The connection between Adam Ezra, his band and whatever audience he happens to be entertaining is matched by few performers on today's music scene. The consummate entertainer, songwriter and band leader has been at the top of the Boston music scene for over a decade and has steadily built a national following through a relentless touring schedule. His sidekick and percussionist, Turtle, has been with him since Adam Ezra first started  with keyboardist Josh Gold joining soon after. A series of successful, critically acclaimed albums under their belt the band continues to electrify their fans with each live performance. Recent additions, Corina Smith on fiddle and Francis Hickey on bass along with stalwart drummer Alex Martin round out the sextet. This is one of the most memorable performances for The Extended Play Sessions and one we're grateful to have had the opportunity to experience.


 

This week's show features Boston alt-country rockers Girls Guns and Glory. The Alternate Root ranked Girls Guns and Glory as one of the Top 5 Bands in Boston and one of the Top 35 Bands in the U.S. Their rise has been meteoric since the arrival of guitar ace Chris Hersch to compliment the unmistakable voice of front man Ward Hayden. Girls Guns and Glory have been significant all along but the tandem of Hayden and Hersch along with the powerhouse rhythm section of Paul Dilley and Josh Kiggens have brought the band to a new level. Their latest album, 'Sweet Nothings' was one of the Top Albums of 2012 receiving a ton of critical acclaim. The band came into Alternate Root TV Studios to open for the Del-Lords.





 

A lot has gone on in the lives of Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist over the past year. The co-founders of the Band of Heathens went through a near complete line-up change, fatherhood, moving from Austin and a host of other life shifting changes. During that span they wrote the most compelling and musically poignant album in the band's history, Sunday Morning Record. Touring with a new band and a brilliant new record has placed them right back at the top of the most important bands to carry the roots/Americana torch. Taking one of the best and most dynamic live shows and stripping it down to accommodate the small Alternate Root TV Studios was something the band, the audience and we, at Alternate Root TV, thoroughly enjoyed. "It's a great thing you have going on here," Gordy Quist mentioned, "taking this industrial space and turning it into a cool jazz club and inviting us in to play is pretty cool." We agree. The Band of Heathens performed the first side of the new album Sunday Morning Record for a small audience of fans and Alternate Root TV viewers in the very intimate setting of our Boston studio. "This was as close to a musical "religious" experience as I've had in some time." Bill Hurley, Producer, Alternate Root TV.

 

For nearly three decades Leftover Salmon has been creating their own brand of music combining bluegrass, Cajun, country rock, blues and Rocky Mountain soul. There have been many changes in personnel along the way but the core of Vince Herman on guitar and Drew Emmitt on mandolin has remained solid and the addition of Andy Thorn on banjo has brought the Leftover Salmon sound to a new pinnacle. Back on the road after a host of successful side projects, Leftover Salmon has returned with a new-found vengeance and have reclaimed their spot at the top of the jam band circuit. The stopped into Alternate Root TV Studios on September 14 to tape the 'EP' Extended Play Sessions that will air on Monday September 23rd.



 

Christine Ohlman has graced the stage of Saturday Night Live for over two decades as front-woman for the Saturday Night Live Band. She performed with Big Brother and the Holding Company, taking the roll of Janis Joplin, in Central Park and joined George Harrison and Chrissie Hynde on stage for Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert in Madison Square Garden. She's active in the New Orleans music community and the music scene in Muscle Shoals, AL and still finds time to create her own brand of blue-eyed soul with a wall of guitars edge. The 'Bee-Hive' Queen, and her band Rebel Montez have released 6 albums to critical acclaim including the latest album, The Deep End. The powerhouse guitar of Cliff Goodwin along with the incredible rhythm section of Michael Colbath on bass and Larry Donahue on drums make Rebel Montez one of the most formidable bands on the Americana /Roots music circuit. Thursday, September 5th, Christine Ohlman and Rebel Montez brought down the house at Alternate Root TV studios in Boston while fiming this week's edition of 'EP'-The Extended Play Sessions.







 

Roots, soul supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood graced the stage at the Alternate Root TV studio in Boston to film this week's edition of 'EP' The Extended Play Sessions in front of a packed room of fans on August 26, 2013. Devon Allman (guitar), Mike Zito (guitar), Cyril Neville (percussion), Charlie Wooton (bass) and Yonrico Scott (drums) are all musicians of distinguished pedigree that bring together elements of blues, jazz, funk, soul and Gulf Coast rhythms to create some of the most sophisticated and complex music on the roots / Americana circuit. This set was one of the best we've ever had the pleasure of filming. This rich, soul and funk infused collection of songs appear on the debut album Royal Southern Brotherhood and the band performed a stripped down, intimate version for Alternate Root TV with some great commentary about music today, songwriting and being in one of the best bands in the world today.



 

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

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/m/Mike_Zito/Gone_To_Texas/{/jwplayer}

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.



 

Rockabilly was a perfect fit when it came back with a vengeance in the world of punk rock. The rock’n’roll hearts of both styles graduated from the same three chords and the truth school of entertainment. We can label styles and see what begat whom from the luxury of a future flashback. When punk and rockabilly merged in the late 1980’s, the young soon-to-be-musician Jack White heard both styles as one thing, music. He had the influences hard-wired (using only analog systems) into his DNA and followed his own muse for his work with The White Stripes, The Racontuers and his solo efforts. Rockin’ Legends marries style to artist, presenting the music of Jack White as tribute by rockabilly and punk legends.

Gary U.S. Bonds leads a punk rock take on “Solve Your Solution”, Big Jay McNelly handles the vocals and trades sax solos with Hawkwind saxman Nik Turner and The Dirt Daubers put “Fell in Love With A Girl” through hard rock roots grinder. Rockin’ Legends puts Bobby Vee, Los Straitjackets, Johnny Cash/Carl Perkins drummer, Rosie Flores and Walter Lure, of Johnny Thunders The Heartbreakers, all offer their take on Jack White’s song catalog. Rockabilly Queen Wanda Jackson unveils a haunted new version of “In the Cold, Cold Night”, from The White Stripes breakout Elephant album. The song is developed like a sound art exhibit due to the tunes producer, Shooter Jennings, doing such a fine job weaving unrest and tension into the shaky rhythmic foundation that supports the weight of Wanda Jackson’s vocal.

Listen and buy the music of Rockin’ Legends from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/r/Rockin_Legends/Rockin_Legends/{/jwplayer}

Ursula Ricks world view stays close to home on My Street. The strength that comes from the tragedy and the resolve that keeps community of which she sings moving forward does not need a lot of space. Childhood is brief in the lower income neighborhoods around the U.S. and the Baltimore that backdrops the words of Ursula Ricks dictates that the ‘formative years’ are gone in the blink of an eye. Her poems get lifted up by a hard edge in the instrumentation. Backwoods grooves and chicken shack licks line “Tobacco Road” for a different take on the address with the view from the curb is still the same.

Rock’n’Soul structures the songs on My Street. The title track bounces in on a funky strut as it heads down the sidewalk, calling out the scenes passing by and keeping an eye out for quick exits just in case. Ursula Ricks has a voice for the back row and she knows how to give her words a seduction that will have listeners hand over their attentions (“What You Judge”) and walks proud knowing she did her best as she holds on to the color of false hope (“Make Me  Blue”). A hard blues riff pushes its way onto My Street with the Bobby Rush track “Mary Jane”,  a slowly smoking groove drags “Due” across the album with an explosive threat and “Sweet Tenderness” dims the lights to catch the glow from lush strings and sizzling electric guitar riffs. Ursula Ricks uses her voice to guide the songs for My Street with a masterful hand through Roots Soul rhythms and uses the power of her delivery to be heard for some needed changes in “The New Trend”.  

Listen and buy the music of Ursula Ricks from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/u/Ursula_Ricks/My_Street/{/jwplayer}

TJ Broscoff stands center stage with the confidence of a man who has experienced the extremes of poor decisions in his life. The presence that TJ gives to his performance seeps into all aspects of his music, his songs benefitting from the assurance he uses in walking through the life he has resurrected. Addictions had relocated TJ’s address to a underneath a bush in the Arizona desert. Six years into a second chance, TJ Broscoff returned to the San Antonio recording studio that gave birth to his debut to create his recent release, The Break.  The producers chair kept the same name and Bill Green helms the album with care and consideration given to each note and nuance, wrapping TJ’s vocals with fat, bubbling organ notes (“Phone Calls”),  breathlessly chasing the beat (“This is the Moment”) and rising over stuttered rock punches to form a foundation for the journey back to love (“My Dear”).

The Break reveals TJ Broscoff’s heart through songs. It is tough to separate characters from their authors and nearly impossible to disengage TJ from the passion he gives to his narrators. Looking through the window you can see the ghost of TJ’s love and lies wandering through an empty house in “Casting Stones”, feel the pain of the traveling musician returning home to find his bed a little fuller than when he left in “Better Man” and hear the honesty in the pledge and pleas of forever in “Debt”.  TJ Broscoff is a true Texas music phoenix and The Break again shows that the man has just begun to shake of the ashes and fly.

Listen and buy the music of TJ Broshoff from AMAZON or iTunes

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

An easy wind blows off the gulf coast and the light sway generated by the breeze is picked up by Mobile, Alabama’s The Mulligan Brothers. The band takes their name as a reason for their music. In golf terms, a ‘mulligan’ is a do-over. For The Mulligan Brothers, the four individual musicians feel that their coming together as a group is the chance they need to do things the right way. That decision gains positive proof on the band’s self-titled debut. Bright acoustics flash with a quiet fire in the hands of The Mulligan Brothers. The tender string plucking of “Kaleidoscope” lets the notes tumble like the jumbled colors spin inside the song title as a fiddle offers a welcome to the “Red Dress Lady” as she makes a belated appearance.

The Mulligan Brothers name names for some specific females, updating “Oh Susanna”, using the original title and ‘don’t you cry for me’ tag line in a story about a relationship hoping to mend itself and promises “Cecilia” that freedom is in the love that is “stronger than these plantation walls’.  The Mulligan Brothers present Ross Newell’s warm-honey vocals finding inspiration in the words of a train traveling transient (“Thrift Store Suitcase”) and get their affairs in order, saving a big chunk of themselves for the woman who will always be in their hearts (“Momma Gets My Soul”).

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

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

There is little that can go wrong with the songs of Alabama and the current cream of Roots music heatseekers. High Cotton, A Tribute to Alabama was put together by Lightning Rod Records to honor the Alabama on their 40^th career anniversary. Having struck country gold with the fourteen tracks included on High Cotton, their tunes get treated to styles outside of the Country music that Alabama had as a default. Some seasonal Gospel Blues is offered courtesy of the Blind Boys of Alabama as they watch the snowfall for “Christmas in Dixie”. American Roots music drifts down like the reverbed feedback on the title track from T. Hardy Morris with Amanda Shires, Jason isbell and Turnpike Troubadours.

High Cotton moves between the far left of Roots with an Indie only stamp put on “I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)” by Jessica Lee Mayfield and close-to-the-bone take on “Mountain Music” by Jason Boland & the Stragglers.  Shonna Tucker dons a trucker cap (again) and hikes a leg up to sit behind the wheel into “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)”, Memphis roots rockers Lucero confess to falling harder on “The Closer You Get”,  JD McPherson doses “Why Lady Why” with a healthy hit of Country Soul and Old Crow Medicine Show serve up “Dixie Delight”. High Cotton is a reminder of the worth of Alabama’s catalog, and a good indicator of the love the artists involved had for these songs on their first time ‘round.

Listen and buy the music of High Cotton from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/h/High_Cotton/High_Cotton/{/jwplayer}

It is really tough to gauge how a first date will play out. The Harmed Brothers cannot say with certainty what a night with them would look like but they can make a promise. The boys can swear that it will be a loud, sweaty, romantic affair, something that you will not walk away from without a mark on your psyche. Ray Vietti formed The Harmed Brothers in rural Missouri circa 2009 on mutual affection with bandmates Ben and Zach Kilmer for Ryan Adams, Wilco and the Avett Brothers. The newly found Brothers took to the road and synchronicity was the flavor of the day when a stop in Eugene, Oregon provided Ray with a soul-mate in the form of Alex Salcido. The pair immediately threw away the rhythm section to focus on indiegrass, loading drums and bass back into the van for the group’s 2013 incarnation and recent release, Better Days. 

Fate brought The Harmed Brothers into a band circle yet it is their songs that will draw in others. Better Days slows to near a standstill rhythm on “Under the Axe”, ups the beat ante to a saunter for “Ballad of Probably Not” and pounds on a 4/4 time to let “Carolina” know that she is responsible for natural disasters just by walking into a room. Day to day life is the land where topics live for the songs on Better Days. “When You See Me” puts mistakes on the table in an effort to see the faults of a break-up laid flat and “Love Song for the Assumed” makes a request to give yourself a break by letting wounds heal. “Sky Cracked A Smile” percolates with an inner blood beat that nicks its rhythm from a carpool ride that The Harmed Brothers took to Rockville with R.E.M.

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

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

Dave Van Ronk was born in Brooklyn but it was over the bridge in Greenwich Village that he would live his life. For five decades he wore the title of Mayor of MacDougall Street and his ties to the Folk scene are ground into the sidewalks of the Village. Mentoring was a big part of the NYC scene and during his early success as a Washington Square troubadour, Dave Van Ronk lent a helping hand to up-and-comers such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Tom Paxton. Though his first visit to the lower east side was in 1951, it took Dave several years to make the journey from Brooklyn into Manhattan. It was the Folk scene that drew him, though he was not sure that was where he belonged, remembering “I never really thought of myself as a ‘folksinger’ at all. Still Don’t. What I did was combine traditional fingerpicking guitar with a repertory of old jazz tunes, many of which I’d been singing for years. These recordings from ’59 and ’61, I regard as a journeyman’s progress reports.”

Dave van Ronk taught his finger-pick style and lent his couch to a young Bob Dylan when the new guy-in-town showed up in Greenwich Village in 1961. Dave’s style and his songs are captured on a recent Smithsonian Folkways Collection, Down in Washington Square. The three-disc set gathers the musical world of Dave Van Ronk together. His voice had the world-weary gravel needed for Folk cred yet his notes held a rounded warmth that gave his vocals a surprising tenderness. “In the Pines”, an old folk-song song found in both the Anglo and African-American traditions, is given a near vocal-only performance with just a slightly hesitant use of guitar chords. A rare, unreleased, recording of “House of the Rising Sun” was collected from a Yale University show in 1961, “Gamblers Blues” shows the origins of ‘St. James Infirmary’ and the times of old west bar rooms comes alive with “Duncan and Brady”. Dave Van Ronk was a music historian, a story teller and a performer standing with just a voice and a guitar, playing rallies to coffee houses. Down in Washington Square drains the color from the world and shows  audio images in stark blacks and whites. A later recording, also unreleased, captures Dave Van Ronk re-working the often covered Bob Dylan track, “Buckets of Rain”, creating the guitar arrangement to brand the style that the master passed on to the songs author.

Listen and buy the music of Dave Van Ronk from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/d/Dave_Van_Ronk/Washington_Square/{/jwplayer}

Two things are very apparent in Six Weeks in a Motel, the area of the U.S. that Boo Ray calls home and the way the man wants his music to be heard. The album is dipped, dyed and delivered with a Southern Rock soundtrack. Even the ghost of tender memories that float through “Like A Cigarette” get the take-what-I’m-given attitude of rock until the story line blinks and finds itself stuck on the “real fine line between being loved and being used”. “Southern Harmony” details how Boo Ray sees life from under his ten gallon, super-size hat and “Black and Chrome” roars into life fueled by sky-scraping guitar solos and “redneck rock’n’roll”.

Six Weeks in a Motel has a secret weapon in delivering its Southern Rock sound card. Boo Ray is first and foremost a top shelf songwriter, giving the style a V2 status in mixing classic riffs with the open heart surgery that Boo Ray’s words use to find a way into, and out of, love. “Let the Cards Fall” bets on keeping your heart open as a winning hand, “Way to Shine” wakes to find two lovers heading into Nashville with dreams and a smile and “Songs” lets Boo  share the effect that his words and music have on their author. Boo Ray has a way of finding the quickest path to your memories and you can see yourself in the stories, feel your heart break with bad love and feel it begin to mend in the glow of the honky tonk lights.

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

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/b/Boo_Ray/Six_Weeks/{/jwplayer}

For many careers in music, what may seem like the musical step to take is often a dead end. In other band camps, staying the same is the kiss of death. For three decades, Blue Rodeo have managed to stay true to the sound that brought them together. The group has made career choices, outside of the music that has helped define them as artists and created a loyal following. Blue Rodeo have four million in sales for their albums and have never released a studio album in their 25plus year recording history that has gone below Gold status. The band has received 12 Juno awards, including a record breaking five Group of the Year trophies. They began life in the 80’s with a countrified rock sound on the radio with hair metal, sold a half million copies of Five Days in July, their most acoustic album, in 1993 on the radio with grunge and now release In Our Nature, an album designed to be heard on vinyl.

In Our Nature tosses a challenge to shake off the shit and head to the good times promised in “New Morning Sun”, follows a Spanish strum down a rabbit hole of wrong turns claiming that it is “Never Too Late” and loads up for the promise of morning only to find the same answers the night held in “Mattawa”. Blue Rodeo have never needed to improve the sound that chose them back in the late 1980’s. Playing and developing a BR brand for the music has grown the country rock that the band played into a Roots music that is a part of Blue Rodeo. In Our Nature packs a bag and makes it out the door, walking away on “Made Up Your Mind” and relies on a bright melody line to light the darkened streets that lead to “Over Me”. Blue Rodeo find their comfort zone in slow burners with story lines set for stun and sting. The couple seeing the lights in “Paradise” and the memory of a touch that leads to a new resolve on “When the Truth Comes Out” offer only a couple of small steps from the lives of the characters to the lives of the listeners. That is where Blue Rodeo calls you back to the barn with songs that sound track the voices in your head. In Our Nature offers a moody musical backdrop in the title track, a rainy day film noir that moves through foggy reveries such as “it’s in our nature to fly”.

Listen and buy the music of Blue Rodeo form AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/b/Blue_Rodeo/Nature/{/jwplayer}

Early Yarn records were a honest variations on the music that made a fan out of a Blake Christiana as a youth, a mix of Gram Parsons, Jerry Garcia and Exile-on-Main-Street era Rolling Stone. The years in between their first 2007 release and today show a band that has grown up on stages around the globe, garnering fans as family, dubbed Yarmy, and logging over 150 dates a year since their inception. Yarn’s recent release, Shine the Light On, stays true to the sound and image the band has maintained and nurtured, a rock'n'roll band that knows its Roots. Lead vocalist and songwriter, Blake Christiana, had simple goals for his life in music that Yarn just may have given him, “To live comfortably and make music for our fans. I just want to be able to do what I love and eat...so maybe I’m already there. We want to make good music and hopefully that makes someone else’s life better.”

Shine the Light Oncatches optimism in its glow for a few of its tunes, balancing the trend with the lovable guy having a rough day persona that inhabits much of Yarn’s material. “Keep Me Far From My Home” showcases the hard luck hero of past songs as a narrator who knows his limits as well as he understands the reasons that he is happier spending his life running away from his former front door. The rode-hard man in “Wasted Years” has the world on his heels as he heads back to the streets with a dollar to his name, his shame and a bed a gentle acoustics to hold his tale. Contrary to Yarn yarns, the stories on Shine the Light On see the band traveling towards the warm glow found in the promise of the album title and they have humble requests as they try for a better life (“Angel Place That Halo”). The band continue to look to something greater in “Let Us Pray” but realize halfway through the song that true redemption comes from jumping up, kicking your chair back and dancing. The words of Blake Christiana and the emotional telling of his vocal delivery have found themselves a good home in the music making of Yarn.

Listen and buy the music of Yarn from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/y/Yarn/Shine_The_Light_On/{/jwplayer}

Everything about Jake Smith is larger than the life going on around him. He wears the artist mantle of The White Buffalo on a six foot plus frame. He sings with a voice magnetized with an emotion that draws you in, that pull as much for the stories he hosts in his songs as his delivery. The man spins a good tale and it is really tough to walk away without hearing how the story ends. On previous albums, The White Buffalo tended to use the first person narrator that were scripts for the SoCal punk scene and bands like Bad Religion, groups  that had their own tug for the ears of a young Jake Smith.  His songwriting stands for something, always, and he takes careful aim in each tale. On his recent release, Shadows, Greys and Evil Ways, The White Buffalo has an open casting call for characters. The songs still hold a spot for the big man taking center stage in his songs. “The Whislter” speaks of the man in the mirror, and the dangerous glint in his eye that jumps out like the spit in the force in his words. The use of more characters gives the songs of The White Buffalo a more cinematic feel with his use of character studies.

The big screen tone of the songs benefits the stories that spring from the inside of the author. “Set My Body Free” is a personal tale that is looking for a little salvation, using a fat spaghetti western guitar riff to sprinkle some prairie dust on the arrangement and “This Year” turns the calendar pages with verse. The power of the vocals in these songs does not demand attention yet the tales come alive with the evangelical passion that The White Buffalo owns, and gives over to each character and confession. Joe and Jolene tell their ‘hard luck tune” over a beat that flies by like the white lines barreling under wheels as the couple put the pedal down to get through the bad decisions and try to remember what kept them together in the first place. The White Buffalo is a presence and he ladles out charisma over a rough roots back drop of sound on Shadows, Greys and Evil Ways.

Listen and buy the music of The White Buffalo from Amazon or iTunes

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

Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys make a point on “There Is a Time” to define seasonal changes, and to open the door for the young to wander the world in search of their tomorrow during the warmer calendar months. The Prince Edward Island, Canada-based, The Rhythm Boys, let the fire in their playing of string instruments set a spark to their live performance. Pickin’ and Clickin’ is the band recent release and the album combines originals with songs from a wide range that stretches from Lawrence Welk to Two Hour Traffic.

Pickin’ and Clickin’takes off the brakes for “King Ganam Style” as Gordie’s fiddle flies over steadfast drum and bass lines. “Old Joe Clark” better rest up for the pace of the song that bears his name and “Black Velvet Waltz” circles the floor with on-track rhythms as a foundation for the non-stop fiddle notes. Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys let their minds fall back a half a century for a sad tale that takes place on “O’Halloran Road” as the floats atop a ghostly slow melody. Pickin’ and Clickin’ opens on a four-count that would leave Mr. Welk breathless on the first “and a-one” as “Champagne Polka”  takes dancers on a spin around the floor that might screw them into the woodwork if they are not careful.

Listen and buy the music of Gordie McKeeman and His Rhythm Boys from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/g/Gordie_Mackeeman/Clickin/{/jwplayer}

There are moments that occur while listening to Moody Bluegrass, A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues when you have drifted into other thoughts and when you return, the initial reaction is “wow, that song sounds familiar”. The A-list band of Nashville players transform the songs of The Moody Blues and give the songs a Bluegrass, Country and Roots backdrop that fits their characters with different moods. The stories remain the same that the British group being honored brought to rock fans from the mid-1960’s into the present. The audio scenery set for “Lovely to See” is the outdoors, the greeting getting itself out into the country air with the sound of twangs and fiddles. “Ride My See-Saw” uses a bluegrass playground to take a spin, “Tuesday Afternoon” becomes part of a folk-tinged mid-day that relaxes against bright acoustic strings pattering over a lush arrangement and “Dear Diary” makes its daily entry onto pages fortified with light flute and heavy bass notes.

Moody Bluegrass was produced by mandolinist David Harvey and goes beyond the typical tribute, involving original Moody Blues band members John Lodge, Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge, Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder in the recording. Joining The Moody Blues in the songs are bluegrass marquee names and Nashville string band royalty such as Allison Krauss, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, John Cowan, Ricky Skaggs, Tim O’Brien, Harley Allen, and many, many more. The players and the three vocalists (John Cowan, Allison Krauss and Sam Bush) deliver “Nights in White Satin” with a gentle reverence that gives the song a fragility setting the sound stage for the spoken word dialogue that shares under a bare center stage orb. Moody Bluegrass offers a lovely parting gift for The Moody Blues graciously lending their music to Nashville. The closing track is a Tim May and David Harvey tune presented as the “Lost Chord” The Moodys had gone looking for on their own album, In Search of the Lost Chord.

Listen and buy the music of Moody Bluegrass from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/m/Moody_Bluegrass/Nashville_Tribute/{/jwplayer}

A fragile folk encompasses Between Dogs and Wolves, the latest release from Piers Faccini. Folk music heard in sun-dappled rooms fragrant with wood fires and tea. If not available, the songs on Between Dogs and Wolves will prime the same type of introspection through its words and musical phrases set to trigger memory and senses. Sonically, Piers Faccini creates music in the vein of Indie Folk-Rock artists such as Iron and Wine, Red House Painters and City and Color. The instrumentation listing gives a clear indicator of what you will hear with the acoustic sounds of dulcimer, cello, double bass, violin, harmonium and piano blend alongside less familiar instruments such as the kora, er-hu and balafon.

The art of the author is felt throughout every note and nuance on Between Dogs and Wolves. Piers Faccini is proud of the release, remembering the process, “This album is my most personal to date. I was able to make it entirely as I’ve always dreamed of making an album, writing and recording, surrounded by my favourite instruments, alone in my studio in the hills in the south of France.” Piers Faccini manages to keep the songs human and accessible through the structured artistic tone of his rhymes. Lines like ‘when the poison leaves its violet trace, the blues will lift, like loves embrace’, from “Eyes Wide Shut”, feel literary yet remain very personal, something we all feel though the descriptions may vary. “Black Rose” sees cello and guitar, male and female vocals tumbling over one another to create a united sound that flows under an shared fairy tale and “Pieces of Ourselves” delivers its story with a breathy hesitancy, like the words were ripped from dream fragments.  Between Dogs and Wolves is a work of art, graciously rendered audible for your ears and senses by Piers Faccini.

Listen and buy the music of Piers Faccini from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/p/Piers_Faccini/Dogs_And_Wolves/{/jwplayer}

The strength of an Alice Wallace vocal delivery reaches out a firm hand as support for the heartbreak in her songs. A Thousand Miles from Home looks back to past pain (“Here I Am Again”), pines for far away love (“Oh So Sweet”) and forces a blood-pump beat into a lifeless love seeking a good game face (“Those Fairy Tales”). The power that Alice Wallace gives to the notes, to the stories and to the characters keeps the stinger in her words from puncturing hope for too long. She uses the power of voice and guitar to offer comfort to the souls lost in the stories with the experience that someone else survived the loss of love.

Alice Wallace is a Southern California folk-singer who uses the human melting pot of Los Angeles as a model for infusing her music with Country, Soul, Rock, and Blues. The acoustic driven ¾ time of “A Waltz” takes to the floor as the dancer in the song plays slows memories the last time spent spinning in the arms of love. An assured strumming and piano pounding keep the pace up for the “Long Road” white line that will lead to a new day of romance coming up with the rising sun. Alice Wallace speaks from and of the heart without ever sinking down into the role of victim. Her tales have lost love yet optimism is your lovely parting gift. A Thousand Miles from Home nods to the city that Alice Wallace adopted as home when she arrived from Florida in 2008. “Even LA” sways to a solid Blues motion that will hold off the voices and demons in a world of ‘no’s’ as Alice vows that “even LA won’t get me down”, accepting nothing but success as an option.

Listen and buy the music of Alice Wallace from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/a/Alice_Wallace/Thousand_Miles/{/jwplayer}

Mad Staring Eyes are “Waiting for the Doctor” to answer their call on the opening track, referencing the album title Talking to the Operator, trying to stay patient until they hear the familiar ‘doctor is in’ ping on the phone. The male and female vocals volley a call and response that keeps its discretion by never spelling out the issues, though it is kind of obvious that what is left unsaid may speak louder; a conversation that could possibly include the question, ‘you gave me what?”. The quirks of British Isles Folk music from early traditions to the Folk/Rock of Fairport Convention are found in the story lines of Mad Staring Eyes. The music nods to the same traditions with fiddles and pub harmonies, adding in some twangs and Indie Folk percussion to give the band’s sound Roots that lean more Blue Ridge and Sierra than Misty Mountains.

Mad Staring Eyes are a six-pice band from North London, with core members in the group playing together for the past twenty years. Talking to the Operator never sits still long enough for a label as it includes both pedal steel and flute for its Indie Roots and Rock. Male and female vocals are clock hands going in different directions as they relive history on “Reeling in Time”. The arrangement welcomes in free-form jazz flute, dusty piano notes and ceiling scratching pedal steel, wrapping the music around fantasy turns in lines like “you have been traveling by dragonfly since you were only sixteen” and real-life reality-show scenarios such as “I never said I would leave you when I found another woman”. The natural way the songs form mirrors Mad Staring Eyes in mix and matching fantasy with modern life. Murder is in the back seat of a cab headed down the “London Road”, redemption is the goal for “A Fine Quality” and the tentative shudder of a tambourine slowly builds the promises and advice in “Feel Your Pain” letting a heavier drumbeat pound the message home. Mad Staring Eyes have Roots in the soul of their songs that winds down, rising up to sprout in jazz, rock and folk styles throughout Talking to the Operator.

Listen and buy the music of Mad Staring Eyes from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/m/Mad_Staring_Eyes/Operator/{/jwplayer}

The mixture of creativity and an avenue to put it to use collided in the late 1960’s on the airwaves on the FM radio dial. In England, the opening of creativity let bands intent on Pop chart success focus more on content and musicianship. British youth in the early 1960’s were exposed to American R&B through the U.S. bases in Germany. It was hard and heavy blues and soul and when it came time to translate the sound into their own songs, styles emerged. Blues-Rock became the musical current in England in the late 60’s, early 70’s, the sound becoming marketable in the hands of bands like Humble Pie, Savoy Brown and Cream when they landed on U.S. soil. Blodwyn Pig never received the success overseas that they enjoyed in England when the band formed around the name of Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams to create a hybrid of blues, rock and jazz in 1968.

Blodwyn Pig gain a bigger appreciation looking back at the band’s sound on the recent release, Pigthology. The compilation gathers remastered versions of their biggest U.K. hits including “Dear Jill”,a track that landed in U.S. theatres in Cameron Crowe’s film Almost Famous. The more well-known songs are based in a hammered blues rock that has uses a sleazy tease in the guitar work, particularly in “Drive Me”.  Sitting beside the hits on Pigthology are unreleased tracks that show a decided move towards a more jazz rock hybrid, not in a fusion sense, but a true mixing of the expanded jams of jazz against the hard rhythm bottom of rock. The live “Cosmogification” is a textural masterpiece that layers jams over very structured rhythm lines. “Sly Bones” electrifies big band blues, “Baby Girl” hits a major Soul vein for its rush and “Hound Dog” instrumentally floats down a southern river of sound using harmonica, tambourines and folk blues guitar to line the shores of the song.

Listen and buy the music of Blodwyn Pig from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/b/Blodwyn_Pig/Pigthology/{/jwplayer}

You can spin the virtual television dial or randomly pound a remote button and hit any number of shows offering to ‘ghost bust’ your home or business. There is a lot of focus on death (zombies, vampires and werewolves, oh my!). What about life, specifically the life of the spirit that daily battles real life demons, trials and more than its fair share of tribulation? The Sojourners new release, Sing and Never Get Tired, turns attention to answers for contemporary problems, the faith to mend a broken heart or transform despair into hope. The hero cape The Sojourners wear is a Roots Gospel and though it does not flutter in the breeze, it will carry you high above your troubles and grant you a birds-eye view of the inspiration you are seeking.

While the band has the pipes to check into the Pop Gospel hotel, The Sojourners believe the best way to help and heal is to take it to the streets where it is easy to get lost without the proper directions. Sing and Never Get Tired uses dirty chords and gritty rhythms to establish its own street cred. “Why Am I Treated So Bad” has musical angels that are sharp but tempered by The Sojourners honey sweet vocals, even as they are asking the reason for the struggles.  “Welcome Table” rocks as it proudly struts for a future seat in ever-lasting glory, “Milky White Way” chooses a slow moving blues soul for a sonic place on earth and “Dressed for Heaven” sound tracks its fashion choices with distorted guitar chords and rock’n’roll riffs. The Sojourners touch the songs of others, nicely mixing their natural spiritual joy with the words of Woody Guthrie (“I Ain’t Got No Home”), Bob Dylan (“I Shall Be Released”) and Stephen Stills (“For What It’s Worth”).

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

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

On Superstring Theory, Andy Statman proves that even virtuosos can have fun. Andy is a 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellow and Grammy nominee. Over his fifty year career, he has become legendary in the world of avant-garde bluegrass and string music. By nature, bluegrass is a very structured form of playing. Andy Statman follows the paths of American Roots music, the form that has been a cornerstone of his own half century of playing. He musically stretches the moods to take listeners back to the sounds of a Civil War South (“For Barbara”),   brings strings to a beach party (“Surfin’Slivovitz”) and mixes drinking and dancing (“Pale Ale Hop”). Andy Statman stayed with Jim Whitney (bass) and Larry Eagle (drums) as his go-to rhythm section, bringing in ace-in-the-hole players such as guitarist/singer Tim O’Brien and fiddler Michael Cleveland for the recording.

It is clear the moment Andy Statman tunes up and starts “Little Addy” that the man is having a great time with his tunes. Andy goes back to his formative musical years, remembering the first time he heard the old African American children’s song, “Green, Green Rocky Road” (included on the album). He recalls that “hearing Dave Van Ronk sing it so hypnotically and powerfully, it has always stuck with me.” The tracking of the song for Superstring Theory was spontaneous combustion when all the players got together in one room in the studio. Making a stage stop to come to you live (virtually) from the Flambo Room sitting high atop a sound cloud with “Mando at the Flambo”, Andy Statman boards a world hopping flight to close out the album with a sound clip montage to the music of the world (“Brooklyn London Rome”).

Listen and buy the music of Andy Statman from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/a/Andy_Statman/Brooklyn/{/jwplayer}

I See Hawks in L.A. are California Country Rock gentlemen. They have a literary sense to their songs that equals American writers from the South (Faulkner), the West (Twain, O. Henry) and the East (Poe). Their music reflects the moods and emotions of the songs characters as much as the men behind the curtain that pulling the strings and writing the words. Mystery Drugs has an uplifting mood stitched into the album fabric as it describes the life of an aging pirate in the title track, a chance meeting with a major musical score (Rock’n’Roll Cymbal from the 70’s) and flows majestically  (“The River Knows”).

I See Hawks in L.A. follow psychedelic tradition by not following sound rules and regulations. The Hawks are a rock band with a Roots accent. Their songs are vignettes again using psychedelic rock as stage settings.  A cowpunk essay on commerce as love (“My Local Merhcants”), a classic country take on a classic rock event (“We Could All Be in Laughlin Tonight”) and a heavenly choir back-up for a diatribe on driving the 405 at 6 o’clock (“Stop Driving Like An Asshole”) all share Mystery Drugs. I See Hawks in L.A. remind us of the romance of the American West. “Sky Island” follows a San Joaquin daughter as she heads down the 99 for freedom and “Oklahoma’s Going Dry” looks through the dust and Commanche ghosts to try and locate the river that run blue, then red.  Memories follow a young San Franciscan couple through The Mission and watch as the snow falls outside through the windows of a Tahoe casino in “If You Remind”. The track opens Mystery Drugs and will immediately remind you that it is way too long between I See Hawks in L.A. releases.

Listen and buy the music of I See Hawks in L.A. from AMAZON or iTunes

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/i/I_See_Hawks_In_LA/Mystery_Drugs/{/jwplayer}

We are launching a new show for Alternate Root TV called "EP" Extended Play. It will be distributed nationally by PEGMedia and available to 1800 television stations nationally. We hit the ground running with our first five shows of the season. Alt Root TV begins Seasson Four with performances from Marcia Ball, Shannon McNally and Hot Sauce, bluesman Mike Zito of Royal Southern Brotherhood, former Subdude Tommy Malone and New Orleans slide guitar master Luke Winslow-King. We will be releasing over 25 shows in the series by November 2013.

Our goal is to share the incredible experience of working closely with the artists you love. To fully realize that effort in the future, we will film our 'EP'-Extended Play episodes in front of a live studio audience. Part house concert, part live music venue, but with much more surrounding the event. The shows will be invitation only and limited to 50 audience members. The suggested donations will be announced to cover production costs and artist fees. Audience members will get to see filming in an up close and personal setting. Taping will be no more than two hours and will include audience participation for the questions to the artists for each show. For the lucky 50 in attendance, each audience member will receive a limited edition show poster signed by the artist(s) and will be able to purchase a DVD copy of the event when the show is edited and released, as well as any merchandise the artists offer.

Our facility is located in Norwood, MA and has ample parking and space inside the building. The setting is warm. Every seat is a winner and very close to all the action. It is a fantastic way to see bands and artists you love in a private concert setting. You can bring your own food and refreshments that you can share it with the crowd or keep it all for yourself. Times will be announced as the shows are confirmed. If you wish to receive an email from us with upcoming shows as they are announced you can sign up by contacting us at the e-mail address below. Many of the artists will not be able to annouce shows in the area due to concert commitments so the line-up may be in the form of really good hints. You will receive a Constant Contact email with an image of the poster for every event and all the details including date, time and any other pertinent information. The first 50 responders get through the door and seating or standing space will be determined in the order the email response is received.

IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE AN EMAIL ALERT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR OUR LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE EMAIL US OR CLICK ON THE EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW AND SEND US AN EMAIL WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND PHONE #.

studioconcertseries@gmail.com

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

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/s/Sampler/TAR2013HolidayOne/{/jwplayer}

The Alternate Root 2013 Holiday Sampler, Part Two

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/s/Sampler/TAR2013Holiday2Two/{/jwplayer}

The 2nd Annual Alternate Root Magazine Readers' Choice Awards Winners
Here's the way we went about this. It's a "Readers' Poll" so we took posts from Facebook, Twitter, email and comments into account when choosing the nominees. We have covered these artists, albums etc. in the magazine over the course of the past year. These artists, their publicists or management companies have supported us with press releases, product and access to the artists for interviews, etc. We then narrowed each category down to 15 for the final ballot. Some of them just came down to what we, the editors and writers, thought were the best in each category. As always, there are artists that many readers will feel are missing, but when kept within the context of our criteria, these are not omissions for any reason other than what we used to create the list of nominees.
After tallying up the more than 50,000 votes here are the top 3 as voted by the readers and fans.

Roots / Americana Group

1. The Mavericks

2. Band of Heathens

3. Girls Guns and Glory

Roots / Americana Performer Solo or Duo


1. Paul Thorn

2. Marshall Chapman

3. Seth Walker

Roots / Americana Artist, Duo or Group Pushing the Envelope


1. Hymn for Her

2. Elephant Revival

3. Birds of Chicago

Roots / Americana Debut Artist, Duo or Group

1. Littlewolf

2. Vintage Trouble

3. The Trishas

Roots / Americana Female Vocalist


1. Christine Ohlman - (Christine Ohlman and Rebel Montez, G.E. Smith 'Saturday Night Live' Band)

2. Audrey Auld - (Solo performer)

3. Rhiannon Giddens - (Carolina Chocolate Drops)

Roots / Americana Male Vocalist


1. Cruz Contreras - (The Black Lillies)

2. Raul Malo - (Solo performer, The Mavericks)

3. Ward Hayden - (Girls, Guns and Glory)

Roots / Americana Songwriter


1. Paul Thorn

2. Willie Nile

3. Rodney Crowell

Roots / Americana Guitar Player


1. Mark Robinson

2. Derek Trucks

3. Rosie Flores

Roots / Americana Mandolin Player


1. Kevin Breit - (Mandolin Orchestra)

2. Jay Lapp - (Steel Wheels)

3. Brent Truitt - (The Steeldrivers)

Roots / Americana Banjo Player


1. Trent Wagler - (Steel Wheels)

2. Dom Flemons - (Carolina Chocolate Drops)

3. Richard Bailey - (The Steeldrivers)

Roots / Americana Violin/Fiddle Player


1. Billy Contreras - (The Black Lillies)

2. Bridget Law - (Elephant Revival)

3. Fats Kaplin - (Studio, Solo)

Roots / Americana Album (2012)


1. Paul Thorn - What the Hell Is Going On?

2. Girls Guns and Glory - Sweet Nothings

3. Carloina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden

Roots / Americana Music Venue/Club


1. Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA

2. Gruene Hall, New Braunfels, TX

3. The Family Wash, East Nashville, TN

 

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.
Listen and buy the music of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Emmylou Harris from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

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

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.

Listen and buy the music of Bob Dylan from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

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

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.

Listen and buy the music of The Carolina Chocolate Drops from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Lucinda Williams from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of James McMurtry from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Cowboy Junkies from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Steve Earle from AMAZON or iTunes

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”.

Listen and buy the music of Band of Heathens from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

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

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.

Listen and buy the music of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings from AMAZON or iTunes

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”.

Listen and buy the music of Old Crow Medicine Show from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Ryan Adams from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of The Bottle Rockets from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Todd Snider from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Listen and buy the music of Rodney Crowell from AMAZON or iTunes

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”. 

Listen and buy the music of Son Volt from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Drive-By Truckers from AMAZON or iTunes

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?”).

Listen and buy the music of Dave Alvin from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of The Civil Wars from AMAZON or iTunes

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”).

Listen and buy the music of Mary Gauthier from AMAZON or iTunes

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”).

Listen and buy the music of Justin Townes Earle from AMAZON or iTunes

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).

Listen and buy the music of Blue Rodeo from AMAZON or iTunes

 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”.

Listen and buy the music of The Old 97’s from AMAZON or iTunes

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”.

Listen and buy the music of Hayes Carll from AMAZON or iTunes

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. 

Listen and buy the music of BR549 from AMAZON or iTunes

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.
Listen and buy the music of Things About Coming My Way from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Roseanne Cash from AMAZON or iTunes

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. 

Listen and buy the music of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Eilen Jewell from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Wilco from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Adam Ezra Group from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Eilen Jewell from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Girls, Guns and Glory from AMAZON, CDBaby or iTunes

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

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

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!

{jwplayer}&playlistauto.file=images/mediacenter/artists/t/Top_20_Envelope_Pushers/Top20EnvelopeArtists/{/jwplayer}

    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.

 Listen and buy the music of Devon Allman from AMAZON or iTunes

 
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.

Listen and buy the music of Sergio Webb from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Seth Walker from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Martin Sexton from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Chris Hersch from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Garrett Lebeau from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Band of Heathens from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Old Crow Medicine Show from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Carolina Chocolate Drops from AMAZON or iTunes

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.”

Listen and buy the music of Los Lobos from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Tedeschi Trucks Band from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Drive-By Truckers from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Yarn from AMAZON or iTunes

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.”

Listen and buy the music of Beausoleil from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Alabama Shakes from AMAZON or iTunes

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.”

Listen and buy the music of Blind Boys of Alabama from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of The Old 97’s from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Reckless Kelly from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Wilco from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of Steep Canyon Rangers from AMAZON or iTunes

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 .

Listen and buy the music of The Little Willies from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

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

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.  

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

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.

Listen and buy the music of North Mississippi All Stars from AMAZON or iTunes

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.

Listen and buy the music of The Bottle Rockets from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.

Listen and buy the music of The Black Lillies from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.

Listen and buy the music of Hot Club of Cowtown from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.

Listen and buy the music of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.

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

#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.”

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

#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.

Listen and buy the music of Christine Ohlman and Rebel Montez from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.”

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

#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..."

Listen and buy the music of Semi-Twang from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.

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

#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.”

Listen and buy the music of Crooked Still from AMAZON or iTunes

#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.