesses, “All my life, I’ve loved country music. I was raised up around it. Back in the 1940s, I remember listening to Hank Williams and so many others. Their voices were great. The writers were great. And every song had a meaning. I still have loads of country music in my home and I play it all the time.”

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12. The Old 97's – The Dallas band gets kudos for being Alt Country flag bearers for twenty years but the sound of The Old 97’s falls just as much into Cowpunk and Pop. Songwriter/frontman Rhett Miller uses his words to script movie scenes that play out in three and four minutes burst of song. The Old 97’s sizzle on-stage and craft shout out loud sing-along songs that you can carry with you long after the last note is hit.

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13.  Reckless Kelly – For fifteen years the music industry has been trying to corner Reckless Kelly. Maybe the suits didn’t pay enough attention to the reckless part of the band’s moniker. Reckless Kelly is a crossover in the Indie acceptance area with immovable feet planted in recording their recent release, Good Luck & True Love, in an old renovated Austin, TX farmhouse and tracking much of the disc live. Reckless Kelly have been carving out a space in music for fifteen years on their terms and guided by the way they hear their muse’s words.

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14. Wilco – Wilco was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of Alt Country gurus, Uncle Tupelo. Singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy has maintained guidance of the Chicago-based band over the years. Sonically, Wilco has taken a step through the looking glass for its Americana and Roots based sound of earlier releases. The tones and textures are still organic, and the ability to bring in new directions without polishing or primping the sound with studio gadgetry keeps Wilco in the Roots music world.

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15.  Steep Canyon Rangers – Steep Canyon Rangers may have seen more attention from outside the bluegrass community in their collaboration with Steve Martin. It is a testament to any group when they can exist beyond the attention that star quality brings and be remembered for the reason that star shone on them. North Carolina based Steep Canyon Rangers are one of the many bands that are stretching the boundaries of bluegrass while honoring traditions. Steep Canyon Rangers recent musical dance with Stave Martin, Nobody Knows You, shifts songwriting perspective for a string band.

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16. The Little Willies - The Little Willies, Lee Alexander (bass), Jim Campilongo (guitar), Norah Jones (piano, vocals), Richard Julian (guitar, vocals) and Dan Rieser (drums), formed in NYC in 2003 as an excuse for the five friends to spend a night playing music together at The Living Room on New York's Lower East Side. The gig proved too fun for both the musicians and audience for it to remain a one-off. Despite hailing from the far corners of the country - California, Massachusetts, Texas, Delaware - the members of band all grew up listening to a certain breed of classic American music, and relished the opportunity to perform some of their favorite country .

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17. The Mavericks – Raul Malo met bassist Robert Reynolds at a record store in Miami, Florida and discovered they had similar musical tastes such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. Reynolds persuaded his friend Paul Deakin to join them on drums, and by the late 1980s, they had added guitarist Ben Peeler and were performing as the Mavericks. Between 1991 and 2003, they recorded six studio albums, in addition to charting 14 singles on the Billboard country charts. The Mavericks reformed in 2011 to record and headline Stage Coach.

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18. The Steel Drivers – Nashville, TN gave birth to The Steel Drivers. The group was formed of seasoned touring and studio musicians and producers. The group have a fan in Adele, who performs one of their tunes in concert and refers to the sound as “a blues, country, bluegrass, swagger band and they are brilliant." The SteelDrivers pound a bluegrass sound but they make sure they leave a lot of meat on the bone to make their music tender and fulfilling. With a brand new release in Hammer Down, The SteelDrivers are mobbing throughout the country and taking no prisoners. They punch a hole in bluegrass and offer no apologies. Their music is in-your-face string band stock and they raise the bar for the future of the genre.  

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19. North Mississippi All Stars – Brothers Cody and Luther Dickinson, sons of Memphis legend Jim Dickinson, formed Mississippi All Stars in 1996, releasing their first album in 2000. The sound of the group melds Country Blues with Southern Rock and pushes it through any speaker system strong enough to take the brutal force of power of Mississippi All Stars. Luther and Cody continually expand the tradition of the Mississippi hill country blues that has inspired them from the beginning.

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20. The Bottle Rockets – Brian Henneman, frontman for The Bottle Rockets, cut his teeth in Alt Country as a guitar tech for Uncle Tupelo. The band’s most recent release, Lean Forward, continues with Bottle Rockets songs, a hearty and heady mix of rock and country dueling riffs, smart lyrics that are sealed with a smirk. Slow burn humor keeps on giving grins long after the amp burn from The Bottle Rockets live shows, now fifteen years into their career.

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#21 The Black Lillies –  Cruz Contreras co-founded Robinella and the CC String Band with his frontwoman wife. He lost the band with the divorce and returned to the road in Knoxville, TN as a truck driver. The Black Littlies music was first heard in the truck cab mind of its driver. What started as songs of sorrow has morphed into material that suits a full band that has the male/female microphones stage center for Cruz and co-vocalist Trisha Gene Brady. The Black Lillies are songwriters who surround themselves with a music that is a mix of rock, folk and bluegrass.

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#22. Hot Club of Cowtown – Since their first recording in 1998, Austin-based Hot Club of Cowtown have grown to be the most globe-trotting, hardest-swinging Western swing trio on the planet. The first American band to tour Azerbaijan, they have opened stadiums for such artists as Bob Dylan. Bryan Ferry and Willie Nelson while bringing their brand of western swing to festival audiences all over the world. Guitarist Whit Smith, fiddler Elana James and bassist Jake Erwin believe it is about staying true to their roots. Remaining willfully out of the musical mainstream, Hot Club of Cowtown has created an international cult following for the sonic personification of joy and unique sound they deliver.

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#23 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Former Drive-By Trucker member, Jason Isbell, is an eight generation Alabaman. Here We Rest is Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit’s second album release. The band relies on a guitar attack, fueled by the finger work of lead 400er, Jason Isbell. The "400 Unit" was the former colloquial name of the psychiatric ward of Florence, Alabama's Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital, which is now named the Behavioral Health Center.

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#24  The Punch Brothers – Growing up on the road has helped to merge the natural talents of the five members of The Punch Brothers. The players range in age from mid-20’s to early-30’s. With years of asphalt under their tires, The Punch Brothers music has grown looser and more unaffected. With players the caliber of Chris Thile, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, Gabe Witcher and Paul Kowert the time spent together has made them more of a band rather than five solo performances. Their instrumentation is that of a string band but their sound is classical, with a somber tone that is felt through the bright note patterns of guitar, banjo, violin and mandolin.

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#25 Over The Rhine – Over The Rhine is a husband/wife duo based in Southern Ohio. It is a marriage of equality, with both multi-instrumentalist Linton Detweiler and Karin Bergquist sharing vocal work. The most recent album, The Long Surrender, is a beautiful soundscape that floats in colors as much as sound. Karin feels that The Long Surrender “speaks to our ongoing desire to let go of certain expectations (and much of what we are so convinced we know for sure) in favor of remaining open and curious. It seems like many of our friends are currently wrestling with various forms of ‘letting go,’ so hopefully, the ideas conjured by the title feel somewhat universal.”

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#26 Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez –  Christine Ohlman grew up loving equally the sweetness of a Memphis horn line and the raunch of an electric guitar riff, as played by Muddy Waters, Keith Richards, or Pop Staples. She teased her blonde hair into a beehive in honor of Ronnie Spector and never looked back, picking up a guitar and forging a career as a songwriter in the process. She’s the current, long-time vocalist with the Saturday Night Live Band, whose latest CD, 2010’s The Deep End, was honored on five national Top Ten lists and features special guests/duet partners Ian Hunter, Dion DiMucci, and Marshall Crenshaw, plus Levon Helm, GE Smith, Andy York, Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, Catherine Russell, Big Al Anderson, and others. Christine’s legendary voice and stage presence have most recently been featured at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Concert in Cleveland.

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#27 Mumford & Sons – They were up for six awards on 2013 Grammy night and Mumford & Sons wound up taking home the Album of the Year. They are a band the brought the banjo to the Grammy’s and won over audiences. Only two album in to their career, group member Ted Dwayne (string bass, drums, guitar) sees the recording of the award winning Babel as “Very us. When we made the first album it was to be a snapshot of Mumford & Sons in 2009. This is exactly the same — but it’s us now, and there’s a lot of the live energy in there — that was very much what we were trying to capture. Creating the album over the course of a year, going into the studio then back out touring, then back into the studio … it’s almost as if the road has rubbed off on the album.”

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#28 Semi-Twang - Semi-Twang reunited in 2009 to play the 20th anniversary of Shank Hall, the premier showcase club in their home-town of Milwaukee. The band were playing to help celebrate a venue they played on the night it first opened its doors and nothing else was being discussed. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Semi-Twang did not survive their major label debut and 23 years later, they are recoding on their own terms, with the music being the star. Semi-Twang released Wages of Sin in March of 2011, their first album in 23 years. In 2013 Semi-Twang is back with a new release, The Why and the What For, slated for March 26, 2013. According to the band's Press Release the album "...ups the stakes as it traverses through the musical geography of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and New Orleans with passion and conviction. It's topical and personal with a bit more soul influence..."

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#29 The Lumineers – For a three piece, The Lumineers have sharp angles and quick turns embedded into their tunes. The traditional make up of acoustic bands like The Lumineers brings to mind front porch jams, late night campfires and coffeehouse open mics. The Lumineers self-titled Dualtone album effort pumps blood into the heart of each song. That fire and passion has always found good buddies with acoustic back-up. Singer Wesley Shultz has a shaky quaver hard-wired into his delivery. That vocal quality works perfectly with the hard-edged arrangement and those determined beats and concise, to-the-point note patterns.

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#30 Crooked Still – Classical mixes with traditional bluegrass in the music of Crooked Still. It was the innovation of the group that led to name calling on the part of fans, dubbing the band nu-folk bluegrass. On their Some Strange Country release, the band had been snowed in at the recording studio and the isolation gave distraction little room to take root and brought collaboration to the front of the line. Fiddle player, Brittany Haas, sees the sound of Crooked Still describing it as ““The music is not just ‘alternative bluegrass’ or whatever people used to call it. It’s at another level now: artful, but still grounded in that funky, string band thing.”

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#31 Blackie & The Rodeo Kings – What formed as an audio fan club for great Canadian singer/songwriter, Willie P. Bennett, put solo careers on hold and created a group effort that needed a lot more maintenance than that of the outlaw traveling musicians the individual members had enjoyed. Blackie & The Rode Kings, bluesman/producer Colin Linden, rock gold miner Tom Wilson and multiple Juno award folk musician, Stephen Fearing, have created a music hungry monster that showcases their talents and their songwriting as a unit. Their most recent release, Kings & Queens, practices serial monogamy, presenting different lady for each track including performance by Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Exene Cervenka, Lucinda Williams and Patti Scialfa to name only a few.

#32 The Trishas - When Jamie Wilson, Liz Foster, Kelley Mickwee and Savannah Welch first shared a stage in January 2009, their intention was simply to perform a couple of songs as part of a tribute to Savannah’s father, singer-songwriter Kevin Welch. Savannah Welch sees the all-female band as “It’s not much different than any other women who’s having a career or working a job. The difference is actually that we get to bring them to work with us. We want to help each other be able to play music for a living and still have families. We’ll do what it takes.”

#33 I See Hawks in L.A. - California Country is the kingdom that I See Hawks in L.A. glide over with Americana and Roots music that is part literature with a toe taping beat that draws you in like a magnet. Two vocalists and songwriters are present  in The Hawks lineup with gentle giant Rob Waller and the world’s mellowest guitar shredder, Paul Lacques.  There is a classic country ringer in bassist/vocalist Paul Marhsall, of Strawberry Alarm Clock and about a million projects as a studio guy. I See Hawks in L.A. have characters that can rarely be found outside of Faulkner and Steinbeck novels. The background story take you to the pot fields of Humboldt, neighborhoods of East L.A. and the hills of Tennessee with a back to nature group of hippies.

# 34 The Coal Porters – The Coal Porters grew under the shadow of Sid Griffin, The Long Ryders frontman and focal point for the Paisley underground movement in Los Angeles in the late 80’s. Over the course of recordings, touring and playing, The Coal Porters have become more of a band and Sid has become more of a band member. On their 2012 release, Find the One, The Coal Porters arrive as a full time band. Members share vocal, writing chores and solos, but the overall form and feel is that of an electric band along the lines of Fairport Convention and Lindisfarne.


#35 Girls, Guns & Glory - Girls Guns and Glory is the brainchild of Ward Hayden. The group formed in the winter of 2005 and within two weeks of the group’s formation they entered the studio to begin a prolific period of recording. GGG released three full-length albums in three years. Ward Hayden’s original compositions conjure the palpable ache of a crushed heart; they touch on themes of love lost and hope found, and their words alone could be published in anthologies of poetry.

#36 Blue Rodeo – To a United States audience, Blue Rodeo as a music entity are like a mixture of Canadian sports traditions, with the mass appeal of hockey coupled with the relatively unknown status of curling. Big sports in Canada but the Lower 48 never really caught on. Blue Rodeo released their debut, Outskirts in 1987 and secured a toehold in history that they have expanded into a footprint on the Canadian Roots music scene. Over the course of their stellar career Blue Rodeo has released 12 studio albums, two live albums, a greatest hits collection and an award-winning DVD, selling in excess of four million copies around the world.

#37 Leftover Salmon – Leftover Salmon is a band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", making them jam band favorites. The band left recording and touring in 2004 after being a unit since 1989. They reformed in 2007 to continue their musical work.

#38  Uncle Lucius – Uncle Lucius are an Indie Rock band from Austin. Like a painter that mixes color to make something new, Uncle Lucius dab their brush into soul, rock and country to create songs branded as their own.  The band’s rock does not forget old friends and childhood buddies like Gospel, Soul, Blues and Folk roots for a noise that is nothing short of glorious. It would be easy to rely simply on the salvation bringing gifts of front man Kevin Galloway, but Uncle Lucius is a united force that could not have the batteries include without Hal Vorpahl on bass, Mike Carpenter on lead guitar and vocals, Josh Greco on drums and percussion

# 39 Trampled by Turtles – Trampled By Turtles was a side project by local Duluth, Minnesota rock musicians. The goal was to make music with acoustic instruments, an experiment. When the plugged in projects lost their collective power, the members of Trampled By Turtles were faced with making a go of unfamiliar music and instruments. As the band felt on more solid ground musically, the way the group recorded changed. The groups Dave Simonett gives the difference between then and now with some history, “In the fall of 2011 we set out to make a new record. From the start we knew that we didn’t want to go back to trying to recreate a live show with our new endeavor. We wanted to make a record that breathes. We wanted it to feel and sound warm and more like one piece of work than several pieces put together. We took our songs, along with engineer Tom Herbers and his tape machine, to Soleil Pines, a log home outside of Duluth and within the gravitational pull of Lake Superior. We moved the furniture, set up some mics, worked, slept, and ate all in the same space.”


#40 Blitzen Trapper – Blitzen Trapper are a band that is fueled by fans. They stick to the road, recently wrapping up a tour with opener Brandi Carlisle in support of their American Goldwing album. When the band formed in Portland, Oregon in 2000 that musical focus was on experimental country/folk. Blitzen Trapper took off with 2007 release, Wild Mountain Nation and secured success with the 2008 follow-up Furr. Indie is where Blitzen Trapper calls home and when you look closer, their surface face of being a rock band shows roots being at the center of the beat. 

#41 Red Molly – The mixture of three part harmonies is what has continued success for Red Molly since the bands inception in 2004. Laurie MacAllister (bass, banjo), Abbie Gardner (dobro, banjo) and Molly Venter (guitar), balance playing with vocals. The Red Molly 2011 release, Light in the Sky opens with the a capella driven voices only “Dear Someone”, the power of the three ladies vocals rising to take charge, seducing the listener rather than forcing themselves upon them. The trio matches notes for a rocked up version of blues standard “Come on in My Kitchen” and bring darkness to Buddy and Julie Miller’s “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger”

#42 The Black Keys –  Here is a two man team that brings their brand of blues and rock with a sound big enough to give the listner the full band treatment. Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. Raw blues and garage rock gets blurred in The Black keys sound. The success of the seventh studio album, El Camino, in 2011 led to the group’s first arena tour. The Black Keys augment their touring sound with additional musician, but the studio side sticks with what brought the duo together, with Patrick holding down all things percussion and Dan multi-tasking between guitar, vocals, bass guitar, piano, organ, keyboards, and synthesizer. In his down time Dan Auerbach has become a go-to producer for other band projects.    

# 43 The Cash Box Kings – The Cash Box Kings 2011 release, Holler & Stomp, did just what it promised. Based in the blues the album wandered down a  country path with soul drenched twangs.  The Cash Box Kings duke it out in the tough Blues environment of Chicago. With a focus on the raw, stripped-down, ensemble playing that was the hallmark of the post-war sound, the Cash Box Kings showcase the music of Chess Records and Sun Records while adding a healthy dose of original music that captures the essence of the Memphis and Chicago blues sounds of the 40’s and 50’s.

#44 The Sadies – The most recent album by The Sadies, Darker Circles, sis the follow-up to the groups acclaimed album featuring John Doe, Country Club. Guitarist brothers Dallas and Travis Good, drummer Mike Belitsky and bassist Sean Dean again pair with legendary Jayhawk and sought-after producer Gary Louris. The Sadies bring their signature blend of country, psychedelic, rock and surf into their sights on Darker Circles, underscoring their reputations as musicians’ musicians.

#45 The Avett Brothers – Concord, North Carolina-based indie folk-pop group, The Avett Brothers, received rave reviews for their 2009 breakthrough major-label debut, I and Love and You,. The album rose # 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart and resulted in an invitation to perform alongside Bob Dylan and Mumford & Sons at the 2011 Grammy Awards. Much of that sonic success stemmed from brothers Scott and Seth Avett's poignant songwriting, however, producer Rick Rubin played a large part in letting those tracks shine. Rick Rubin returns for the group's seventh studio album, The Carpenter.

#46 Brian Molnar & the Naked Hearts –  For nearly a decade Brian Molnar has been carrying his acoustic guitar and wrought melodies back and forth across the United States connecting audiences with a feeling of American tradition and unique thoughtfulness that has been too often diluted in recent memory. With a full band behind him, Brian Molnar & The Naked Hearts deliver Of The Fall, continuing o push the boundaries of what is expected in Americana.

#47  Wagons – Henry Wagons was rehearsing with his band, Wagons, the night we spoke with him about their next album. Wagons debut offered a roots touch to fellow Aussie Nick Cave's work. According to Henry it is “we are very very early into the recoding of the next Wagons album. I got a lot of my darker demons out with my recent solo record. The next Wagons studio album will be a bit more electric, almost sounding a lot more like jam-based boogie. We are using that 70’s rock band mojo as a template for our new album.”

#48 Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band – Brown Country, Indiana is the home to Reverend Peyont’s Big Damn Band.  From the southern Indiana foothills Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band play their own brand of Americana and Blues. Delta blues and hillbilly fervor combine with musical acuity sharp as razor wire. The growl of a good truck engine, the fiercest passion for a country home and family and an uncanny ability to breathe new life into old forms of music give them a pedigree. The Rev. J. Peyton, his wife Breezy and distant cousin Aaron “Cuz” Persinger are a living breathing embodiment of the traditions and hard work ethic native to their Brown County, Indiana home. Their new album Between The Ditches is a chronicle of this lifestyle.

#49 The Wild Rumpus – Appalachian StompGrass is the music of The Wild Rumpus. Based in Fayetteville, West Virginia. They have a rabid local fan base. There is no real telling on the amount of people in the club, and as guitarist/producer Allan Sizemore state it. “They don’t charge admission to get in, so it is really tough to say how many people are at the shows. I can tell you they run out of beer and wine by 10PM, though.” The Wild Rumpus music is the song of the mountains. There is pride in the words and passion in their music for the place they call home.

#50 Los Lonely Boys – The trademark Los Lonely Boys vocal blend is deep, rich, fluent and confident. The rhythms lock you in with smart syncopation and muscular drive. Los Lonely Boys consists of three Garza brothers, Henry (guitar, vocals), Jojo (bass, vocals), and Ringo (drums, vocals).  Los Lonely Boys is an American Chicano rock power trio from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown eyed soul, country, and Tejano.         Danny McCloskey/RA

There are those who will view this as "America Bashing" and nothing could be further from the truth. This is about bashing the things that are tearing this great country apart. America is shackled to racism, sexism, corporate greed, intolerance, corporate fed drug abuse, political gridlock, child abuse and a widening gap between those who "have" and those who "won't ever be privileged enough to get any." We started in 1980 and worked up to today.

These artists are exceptional without hiding behind a charade of false "exceptionalism." Save the No Apology bullshit for Mitt Romney and the Privileged Class. We have problems, lots of them and this list is about the artists who look at America as it really is not as the people in the mansion on the hill tell you it is. These songs aren't pretty and they don't sugar coat. There's country radio for that...perhaps Brad Paisley will need a new home like the Dixie Chicks, Steve Earle and Johnny Cash did. We're here with open arms.


Here is The American Condition in 50 Songs or Less - The Top 50 Songs about the State of Our Union

1. James McMurtry - We Can't Make it Here - (2007) From the album Just Us Kids. 'We Can't Make it Here' is about corporate greed and how it strangles every aspect of American society. The American 'dream' has been reserved for those who have privilege, power or the cash to purchase it. McMurtry could have half this list but the top spot is his until someone comes up with something better.
Key line:
"Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin,
or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in?
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today?
No I hate the men sent the jobs away.
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams.
All lily white and squeaky clean.
They've never known want, they'll never know need.
Their shit don't stink and their kids won't bleed.
Their kids won't bleed in their damn little war,
And we can't make it here anymore."

2. Old Crow Medicine Show - Methamphetamine - (2008) - From the album Tennessee Pusher. The scourge of the heartland is methamphetamine or 'Crystal Meth' as it's known on the block. It's a killer from the moment you try it and unlike cocaine it's cheap and with a little ingenuity you can make it at home. Old Crow Medicine Show tackled a host of social issues but this one hits harder in the places where the band has it's biggest following.
Key line:
"It's gonna rock you like a hurricane.
It's gonna rock you 'til you lose sleep.
It's gonna rock you 'til you're out of a job.
It's gonna rock you 'til you're out on the street.
It's gonna rock you 'til you're down on your knees.
It's gonna have you begging pretty please.
It's gonna rock you like a hurricane.
Methamphetamine."

3. The White Buffalo – Wish It Was True - (2012) - From the album Once Upon A Time in the West. When all the things you thought were true turn out not to be, reality sets in and disillusionment takes it's piece of flesh. The White Buffalo, a.k.a. Jake Smith exposes the darker side of the shiny objects. The entire album is a microcosm of America but this one stands above the rest.
Key line:
"Country, I was a soldier to you.
I did what you asked me to.
It was wrong and you knew.
Country, now I'm just a stranger to you.
A number, a name; it's true.
Throw me away when you're through.
Home of the brave, the free; the red, white and blue.
I wish it was true."

4. Chip Taylor - New Song of Freedom - (2008) - From the album - New Songs of Freedom. Chip Taylor writes almost solely about the 'human condition' and not always from a perspective of social or political commentary. The entire album New Songs of Freedom could grace this list but the title track sums up America circa 2008 more succinctly and touches on the right wing nuts, global warming, immigration, freedom, geo-politics and even the disposable way music is treated.
Key line:
"Don't worry 'bout the straddle of the right wing radical, or heed the speed of the vulture.
Don't cross the border for political order and upset the balance of culture.
Just keep your eyes on the ozone and the price of oil.
Don't worry about the stock market, let it fall.

The warming of the seas and the hybrid cars,
was there ever an ocean, up there on Mars?
Oh, a new song of freedom, just let it go, it'll get there on it's own."

5. UB40 - One in Ten (1980) - From the album Present Arms. UB40 wrote One in Ten about life in Britain in 1980 but the song transfers to any western country and holds true to form some 30 years later. One in Ten is about the forgotten, downtrodden, sick, poor and hungry that become statistical talking points for mindless television newscasters and bloviated politicians. It hit gun violence, suicide, disease, hunger and the plight of the world...sadly, not much has changed for the forgotten.
Key line:
"I'm the murderer and the victim, and I'm licensed with the gun.
I'm a sad and bruised old lady, in an alley in the slum.
I'm the middle aged businessman with chronic heart disease.
I'm another teenage suicide on a street that has no trees.
I am the one in ten, a number on a list.
I am the one in ten, even though I don't exist.
Nobody knows me, but I'm always there.
A statistical reminder of a world that doesn't care."


6. American Graveyard – Common Ones - (2010) - From the album Hallelujahland. Common Ones is about all of us normal, regular folks who are getting shafted by corporations, government, insane laws and greed. American Graveyard is a band that musically shoots from the hip, takes no prisoners and tells you what you ought to know from the perspective of young, intelligent, thinking musicians.
Key line:
"I'm tired of seeing men die for other men's rights,
to have a corporation come in and sweep ‘em all aside.
'Cause there's money to be made, money to be found,
and when the pockets are drilled empty it's on to the next town.
Meanwhile make criminals outta the people left behind,
pimpin' all the women while the men cheat and lie.
All the cameras rush in yes they wanna find out
why I ain't got no food for my baby's mouth."

7. Ellis Paul - Nine Months to Fix the World (2008) - From the album The Dragonfly Races. Ellis Paul doesn't do angry. It's not his style. Ellis Paul does cerebral; making you think while you're enjoying yourself and that is a rare gift indeed. Nine Months to Fix the World is about finding out your wife is pregnant and realizing that your child is being born into a complete mess and you now have nine months to fix it. It touches all the bases from religion, to violence, to global warming with typical Ellis Paul brilliance.
Key line:
"I'm gonna whittle down the Scriptures, the Bible, the Koran.
Gonna whittle 'em down to one phrase any fool could understand.
Love your fellow man.
Then we'll fill up all the bombers
with corn, with apple seeds.
A million gallons of clean water,
We'll fill the sky with good deeds,
For the people who're in need."

8. Band of Heathens – Golden Calf - (2009) – From the album One Foot in the Ether. Golden Calf symbolizes Wall Street. The song subtly hints around Wall St. greed and the dirty little secrets no one wants to talk about. Band of Heathens has set their own bar pretty high and rank as one of the best bands in the country, bar none. Much of One Foot in the Ether could rank here but Golden Calf is so haunting and filled with mystery we couldn't resist.
Key line:
"Shine my shoes with a dirty flag.
Hide my secrets in a body bag.
Say what you want on my epitaph,
Just give me eight more seconds on the golden calf."

9. Bob Dylan - Union Sundown - (1983) From the album Infidels. Union Sundown took on corporate greed before it was chic. In typical Dylan fashion it pointed fingers at corporations that shipped jobs overseas but didn't stop until the finger pointed back at Americans who want cheaper products even if they come from sweat shops in poor countries. Infidels touched on just about everything but in terms of the American downward spiral, this one topped the heap.
Key line:
"Well, my shoes, they comes from Singapore.
My flashlight's from Taiwan.
My tablecloth's from Malaysia.
My belt buckle's from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines,
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet.
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy making thirty cents a day.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the USA
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way."

10. Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion - Gervais (2005) - From the album Exploration. Travel south of the Mason-Dixon line and you'll find a lot of people still fighting the Civil War. You'll hear some pretty compelling, albeit, misguided arguments that the Civil War was about states' rights. It wasn't. It was about human rights and the left over symbols from that struggle continue to be paraded under a guise of pride and heritage. Bollocks. Gervais is about the South Carolina State House flying the Confederate flag (Gervais is the street the capital sits on). It's a sore spot with many South Carolinians and most other reasonable people who see it as a symbol for racism.
Key line:
"Gone James Meredith and the the road to sweet Ole Miss.
Years filled with torment and harassment.
I can hear those freedom rides.
You know they were just like suicides but they had to move us down the line.
Still flying the flag upon Gervais?
It was a battle flag, now we can put it away."

11. Steve Earle - Amerika v 6.0 (The Best We Can Do) - (2002) – From the album Jerusalem. Steve Earle has never been shy about telling the truth regardless of pushback or political trouble. Jerusalem took it all on from war to health care, the American dream, conservatism and greed and Amerika v 6.0 was the icing on a shitty tasting cake. From dirty back room deals on Wall St. to saving the American Dream from the true dreamers, Earle delivered a body blow to the right wing that resonated with the common people and revitalized the liberal class.
Key line:
"Four score and a hundred and fifty years ago,
Our forefathers made us equal as long as we can pay.
Yeah, well maybe that wasn't exactly what they was thinkin'
Version six-point-oh of the American way.
But hey we can just build a great wall around the country club,
To keep the riff-raff out until the slump is through.
Yeah, I realize that ain't exactly democratic, but it's either them or us and
And it's the best we can do.
Yeah, passionately conservative
It's the best we can do."

12. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - (1998) – From the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Child abuse is one of those rare crimes where the death penalty might actually be appropriate. It's been going on since the dawn of time but only recently is it getting the attention and outrage it deserves. Lucinda Williams took it on and so have others. It sucks and whether you're a Catholic priest or a big time football coach there's a special place in hell for those who perpetrate it.
Key line:
"Broken down shacks engine parts.
Could tell a lie but my heart would know.
Listen to the dogs barkin' in the yard,
Car wheels on a gravel road.
Child in the backseat about four or five years,
Lookin out the window.
Little bit of dirt mixed with tears,
Car wheels on a gravel road."

13. Mad Buffalo – Red and Blue -  (2012) – From the album Red and Blue. Randy Reveire can tell you there's a huge corporate interest in keeping Americans divided into red and blue states, red and blue political persuasions and at each others' throats on a daily basis. We're really not all that different and pretty much want the same things but corporate media, talk show hosts and 24 hour "news" stations wouldn't make nearly the jack they make if we all got together. You think any of them give a fuck about who wins elections? They make money when America is divided, period, and that's what Red and Blue is about.
Key line:
"And up on the boulevard,
We got our start with a union card.
And built our houses up with our hands,
Made the iron and filled metal cans.
We took our babies in our arms,
Got some horses and built our farms.
In mountain rain we grew our hay,
Through the floods and drought we stayed.
You can’t deny it,
You can’t deny we’re one."

14. Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline - (2008) – From the album Sex and Gasoline. Sex and Gasoline is about selling the idea that beauty and worth is about what's on the outside. It hits the beauty product, lingerie and porn trade right between the eyes as only Rodney Crowell can do and takes the notion that women are merely sex objects to the task.
Key line:
"So much beauty, abs and tush
Swoop down on you like a burnin' bush.
Pop religion, bullwhip thin,
Says you ain't nothing but the shape you're in.
Come on now girl, genuflect nude magazine.
This mean old world runs on sex and gasoline."

15. Johnny Cash - Hurt - (2002) –From the album The Man Comes Around. Hurt is as much about the personal pain of addiction as it is about the pain addiction inflicts upon others who have to witness it. Although a cover of Trent Reznor's song, it was something Johnny felt strongly about recording as it reflects on the lies and the destruction inflicted upon his family as a result of his lifelong struggle with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse. It's powerful, moving and painful to listen to...and a necessary evil for those who crawl on the same ground.
Key line:
"I wear this crown of thorns,
upon my liar's chair.
Full of broken thoughts,
I cannot repair.
Beneath the stains of time,
the feelings disappear.
You are someone else.
I am still right here.
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know,
goes away in the end.
And you could have it all,
my empire of dirt.
I will let you down.
I will make you hurt."

16. Kevin Gordon - Gloryland - (2012) – From the album Gloryland. Beware of false prophets promising the gates of heaven. They don't hold the key even though they'll take your money, your vote or your life trying to prove to you that they do. Kevin Gordon is a brilliant song writer that tackles a lot of ground on the album Gloryland and in particular the album's title track which goes after politicians, TV preachers and zealot Mullahs and their victims.
Key line:
"You might be a preacher,
Broadcasting on a satellite.
Miss Mamie's looking for an answer,
Watches your program every night.
Diamonds shine from your praying hands,
She sends you all the money she has,
Just to feel a little closer;
A little closer to gloryland."

17. Todd Snider - Conservative Christian Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Male - (2004) – From the album East Nashville Skyline. If you are one you're gonna hate this song but when you really think about it, Todd Snider covers just about every part of the Republican political platform in the first verse. It's a brilliant attack on intolerance, homophobia, climate change denial, racism, elitism, and too many other things to list here. We're liberal, we admit it.
Key line:
"Conservative Christian, right wing Republican, straight, white, American male.
Gay bashin', black fearin', poor fightin', tree killin', regional leaders of sales.
Frat housin', keg tappin', shirt tuckin', back slappin' haters of hippies like me.
Tree huggin', peace lovin', pot smokin', porn watchin' lazyass hippies like me.
Tree huggin', love makin', pro choicen, gay weddin', widespread diggin' hippies like me.
Skin color-blinded, conspiracy-minded, protestors of corporate greed,
We who have nothing and most likely will 'till we all wind up locked up in jails
By conservative Christian, right wing Republican, straight, white, American males."

18. Jon Byrd – Alabama Asphalt - (2011) – From the album Down at the Well of Wishes. Jon Byrd is a son of the south who isn't shy about pointing out the hypocricy and intolerance that permeate his Alabama roots. Alabama Asphalt was written about the reinstatement of the death penalty in Alabama. It's about the love of Alabama's natural beauty and avoiding it's nasty politics.
Key line:
"If your in Alabama, you better watch your ways.
'Cause laying burning tar is the least that you're gonna pay.
Yeah, they'll chain you to your brother and give a shotgun to the other.
There's that Alabama asphalt giving off heat."

19. Patti Griffin - Tony - (1998) – From the album Flaming Red. Patti Griffin tackles bullying, and teen suicide as a result, with incredible grace and hard hitting reality in her song Tony. The story of the kid we all know and unfortunately some of us knew. The kid who is a little different. The kid the "beautiful people" pick on. A little overweight; not one of the crowd and the internal pain and torture that goes on inside these kids. It's a sad, sordid existence.
Key line:
"Hey Tony, what's so good about dying?
He said I think I might do a little dying today.
He looked in the mirror and saw
A little faggot starin back at him.
Pulled out a gun and blew himself away.
Hey Tony whats so good about dying, dying?
Hey Tony whats so good about dying, dying?"

20. Mary Gauthier - Drag Queens in Limousines - (1999) – From the album Drag Queens in Limousines. Drag Queens and Limousines is a true biographical piece written by the great Mary Gauthier. It covers runaways, and the turmoil of being gay in a straight world. Gauthier stole her mother's car and ran away at 15. She struggled with addiction and her sexuality and rose up to become one of the great songwriters and singers in the roots Americana world. Stick that!
Key line:
"My dad went to college, and he worked for the state.
He never quit nothing and he wanted me to graduate.
My brother and sister both play in the marching band.
They tell me they miss me, but I know they don't understand.
Sometimes you got do, what you gotta do,
And hope that the people you love, will catch up with you.
Yea Drag Queens in Limousines
Nuns in blue jeans
Dreamers with big dreams
Poets and AWOL marines
Actors and Bar Flys
Writers with Dark Eyes
Drunks that Philosophize."

21. Willie Nile - One Guitar -  (2011) – From the album The Innocent Ones. Willie Nile's One Guitar is an anthem to the power of music, the effectiveness of non-violent protest and the change that can come from getting up off your ass and getting involved! It's about rising up, no matter what put you down.
Key line:
"So if you get knocked down, you gotta take a stand.
For all the outcast, dead last who need a helping hand.
So get your tambourines and turn your arms up loud,
And raise your voices, voices up above this crowd.
I'm a soldier marchin' in an army
Got no gun to shoot
But what I got is one guitar
I got this one guitar."

22. Chip Taylor - Black and Blue America - (2008) - From the album - New Songs of Freedom. Chip Taylor laments the days when we had heroes and goals that moved us forward as a nation. We rallied around the men who walked on the moon or marched in Selma. We cared about each other and lent a helping hand. America is bruised, black and blue but not out by any means. We're survivors.
Key line:
"It was a ray of light.
It was a wall of sound.
It was a fight for life, until the walls came down.
It was a dream to dream, in any damned old town.
It was a true America.
Red, white, balck and blue America."


23. Uncle Tupelo - No Depression -  (1990) – From the album No Depression. An apocalyptic look at the end of days and the hope that something better is on the other side. Uncle Tupelo is largely regarded as the band that launched the Americana movement but that's debatable. They wrote great songs and split into two substantial bands; Wilco and Son Volt when the end of days struck them.
Key line:
"In this dark hour, midnight nearing
The tribulation time will come.
The storms will hurl the midnight fear
And sweep lost millions to their doom.
I'm going where there's no depression
To a better land that's free from care.
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble.
My home's in heaven,
I'm going there."

24. Otis Gibbs – Preacher Steve - (2008) – From the album Grandpa Walked A Picketline. Otis Gibbs plays down the political and often scathing nature of his songs in order to maintain a neutrality with his audience. It can't be easy when you write like he does and you choose his subject matter. Preacher Steve is a dead on assault of TV Evangelists and the snake oil they peddle. He also lays the blame at the people who feed this nonesense and continue to line up to by the magic elixir.
Key line:
"Preacher Steve or the people who believe in him
and I can't decide which is worse."

25. John Mellencamp – Rain on the Scarecrow - (1985) – From the album Scarecrow. The song that launched Farm Aid and brought the plight of the American farmer to the forefront and dinner tables from coast to coast. Rain on the Scarecrow is in itself about the death of American values in favor of corporate interests and it's one of the best songs on the subject ever written.
Key line:
"Scarecrow on a wooden cross, Blackbird in the barn.
Four hundred empty acres that used to be my farm.
I grew up like my daddy did My grandpa cleared this land.
When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand.
Rain on the scarecrow, Blood on the plow.
This land fed a nation. This land made me proud.
And Son I'm just sorry there's no legacy for you now.
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow.
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow."

26. Uncle Lucius – Keep the Wolves Away - (2012) – From the album And You Are Me. Lead singer Kevin Galloway says this is a true story of how a man, his father, raised his kids, doing whatever was needed to get done. He had a work related injury that affectecd the rest of his life, and the company turned its back. The next generation takes the torch and keeps it lit, to support the family and keep the wolves away.

Key Line:
"I was barely thirteen when the company man
Tried to dig my Daddy’s grave.
Happened on a French owned tanker ship
Spilling poison into Galveston Bay.
Where the liquid fire filled his lungs and his eyes,
Silenced any mortal cries.
Codeine the grit but death stang in pain,
He fought like hell to keep the wolves away"

27. Will Kimbourgh – Americanitis - (2006) – From the album Americanitis. Marketing is a disease that Americans from which Americans take more than a daily dose. Will Kimbrough's character is not selling out, he is buying in. The promises of advertising are beauty, youth and longevity. What you take for cures may become the disease.

"Assembling lines of hot dog vendors
My funny bone it ain’t so tender
I swear by God I will surrender
Just give me one more day"

28. Slaid Cleaves - I Was Born This Morning - (2008) – From the album Ribbon of Highway   - The song sees that people were born right the first time, no need to do it again. Slaid Cleaves finds the joy and righteous path offered by finding that any sort of god lives within each of us. The light shines from the inside back out, not the other way around

Key LIne:
"This morning I was born again and a light shine on my land
I no longer look for heaven in your deathly distant land
I do not want your pearly gates don’t want your streets of gold
And I do not want your mansion for my heart is never cold"

29. Bruce Springsteen – Sinaloa Cowboys - (1995) – From the album The Ghost of Tom Joad - Two brothers head north for work and find the most lucrative jobs are the ones that carry danger and heartbreak. In order to win big, you have to gambleon a big lose.

Key Line:
"Word was out some men in from Sinaloa were looking for some hands
Well deep in Fresno county there was a deserted chicken ranch
There in a small tin shack on the edge of a ravine
Miguel and Louis stood cooking methamphetamine.
You could spend a year in the orchards
Or make half as much in one ten-hour shift
Working for the men from Sinaloa
But if you slipped the hydriodic acid
Could burn right through your skin
They'd leave you spittin' up blood in the desert
If you breathed those fumes in"

30. Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World -  (2012) – From the album Hello Cruel World -Well laid plans do not always follow a straight path. There is inspiration in realizing our limitations. Gretchen Peters manages to see the glass half full and remind us that sometimes the best we can do is just show up

Key Line: 
"haven’t done as well as I thought I would
I’m not dead but I’m damaged goods
And it’s gettin’ late
I’m a rusty hinge, a squeaky wheel
at the bad end of a shaky deal
cursed by the hand of fate
and ooooooh – I’m a very lucky girl
yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world"

31. Bruce Cockburn – Lovers in a Dangerous Time - (1984) – From the album Stealing Fire - The power of two is strong. Our choice of a partner is personal. We do not allow people to tell us how to dress, what to eat, listen to or watch. Why is it that we pay so much attention when the tell us how to love.

Key Line:
"When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime --
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight --
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
And we're lovers in a dangerous time"

32. Lone Justice - Soap, Soup and Salvation -  (1985) – From the album Lone Justice- Homelessness in America is rampant. The dispossessed at the rescue mission in the song seek, and find, comfort in the little things. Singing for your supper becomes a reality for those waiting for dinner.

Key Line:
"Lonely faces, empty glances
They surround me everywhere
But those sweet angelic voices
Are now rising through the air

"When the roll is called up yonder"
I'll be there with

Soap, soup and salvation
Tired hearts sing in jubilation
Restoration at the rescue mission
Soap, soup and salvation"

33. Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind - (2010) – From the album The Loving Kind - The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state's anti-miscegenation statute, the Racial Integity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored." The Supreme Court's unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional,

Key Line:
"They were the loving kind
She was black and he was white
In Virginia, 1958
They found love amongst the hate
Well, the law said they could not wed
They married anyway
The sheriff put them both in jail
Separated till they made their bail
They changed the heart of a nation
With their wedding vows
From the highest court in the land
Their union would lawfully stand"

34. Grant Peeples – Nigger Lover - (2012) – From the album Prior Convictions - Grant Peeples sees a word that causes cringing and wovering as a badge of honor. The song points out that the word is not used in its original form, but other words have taken its place. The same meaning, but words that you can hide behind.

Key Line:
"Nigger Lover
Yeah, that’s what they used to call me in the playground at school
But it was a lot of years ago
Those kids have all grown up they’ve all grown up
And they don’t use that word any more….hardly
Nah, these days they use other words
They say things like…you’re a liberal, a socialist, a community activist
You’re gonna see in this next election
‘we gonna snatch this country back again for real Americans"

35. Jim Keaveney – Livin' in a Dream - (2009) - From the album Music Man - The song is about consumerism in America. The dream is that we will always have enoughm and that we can waste. Americans feel that everyone around the world lives like us. A chicken for every pot is not reality and Jim Keaveny reminds us to look outside our borders, and open our eyes.

Key Line:
"Most Americans they don’t get around just maybe over the next big town
Too far in debt, or afraid, or just not curious enough to cross that line into another world into another time
So I’m here to tell you there many peoples and colors out there and respecting the cultures a real good fare
But no matter how far you’re flying on a big jet plane fundamentally all the peoples the same"

36. Paul Sachs - Dirty Trucks - (2011) – From the album Oil Town - The American dream. Work hard and build your own business by ownership. The man is the story is a small business owner. He needs to diversify I order to keep food on the table and a roof over his famliy’s head. The decision between right and wrong blurs when your kids are hungry.

Key Line:
"Dirty tucks out on the highway rolling through your state tonight
Dirty trucks out on the highway, rolling fast and never traveling light"

37. Corb Lund - Getting Down on the Mountain - (2012) - From the album Cabin Fever - Corb Lund speaks the mind of survivalist who see the approaching storm and take whatever measures are necessary to protect themselves, and their families. In an effort to survive, they take to higher ground.

Key Line:
"There ain’t no heat and the power’s gone out, it’s kerosene lamps and candles
The roads are blocked, it’s all gridlocked, you got a shortwave handle?
Can you track the deer, can you dig the well?
I couldn’t quite hear your answer
I think I see a rip in the social fabric, Brother can you pass the ammo?
I think I see a rip in the social fabric, Brother can you spare some ammo?"

38. Drive-By Truckers - The Southern Thing - (2002) – From the album Southern Rock Opera - Drive-By Truckers speak about the duality of the south in this tune. The band turns the crews a little tighter on Neil Young’s belief that every southern man is the same. Patterson Hood sees that you cannot blanketly judge a people on the actions of a few.

Key Line:
"Ain't about my pistol
Ain't about my boots
Ain't about no northern drives
Ain't about my southern roots
Ain't about my guitars, ain't about my big old amps
"It ain't rained in weeks, but the weather sure feels damp"
Ain't about excuses or alibis
Ain't about no cotton fields or cotton picking lies
Ain't about the races, the crying shame
To the fucking rich man all poor people look the same"

39. Tracy Chapman - Behind the Wall - (1988) – From the album Tracy Chapman - Domestic violence lives next door. As loud as the screams and yelling can be, the more powerful sound is silence. There is no one to turn to, until you can turn no more and the drama reaches its last and final scene.

Key Line:
"Last night I heard the screaming
Loud voices behind the wall
Another sleepless night for me
It won't do no good to call
The police
Always come late
If they come at all"

40. Jackson Browne - Lives in the Balance - (1986) – From the album Lives in the Balance - Jackson Browne has long stood as a voice for people. He talks about the fragile states we live in, and how our decision to question authority should be taught in schools.

Key Line:
"On the radio talk shows and the T.V.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire"

41. My World Is Gone – Otis Taylor -  (2013) – From the album My World Is Gone - Otis Taylor describes the modern world of the American Indian. Over his trance blues music, Otis delivers one liners that paint the picture of a western landscape that only hangs in museums, and in the memory of a once proud people who cannot find a way back to the old ways.

Key Line:
"If you send me a golden razor……I’ll cut my hair and I’ll bury it where the buffalo used to roam
My World Is Gone"

42. The Neville Brothers – Rosa Parks - (1988) - From the album Yellow Moon - Rosa Parks was tired. She refused to walk one step further when seats were available in the front of the bus. Her decision changed history.

Key Line:
"Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark
That started our freedom movement, thank you Sister Rosa Parks"

43. Blackie & The Rodeo Kings – Another Free Woman - (2011) – From the album Kings & Queens - Blackie & The Rodeo Kings invited women to guest vocal on their most recent release, Kings & Queens. Sara Watkins guests on this song about getting even by getting out. Not a victim, the heroine in the song knows that there is another path to heaven and she’s got a gun.

Key Line:
"NOW EVERY BAD MARRIAGE... ENDS IT'S TRUE
WHEN THE MAN'S A DRUNK AND HE'S BEATIN' ON YOU
EVERY MORNING THE SUN COMES UP TO STAY
AND ANOTHER FREE WOMAN GETS TO WALK AWAY...
ANOTHER FREE WOMAN GETS TO WALK AWAY...."

44. Tom Waits – In the Neighborhood - (1983) – From the album Swordfishtrombones - Life has changed in the old neighborhood. Tom Waits points out that the things we tolerate become routine. We need an awareness to walk out our front door. The familiar smell of cooking breakfast and the smell of spilled garbage mingle and become home.

Key Line:
"Well the eggs chase the bacon
round the fryin' pan
and the whinin' dog pidgeons
by the steeple bell rope
and the dogs tipped the garbage pails
over last night
and there's always construction work
bothering you
In the neighborhood
In the neighborhood
In the neighborhood"

45. D.L. Marble – Sombrero Lullaby - (2012) – From the album Not the One… - The narrator in this song is a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. While sitting at a bar, a song on the jukebox transports the soldier to where he really wants to be, on a beach in Mexico, trying to wash the blood off his hands.

Key Line:
"One more tequila for my friends and me
And I’ll tell you a tale about a land so far away’
Somebody play me a melody
Solve the world’s problems some other day

These songs keep callin on the radio
And I see my name in the neon
I wanna run away to Mexico
So play me a sombrero lullaby"

46. Dave Alvin – Out of Control - (2004) – From the album Ashgrove - Speed, prostitution, weapons….all part of the way to make your daily bread in this tale of characters living on the edge. The speed and whiskey burning brain of the man telling the story understands that wanting to do right is okay, but sometimes you just have a need to go a little further to get the same rush.

Key Line:
"I used to work a little construction
But I never got along with my boss
So I do a little import/export
Makin’ enough just to cover my costs
And I’m losin’ my hair and I’m losin’ my teeth
But I’m tryin’ to keep my grip
And live to see one more day
Without makin’ any stupid slips.

You know I could have played the game man
And just done what I was told
But I guess I was born just a little bit
Out of control"

47. Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez – The Cradle Did Rock - (2009) – From the album The Deep End - The aftermath of Katrina changed New Orleans forever. Christine Ohlman describes what followed the levee breaks in the Crescent City.

Key Line:
"The cradle did rock, the cradle been broken
It all fell down in the terrible flood, then
Some people came home, some people gave up
The levee went crash and the cradle did rock"

48. Steve Earle – Jerusalem – (2002) – From the album Jerusalem - On an album made almost entirely of protest songs, this title track from Jerusalem questions who we can accept death and violence simply because it has happened before. It is one more excuse to tolerate oppression, and one more reason to look to the real lessons of love thy brother, rather than demanding some not only worship a god, but worship the god of their understanding.

Key Line:
"I woke up this mornin' and none of the news was good
death machines were rumblin' cross the ground where Jesus stood
and the man on the TV told me that is had always been that way
and there was nothin' anyone could do or say"

49. Justin Townes Earle – Workin’ for the MTA – (2010) – From the album Harlem River Blues - Getting up and going to work every day. Doing the same job, expecting the same conditions….every day. Dreams are what happens when you sleep. Waking hours are already carved in stone.

Key Line:
"So, it's cold in them tunnels today
Well, it's cold in them tunnels today
It's cold down in those tunnels today, mama, workin' for the MTA
Yeah, I'm workin' for the MTA"

50. Peter Himmelman - "Untitled" (The Cab Driver Song) - (1992) - From the album Flown This Acid World   - The narrator becomes trapped in a world of angry words that are intolerable and preach hate. It would seem that the tip for this cab driver would be “don’t be so stupid” but like all bullies, their words have more power than what their actions might be, or the actions might be more powerful….you just don’t know.

Key Line:
The driver of the cab he had a pock marked face
He didn't seem too unfriendly, he was just starin' off into space
And he told me that he used to drive a truck
And that right now he was down on his luck

We talked a bit about travelin', told him that I'd been to the USSR
He looked at me in the rear view mirror and said
"Ain't that where the Jews and commies are?"
And I knew I was in for a hell of a ride
My face was calm but I was burnin' up inside, oh yeah"

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/t/TopConditionSongs/{/jwplayer}

OK. What makes a film a "music film?" Do musicals count? Documentaries, concert films? Well, no. At least not for the purposes of this list. For that we have defined "music film" as a feature film where the central character or characters is a musician or music itself. Let's face it, there are no greater moments musically on film than The Last Waltz, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Roy Orbison Black and White Night or The Song Remains the Same but they were not feature films with central characters other than the bands or musicians themselves, they were documentaries or concert films about a specific event. West Side Story, Oklahoma, Singing in the Rain, all great achievements in film, used music as a central part of the entertainment but not necessarily as central characters in the film. The Sound of Music represented a greater challenge and we'll say it here; for whatever genre it is it's probably the greatest music film ever made. There have been great achievements in concert films too and we saved that for another list and another time. We would be remiss if we fail to mention some great films, like NOTORIOUS, that came from the rap and hip-hop culture but that falls outside the boundaries of the music we feature.

So, here it is. The Alternate Root Top 30 Music Films of All Time. Feel free to throw popcorn, milk duds or soda cups at us.

- BILL HURLEY -








 

1. Walk the Line (2005) - Johnny Cash and June Carter's life together was compelling enough. Broken marriages, addiction, abuse and a monumental career together as performers makes for great movie fodder. Add brilliant performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon and you have, hands down, the best music movie ever made.

2. Sid and Nancy (1986) - The morbid, disturbing story of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. If the gutteral filth of heroin addiction, abusive relationships and nasty sex turn you off you might want to skip Sid and Nancy. If, however, you are into the pure power of brilliant acting than the performances by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb make this worth watching.

3. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Rob Reiner is a genius. This Is Spinal Tap is the funniest music movie ever made; anyone who was involved in the behind-the-scenes workings of the music industry in the 80's and 90's will attest, or they weren't there. Michael McKean and Christopher Guest pull off the best performances of fictional characters imaginable. Every scene in this movie is an absolute gem!

4. Crazy Heart (2009) - A country singer who is a drunk watches his relationships disintegrate amidst existential turmoil. Really? And they made a movie about it too! It's not that rare. You can wander into any Texas honky-tonk bar on a Friday night and see dozens of the same. Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal make this movie well worth watching inspite of the subject matter.

5. Pirate Radio (2009) - The story of an underground, pirate radio station that broadcasts into Britain from a ship in the North Sea in the 1960's. This movie is fabulous and could easily be higher on the list. Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost are brilliant as the irreverent air personalities that drive the British government bat-shit while capturing the imagination of the young Brits.

6. A Hard Day's Night (1964) - A day in the life and the mayhem that ensues when the Beatles take a train from Liverpool to London for a television appearance. John Lennon is at his sarcastic volcano and Paul McCartney plays off of him like a trusted sidekick. The music scenes are priceless and the lads are dry, funny and dead-pan. Some great moments with Paul's odd grandfather and his attempts to sway Ringo. All in all the Beatles made 5 films including the animated Yellow Submarine, the psychedelic Magical Mystery Tour, the Bond spoof HELP and the concert film Let it Be. This was the crown jewel.

7. American Pop (1981) - Ralph Bakshi's animated classic about a Russian family that flees during the Revolution and arrives in America just in time for the Great Depression. The film follows four generations of musicians from the Vaudeville era, to the Jazz era of the 1940's, to the Beat Generation of the 1950's, the Psychedelic Era of the 1960's up to the new wave/punk scene in the early 1980's. The plot is good, the music is classic and the animation is fabulous. Worth the rental fee!

8. 'Round Midnight (1986) - Jazz legend Dexter Gordon stars as a jazz musician during the New York Jazz scene of the 1950's. Battling alcoholism, he moves to Paris to try and right his career and befriends a man and his young daughter who try and save him from himself. Gordon is magnificent as are Francois Cluzet and Gabrielle Haker. The music is brilliant, the cinematography is compelling and the acting is solid. Good movie!

9. Ray (2004) - Jamie Foxx won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the legendary Ray Charles and rightfully so. The film is brilliant. The re-creation of the time period both cinematically and culturally is spot on. Ray Charles broke every barrier of popular music and dealt with his own demons which are portrayed without judgement or timidity. One of the best bio-pics in the past few decades.

10. The Blues Brothers (1980) - Both The Blues Brothers and Wayne's World were nearly expelled into irrelevance by atrocious sequels. We limited those brands to just the one film pretending the sequels never happened. The Blues Brothers is hilarious from start to finish and the film parades a cavalcade of Memphis soul and Chicago blues musicians throughout. Belushi is brilliant and Ackroyd is at his acting pinnacle. Belushi was taken by fate, Ackroyd should have stopped here.

11. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) -  This film, and Sissy Spacek, elevated Loretta Lynn above the big bouffant hair, Grand Ol' Opry stereotype of female country singers. Few knew of the true story of one of country music's great voices and it came a s a somber surprise to many. Tommy Lee jones is great as the creepy Doolittle Lynn, who married Loretta at age 13 and then spent the rest of his life trying to exploit her.

12. Mo Better Blues (1990) - Set in the Harlem, New York Jazz scene in the 90's the film boasts a cast of Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson and Nicholas and John Turturro. Basically it's about a rivalry between band leader Washington and sax player Snipes who tries to shine above the band. The acting is great and the music even greater. The film, while at times is over the top, is still believable.

13. That Thing You Do (1996) - Tom Hanks stars as Mr. White, a record executive from Playtone Records set in the immediate aftermath of Beatlemania in 1964. Hanks signs the Oneders (Wonders), an Erie, PA quartet who have recorded a pseudo-hit called "That Thing You Do." Nice cameo from Chris Isaak in the recording scene. The film is loosely based on the  early career of the Beatles and contains more star-making and music business exploitation than you can cram into 108 minutes. I loved it.

14. Backbeat (1994) - Largely panned by critics who just didn't get it, Backbeat chronicles the early days of the Beatles in Hamburg. It centers around the friendship between John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, the introduction of Asrid Kircherr and Klaus Voorman to the Beatles historic chronology and the very early history of the band. Steven Dorff and Ian Hart are very convincing as the young Sutcliffe and Lennon. Highly recommended if you are at all sketchy on the early Beatles.

15. The Jazz Singer (1980) - Neil Diamond stars as a young Jewish Cantor who struggles with his religion, his father and his wife to pursue a career as a pop singer. Diamond falls for another woman on a journey to California creating even more strife. Lawrence Olivier stars as the Rabbi father and Lucy Arnaz as the rigid wife. Great acting, great story line and great performances by Neil Diamond.

16. Great Balls of Fire (1989) - Starring Dennis Quaid as the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis and Wynona Ryder as Myra Brown, the 13 year old cousin he married, nearly ending his career before it started. John Doe plays J.W. Brown, Myra's father and the manager of the arrogant and uber-talented Jerry Lee Lewis. Quaid dazzles in this film from the ticks and quirks to the blatant beligerence of the great Jerry Lee. The music is fantastic, the acting too.

17. Bound for Glory (1976) - This film is an excellent biography of Woody Guthrie played by David Carradine. Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers, leaves his dust-devastated Oklahoma home in the 1930s to find work, and discovers the suffering and strength of America's working class. His songs are as important today as they were 80 years ago and this film hold it's own against bigger budget films.

18. The Idolmaker (1980) - Based on the life of record promoter Bob Marcucci, who discovered Frankie Avalon and Fabian among other teen pop starts in the 1950's. Ray Sharkey plays Vincent Vaccari who discovers two pop sensations, Ceasare, played by Peter Gallagher and Tommy Dee played by Paul land. The two become rivals and bad blood ensues but the best part of the movie is the insider look at the music industry hit-machine in it's heyday.

19. Sweet Dreams (1985) - Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress for her stunning portrayal of Patsy Cline. Sweet Dreams begins in the 1950's, forgoing the obligatory child hood memories. Cline's career is sputtering and her homelife is boring. She meets Charlie Dick, played by Ed Harris, and her career takes off; which is a microcosm of the film which languishes until the chemistry between Lange and Harris takes off. Lange and Harris make it a solid, worthy film about the greatest country singer in history.

20. Cadillac Records (2006) - In this tale of sex, violence, race, and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, Cadillac Records follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry. The film is largely overblown with more historical innaccuracies than a FOX-News broadcast but it takes on some things that are important. Plus, how many films actually acknowledge Willi Dixon , Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Little Walter as characters?

21. A Mighty Wind (2003) - Christopher Guest creates another priceless "mockumentary" about a folk music reunion show in New York City to celebrate the life of a deceased promoter. Like Best in Show and Spinal Tap it captures the lunacy and intricate obsurdities of the folk scene through the exploits of a collection of "has been" and "never were" folkies. Hilarious movie if you have any inside or behind the scene awareness and even if you don't.

22. Crossroads (1986) - Ralph Maccio as Eugene Martone, a blues guitar prodigy with absolutely no "soul." He finds old blues man "Blind Dog" Willie Brown and seeks out to discover the legend of Robert Johnson and the lost "30th song" at the Crossroads in Clarksdale, MS. Maccio is convincing as a player working with Steve Vai and Ry Cooder to synch the movements. He damn near pulls of the 'finger-synching' during the guitar duel with Steve Vai at the end of the film. It's a good blues movie, maybe one of the best.
23. Wayne's World (1992) - Mostly mindless, exaggerated humor but down right hilarious in parts. Wayne and Garth, played by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, are two slacker friends who broadcast a cable show from Wayne's basement. The film is a spin-off from the Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name but the movie takes it to even more absurd heights. Forget there was a Wayne's World II and stick with this one for a good laugh.

24. Swing Kids (1993) - A gripping story of a group of friends in Nazi Germany who form a movement around American swing music from the 1930's and 40's. The Nazi's put the grips on the group after the movement threatens to spread and force them to make choices and betray friends. One of the early appearances by Christian Bale who is fabulous along side Frank Whaley, a crippled kid who is an aspring jazz guitarist. Great story of loyalty, fear and friendship in tough times.

25. What's Love Got to do With It (1993) - In an interview Ike Turner was quoted as saying "..sure, I beat my wife but no more than the average guy beats his wife." That about sums up What's Love Got to Do With It, a film about the singer Tina Turner and how she rose to stardom along side her abusive husband Ike Turner and how she gained the courage to break free. Written by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder. Angela Bassett is spot on as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne is as ornery and mean as Ike Turner was.

26. The Buddy Holly Story (1978) - Gary Busey stars as Buddy Holly in one of the better bio-pics about the late great rock and roll originator. The Buddy Holly Story chronicles the rise to fame from Lubbock, TX until his death in a corn field in Iowa. It won an Academy Award for best score and Busey was nominated for Best Actor. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it.

27. Almost Famous (2000) - 15 year old Russell Hammond, played by Billy Crudup, is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band named Stillwater as he accompanies it on their concert tour. He winds up staying through the bands entire career which lasts a few months. It's one of the better coming of age stories as it centers around drugs, groupies, sex and rock and roll and what better sources are there for coming of age? Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand are brilliant as the love interest and mom respectively.

28. Dreamgirls (2006) - Based on the Broadway musical and loosely around the legendary Supremes, Dreamgirls features an all-star cast including Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson who won the Academy Award for Best Actress, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy who was nominated for the Academy Award for best Supporting Actor. This is a powerhose film about the Motown scene in the 1960's.

29. The Doors (1991) - Oliver Stone pays homage to 1960s rock group The Doors. Essentially a biography of the group's late singer, Jim Morrison. The movie follows Morrison from his days as a film student in Los Angeles to his death in Paris in 1971, at the age of 27. The movie features a riveting performance by Val Kilmer, who not only looks like Jim Morrison's long-lost twin brother, but also sounds so much like him that he did much of his own singing. Meg Ryan is brilliant as Morrison's muse Pamela Courson who was with him throughout his life.

30. LaBamba (1987) - The true story of Ritchie Valens who rose up from the immigrant farming community in Pacoima, CA to international stardom. Valens, played brilliantly by Lou Diamond Phillips, was on board the plane that killed Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper in 1958. The film also explores the relationship between Ritchie and his delinquent older brother Bob who is particularly devastated by the death. The film also features Brian Setzer as Eddie Cochran, Howard Huntsberry as Jackie Wilson and Marshall Crenshaw as Buddy Holly. As one of the first Latino pop stars the movie is alone in it's importance in Latino music history.