​Weldon Henson (from album Stone Cold Country Gold available on Hillbilly Renegade Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
 
Weldon Henson tunes his radio dial to AM as he locates a signal transmitting the sweet sounds of Country music that filled the airwaves during the 1950’s and 1960’s. His low-level vocal raises a chill as the band plays a rhythm that spins around honky tonk dance floors. His recent release, Stone Cold Country Gold, gathers together a sack full of vintage sounds that Weldon Henson delivers fresh as today. The title track opens the song roster with a blast as Stone Cold Country Gold draws the line in love, suggesting that ‘cutting our losses’ is the smart move in “If I Can’t Talk to You” as quiet acoustic notes lead the slow-dance sad story of “The Past Ten Years” and follow a fiddle into the reverie of good memories that have become “Lost in Time”.
 
Weldon Henson is a true son of Texas Dance Hall culture, refreshing the sounds that have kicked up sawdust for multiple decades with tales from today. He heads down to the Broken Spoke for “Two Steppin’ Tuesdays” as a border beat helps preserve the “Pastime of Country Music”. Stone Cold Country Gold recalls a cherished era in Country music with each note, from the heart tugging tale of a good old dog in “Carter’s Song” to the sashay sway of “Come On”. A working man makes plans for after dark in “Drink. Dance, Have a Good Time” as Stone Cold Country Gold raises a toast to a dive bar with “This Ol’ Truck” and Weldon Henson issues warnings over the runaway beat of “Playing with Fire”. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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​Reed Turchi (from album World on Fire available on Xenon Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
 
Rural Folk Blues is the soundtrack for World on Fire, the recent release from Reed Turchi. Sunday morning Blues in the salvational march of opening track, “Walk with Me”, the lonesome Blues of “Highway 51”, the late-night groove in “When You’ve Got a Good Friend”, and the Blues crawl of “Backdoor Man”. The sound is the music Reed Turchi fell in love with as a teenager, Hill Country Blues. Sonically, the emotions of the words are wrapped with live music; World on Fire recorded live over two nights, with no edits or overdubs on the final mix. 
 
Health and life upheavals were that background for Reed Turchi as he headed into the recording of the World on Fire. He shared that ‘as terrible as my illness made me feel, what shook me was not knowing what was happening. I was getting steadily worse and worse despite new prescriptions, and so it seemed like my time on earth was running out. My perspective on everything just completely changed. I knew I needed to transform my life, and I felt I didn’t have the luxury of time, so I set it all on fire at once: divorce, leaving Nashville, moving to New York to pursue something new even though there was no certainty, or insurance, or savings, or back up plan’.
 
A heartbeat thump drives “Morning Train” as a shuffled drumbeat is the bed for “Lay My Burden Down” while a slow dance sway is in the revolving rhythms for “Someday Baby” and a hesitant groove hears the pleas of “Don’t Leave Me Baby”. Reed Turchi creates a time capsule for where he is in his own life by curating an audio representation of Hill Country Blues traditions. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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​The Steeldrivers (from the album Outrun available The Steeldrivers/Sun Label Group) (by Brian Rock)
 
Bluegrass stalwarts, The Steeldrivers. celebrate 20 years of outrunning father time on their seventh album, Outrun. Singing songs of crime and come-uppance, the band adds Blues and Outlaw Country elements to add a haunting, foreboding air to these twelve tales of passion and rash actions. 
 
“The River Knows” is a haunting Bluegrass tale of abuse and revenge. Celtic violin strains introduce the story as lead singer Matt Dame sings ‘she covered up his anger with a little rouge and Maybeline’: giving a vivid description of the aftermath of a man who ‘never learned how to love, only how to hate himself’ as he describes the Jekyll and Hyde behavior of this dark antagonist. The cheery interplay between violin and banjo masks the dysfunctional relationship between abuser and victim. The all-too-familiar pattern of rage and remorse doesn’t stay hidden for long. Comparing it to a raging river, Dame sings ‘the water’s rising with secrets and sin. Down, down, down; it goes around the bend. Water never tells how the story goes. But oh, the river knows’. Like a raging river, emotions can only be held back so long before they breach their banks. When the emotional flood subsides ‘somebody called the sheriff about a body on the bank. Upon closer inspection, he asked who he should thank. There was a missing finger where he wore his wedding band. Only the shadow on that bridge knows what happened to that man’. The cheery fiddle and violin finally make sense as the victim is finally freed from her pain.
 
Like a small town filled with dark secrets, The Steeldrivers offer tantalizing hints of a sordid past while the details remain hidden behind the shadows and the sealed lips of the locals. “Emma Lee” utters innuendos about a widow’s deceased husband. “Rosanna” sings of a man haunted by the past - and the ghost of his former lover. “Cut You Down” offers a karmic warning to those who think they can hide their crimes behind closed doors. The Outrun title track gives a more direct warning that you ‘can’t outrun the Mississippi river in a Shelby GT Ford. You can’t outrun the angels. You can’t outrun the Lord. You can’t outrun a broken heart that gives in to a gun. And you can’t outrun the Grim Reaper once the deed is done’. The musical backing of banjo, bass, and fiddle create an air of mystique to complement the veiled lyrics. Even if the band is reluctant to reveal the secrets of their stories, they do give some hints to their probable causes. “Booze and Cigarettes” is a rollicking party on the patio that celebrates cutting loose on a Friday night. “Painted and Poison” is both a tribute and warning about wild women while “You Should See the Other Guy” portrays the aftermath of a man defending an abused woman. “Prisoners Tears” and “When the Last Teardrop Falls” slow down the tempo to express regret for the sins of the past. Finally, sharing a glimmer of hope, “On My Way” shows The Steeldrivers offering a fresh start. Singing, ‘I’ve been fighting this battle too long between the bars and the Bible. I think it’s time I surrendered. Yeah, it’s time for revival’. Dame realizes the pursuit of pleasure has only caused pain. Realizing that it’s not too late to change, he vows ‘whatever kind of hell the devil tempts me with, it ain’t gonna work today’. Making new choices frees him from the past, and whatever skeletons may lie there. Fusing Bill Monroe with Edgar Allan Poe, The Steeldrivers create captivating Bluegrass that’s equal parts haunting and harmonious. (by Brian Rock)
 
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For more information, please visit The Steeldrivers website
 

​Charlie Musselwhite (from the album Look Out Highway available on Forty Below Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
The term legend gets a little bit watered-down in current conversations when the word is attached to everyone from Marvel superheroes to those promoting themselves far beyond the accomplishments. Legendary status needs more than big wins, however, and what truly shows the worth of the man or woman receiving the crown is the humility with which they accept the commendation in addition to the mastery of the medium that brought them into mainstream awareness. And that is what marks Charlie Musselwhite as a Bluesman in the Legend category. Head of Forty Below Records, producer Eric Corne wraps the kudos in an overview of the musician, stating ‘working with an artist of Charlie's caliber is an honor and privilege. He's one of the most iconic Blues musicians working today. And we look forward to taking his legacy to the next level’.
 
Charlie Musselwhite issues a warning on opening cut, and title track, “Look Out Highway” to begin the song cycle on an album of stories drawn from his own history. A tangle of notes and a sturdy backbeat hear a personal tale that plays out in “Ghosts of Memphis” while “Ramblin’ is My Game” and “Highway 61” speak the story of a traveling troubadour. Look Out Highway the future for matters of the heart in the dark clouds forming on the horizon with “Storm Warning” and sends out hopes for a finer world with “Ready for Time to Get Better”. A slow stroll walks across the late-night noir of “Blues Lounge” as Charlie Musselwhite gives a shout out to “Hip Shakin’ Mama”, adopting a confident stride to request “Baby, Won’t You Please Help Me”. Closing out Look Out Highway, what begins as a tender tale about his love expands to include the rest of humanity as Charlie Musselwhite adds philosopher to his resume on “Open Road”. 
 
A sixty-year history in the Blues has taken Charlie Musselwhite from Mississippi to Memphis, from Chicago to California. His job training grants him a knowledge of the many facets of the Blues and has garnered him multiple nominations and awards as well as sideman credits for equally statured artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gov't Mule, INXS, George Thorogood, Cat Stevens, and Elvin Bishop. In his personal life, Charlie had John Lee Hooker as a close friend as well as having the master Bluesman as best man at his wedding. In addition, Charlie Musselwhite was cast in Martin Scorsese's 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon in the role of Alvin Reynolds. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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For more information, please visit the Charlie Musselwhite website
 

​Olive Klug (from the album Lost Dog available on Signature Sound Recordings) (by Danny McCloskey)
Beginning the life of a traveling musician by putting their home on wheels and taking to the highways in a van, Olive Klug (they/them) take their place among a long history of troubadours who have built a following by going door-to-door, street corner to stage. Amassing 20 million+ streams on Spotify, 200,000 TikTok viewers, and 100,000 Instagram followers, Olive Klug delivers a second album with the recent release, Lost Dogs. Addressing their day-to-day adventurers of a recently single musician, Olive Klug lists accomplishments by citing who can ‘prove they had the most fun’ through ‘tiny screens and Spotify streams trying to prove to the other that we won’ in “Cold War”. The picture fills out with real life contributions such as ‘smoking too much weed’ and ‘changes friends’ in a story that addresses the day after love has left the building. The song, and its story, are a template for Lost Dog as Olive Klug opens a personal diary for the cuts on the album, penning the tunes with a vulnerability that stands tall so that its successes and scars can be seen within an audio framework.
 
A heartbeat thump is the rhythm for “Fleeting” as Lost Dog offers gentle finger-picking support for the rear-view visions of “One Dimension” while a rapid-fire vocal delivery matches the frenetic tangle of notes and runaway beats in “Opposite Action”. Opening Lost Dog with a one-on-one conversation, Olive Klug begins the album’s song cycle with “Taking Punches from the Breeze”, the story becoming a shared experience with its fellow humans as familiar scenarios are staged in the tale. Acoustic guitar strums mimic the iron rails virtually humming underneath “Train of Thought” while Olive Klug admits to limitations as they maintain a pride in for their own life in “What to Make of Me” as reverie-born rhythms wrap comfortably around the Lost Dog title track. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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For more information, please visit the Olive Klug website
 

​Hogslop String Band (from the album Down the Road available on Tone Tree Music/Hogslop String Band) (by Danny McCloskey)
On their recent release, Hogslop String Band head Down the Road, the title track opening the song cycle for the album, defining fans as family with the tag line ‘all my people live down the road’. Sonically the song is a psychedelic dream played out against the traditional sound of a string band. The style is a brand for the four members of Hogslop String Band (Kevin Martin (vocals/fiddle), Gabriel Kelley (vocals/guitar/harmonica), Daniel Binkley (vocals/banjo), Pickle (upright bass)) as they blend vintage string band sounds with the passion of Rock’n’Roll, getting the group the moniker of Punk purists.
 
Hyper strums create the train-track beat that holds up the story in “Shadow of the Pines” as the natural groove of Hogslop String Band softens to tell the tale of “Mississippi Queen”. The pace picks up for “Gotta Get Goin’”, keeps the momentum going to encourage “Let’s Sing Our Song”, and aims for the dance floor to describe friendly demons with “Highs and Lows”. Down the Road welcomes Sierra Ferrell as she rides shotgun for “Oldsmobile” while Margo Price joins Hogslop String Band for the picture of fame captured in their version of “Cover of the Rolling Stone’.They reimagine The Band’s tune “Rag Mama Rag” as a determined sway envelopes easy rhythms when Hogslop String Band exits Down the Road with “Magic Mountain”.  (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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For more information, please visit the Hogslop String Band website
 

​Mark Rubin, Jew of Oklahoma (from the album Dispatches from a World Gone Mad available as a self-release) (by Danny McCloskey)
Lying claim to a musical persona as the Jew of Oklahoma, as well as title a release Dispatches from a World Gone Mad. Mark Rubin delivers his most recent album. Before delving into the sounds of the album, a back story for Mark Rubin will help with an understanding of both the ‘who’ and the ‘what’. With a passion for humankind as big as his persona, Mark Rubin has been a fixture of music for three decades, producing many Roots artists as well as co-founding Bad Livers (along with Danny Barnes) in 1990. Bad Livers were a band that blurred the lines between The Carter Family and Iggy Pop, and blended The Misfits with Mississippi John Hurt, in the process creating a future format for Americana. His formative years in rural Oklahoma heard a younger Mark Rubin on tuba before transitioning to the bass guitar. 
 
The background for Mark Rubin in place, addressing the reasoning of Dispatches from a World Gone Mad is easier to understand. A few of the tracks on the album are instrumentals, Mark Rubin allowing personal perspectives from listeners to fill in the stories of “Berish Katz Breakdown” and “Reb Dovidi’s Reel”. With a lyrical theme of ‘bombs keep-a falling on my head’ Dispatches from a World Gone Mad musically draws the line and gives a platform for Mark Rubin to talk about his observations as he makes suggestions that ideally can become action. A coordinated sonic surge begins the industrial age hum that becomes a foundation for Mark Rubin when he explains the cycle spinning for “The World is a Wheel” as finger-picking ignites the rhythms for “Bear at the Door” while the string plucks of “Dog Whistle” gather attention for both canine and human ears. Never standing on a podium claiming knowledge, Mark Rubin relates his own beliefs with words that demand consideration when Dispatches from a World Gone Mad stages an anthem for the pandemic years alongside the forced home incarceration of Mideast strife as Mark Rubin lists the “Horrors of the War”, stomping out a beat as he issues a warning for “Goon with a Hammer” and offers an introduction/history lesson via determined banjo strums and plucks for “Wild Bill Jones”. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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For more information, please visit the Mark Rubin, Jew of Oklahoma website
 
 

​Adam Chaffins (from the E.P. Trailer Trash available on Spirit Nashville Recordings/Fluid Music Revolution) (by Danny McCloskey)
There is no filter for the images that Adam Chaffin puts into words on his recent E.P. release, Trailer Trash. He creates a flesh-and-blood ‘heart of gold that’s beating’ for the lead character that floats on the easy rhythms of the title track. He continues to offer insight into his adventures on the Country Soul sway of “Little Bit at a Time”. 
 
Originally from Eastern Kentucky before relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, Adam Chaffins wraps his past into his day-to-day as he explains plans for the future in “Living Till Me Dying Day” while he introduces “Kentucky Girl” and gives a shout-out to “Dive Bar Moses”. (by Danny McCloskey)
 
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For more information, please visit the Adam Chaffins website
 

​I’m With Her (from the album Wild and Clear and Blue available on Rounder Records/Concord) (by Danny McCloskey)
The natural harmonies and gentle Folk melodies of the debut I’m With Her album were a breath of fresh air upon its 2018 release. Seven years along the members of the group (Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz) return as welcomed friends for a new release, Wild and Clear and Blue. Of the title track, I’m With Her shared that ‘we all have deep visceral memories of the music of our childhoods: cassette tapes in the car, festival jams, and songs around the piano. This song came to life as we tried to honor these memories, and the legacy of Nanci Griffith and John Prine, among others. It’s tapping into the nostalgia of these feelings - giving life to the ephemeral ideas of a not-so-distant past: the five & dime stores, the rushing rivers, the pure and simple paradise of time and place’.
The ease of the vocal harmony, and the simple backing of string instruments, belies the intricacy and depth of the songs on Wild and Clear and Blue. Guitar, fiddle, and mandolin play tag underneath the combined voices of “Find My Way to You” while “Sisters of the Night Watch” floats on ambient tones to open a tune that marches on the rhythm of strums. I’m With Her present the songs on the album as lost gems, familiar immediately and shining brightly. A tentative vocal underscores the shaky steps of change that become the story in “Standing on the Fault Line” while “Only Daughter” relaxes on gentle rhythms and peaceful memories. Wild and Clear and Blue celebrates our earth and its creatures when I’m With Her sing of “Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive)”, opening the album basking in “Ancient Light” on a shuffling rhythm while they exit on the sharp-angled notes of “Rhododendron”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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For more information, please visit the I’m With Her website
 
 

​Little Feat (from the album Strike Up the Band available on Hot Tomato Productions) (by Danny McCloskey)
Since 1969, Little Feat have been a constant presence in the world of music. Rather than a phoenix resurrecting every few years, the band has flown high and far. Even when on the occasional hiatus, Little Feat have been namechecked by multiple artists are a needed primer for their own sound, a DIY guide to both resilience and the cornerstone for genres such as Roots Rock and jam bands. Core members have joined with a fresh infusion of talent to deliver the recently released, Strike Up the Band, the album following 2024’s release, Sam’s Place.  Strike Up the Band is a suitcase full of Roots music styles from a group that has become musical alchemists, fusing Blues, Funk, Rock’n’Roll, Soul, Americana, and Folk sounds into a blend that has become a brand for Little Feat. 
Little Feat morph into a gypsy band when they welcome Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams for a journey to “Deep in the Bluegrass Pines” while Larkin Poe are guests on the Strike Up the Band title track. An electric guitar wanders freely across through “When Hearts Fall” as a street parade shuffle supports the advice of “Running Out of Time with the Blues”. Little Feat stay true to the Dixie Rock’n’Roll rhythms they patented on their initial album output when the board “Midnight Flight” while an easy sway wraps around the wisdom of “Love and Life (Never Fear)” as “Bayou Mama” drifts down a current of Southern Rock, and a funk boogie rides shotgun for the band’s follicle fears in “Too High to Cut My Hair”. A traveling saga opens Strike Up the Band with a thick groove in “4 Days of Heaven 3 Days of Work” as Little Feat exit the album on a second line shout out to the Crescent City with “New Orleans Cries When It Sings”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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For more information, please visit the Little Feat website