JO HENLEY - IN THE STUDIO
Boston based alt-country rockers Jo Henley recently completed the latest "4 On The Floor" sessions at Alternate Root TV Studios in Norwood, MA and these cats have never sounde...
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STEVEN SMITH BAND - IN THE STUDIO
Our friend Steve Smith is a singer/songwriter from upstate New York. We recorded this at his home studio in Chestertown, NY with the Steven Smith Band. Steve is a solid songwr...

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AMY McCARLEY and KENNY VAUGHAN - IN THE ALTERNATE ...
Amy McCarley is probably one of the better up and coming Americana/ Roots singer songwriters you've yet to hear. The Alabama native caught the ear of guitar ace Kenny Vaughan ...
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UNCLE LUCIUS - IN THE ALTERNATE ROOT TV STUDIO
Austin based Indie Roots rockers Uncle Lucius, stopped in to the Performing Artist Co-Op in East Nashville to record a set for Alternate Root TV. Uncle Lucius is another outst...
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THE WILD RUMPUS - IN THE ALTERNATE ROOT TV STUDIO
West Virginia stomp-grass from the kings of raucous, punk-infused bluegrass. From the Performing Artist Co-Op in East Nashville, guitarist extraordinaire Allan Dale Sizemore r...
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Gracie Curran has been featured on the Alternate Root lists for Top Female American Roots Vocalist, Top Roots Soul Acts and Top Bands in Boston and for good reason...she's a dynamic singer with a powerhouse voice. A blend of soul, blues, gospel and rock, she and her band mates, the High Falutin' Band defy description except for being a band to watch in the future. The sound rev...

EXTENDED PLAY From Alternate Root TV - Call it a New Orleans gumbo of delta blues, traditional jazz, gospel and soul if you need a definition. New Orleans based Luke Winslow-King is a traditionalist that finds his musical soul melding musical styles nearly a century old with a contemporary improvisational approach. A master bottleneck slide guitarist with a vintage voice, his mu...

Ever been to an outside concert, one of those all day affairs that run from noon until way in the wee hours? Right now, it is the afternoon and you are lying on a blanket, sitting with friends as warm temps and gently flowing music waft through the air. Your one thought, on repeat, it that this is perfect. That feeling lives in the Garrett Lebeau album, Rise to the Grind .

The inn...

It's Tuesday already and I've been busy listening to a whole lot of terrific new music from some old favorites like Barrence Whitfield and the Savages and Charlie Mars and some new to me artists like James Maddock, Rain Perry and Scott Nolan. I've narrowed my list to may favorite ten songs for this week and bring them to you with joy and in order. Here's my "ten favorite songs ...

MARSHALL CHAPMAN - BLAZE OF GLORY

I mean nothing personal, but you have got to watch out for that Marshall Chapman woman. Not that she will maim or disfigure. Not at all. Marshall will, however, surprise, bring a knowing smile and, at times, get an almighty ‘damn’ as listeners plug into her music. Blaze of Glory is one of those sly little bombs that Ms. Chapman set with a gleam in her eye.

Marshall Chapman can for...

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Terrance Simien can claim the title of Zydeco legend. The man has been an ambassador for the genre, and a bridge that helps Zydeco get beyond its regional box, for over thirty years. Native Cajun and Zydeco has a stronghold in Louisiana and the Gulf states. Terrance Simien stays true to the style traditions, but like the man himself and his multi-cultural Créole heritage, the m...

JC BROOKS AND THE UPTOWN SOUND - HOWL

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound showed their Soul, and presented it in all its best beats and poses on their debut Want More . The band was Soul music as defined by a rock’n’roll band. The blend of Rock and Soul stuck to the template formed in the early 1960’s, guitar, bass, keys and drums backing a front person with style and a show. For JCBUS, that frontman was Jayson Brooks. Th...

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We are very lucky at the Alt Root. The music we get, and the styles, is on the other side of Pop, Polish and focus groups. Hallelujah! Below are the songs that kicked, scraped and nudged one another out of the way for this week's list. No songs were injured during the process. There is some great music looking for light and a way to get its sound heard, if you listen. Here are ...

NORA JANE STRUTHERS AND THE PARTY LINE - CARNIVAL

There is a central character that runs through Carnival , the latest release from Nora Jane Struthers. The heroine of Carnival is a woman who has successfully integrated the past with the present. She is a time-traveler, moving betwen a life when day-to-day joys were made of simpler things as much as she is a woman of today. Life is cherished in Carniva...

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The events on Monday April 15th at the Boston Marathon left the Country in shock and Boston with a bit of a bloody nose. Cities around the US were rallying around Boston and watched as the police, FBI, EMT and firefighters and citizens all responded with heroic grace and then tuned in as the perpetrators of the terrorist acts that upended the city were hunted down and captured....

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 Mille...

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

Roots music has been around since Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie in many of the forms you see and hear...

THE ALTERNATE ROOT TOP 40 ROOTS ROCK ALBUMS 1980-89 (3)

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

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Soul music took its first steps in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sees Soul as "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky , secular testifying.”

Originally relegated to the Black Music charts, Soul music was picked up by a generation of Britis...

THE TOP 30 FEMALE VOCALISTS - RIGHT NOW!

From a list that seemed endless came the tough task of narrowing it down to our Top 30. There is the obvious choices, the new and rising stars, the unexpected and the "who?" You'll have choices that we missed, as always. Ther will be some you've never heard of that you may be inclined to check out on your own and discover something new and exciting. At any rate, here's The Alte...

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THE ALTERNATE ROOT'S 30 WOMEN BURNING UP THE BLUES

Eric Taylor has spent a lifetime as a folk singer and we all can benefit from his devotion to the music, and time put in on stages from coffee house to club on his most recent release, Studio 10 . The songs on the album are ridden hard, put away wet tales of moving through life. Studio 10 takes a look at small town life in “Bill”. The tale wanders around, cruising through the four ...

GRANT LANGSTON - WORKING UNTIL I DIE

Grant Langston has made a hard choice for Working Until I Die . Known for equal amounts of hard work and hard drinking, Grant Langston has chosen a hard production courtesy of Paul Q. Kolderie (The Pixies, Dinosaur, Jr, Radiohead, Hole). The mix of rock on steroids production and classic country songs on the jukebox may not seem like a good fit. Sometimes it is really hard to ima...

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There are a couple singers that can pull off what Brent Amaker does to a song. Similarities that come to mind are Lorne Greene with his version of “Ringo”, Audrey II, the plant from Little Shop of Horrors, Kraftwerk or Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. Backed by The Rodeo, Brent Amaker goes in with a voice that passed deeply resonant a few notes back. He grabs...

THE COMMUNAL WELL - UNDER A WESTERN SKY

If you were to list the most important historical events that changed the course of popular music in America those events would include the mass migration of jazz musicians to Paris, France in the post war era of the late 40's and early 50's and the similar migration of blues musicians to England in the late 50's and early 60's. Both, incidentally, occurred because those two un...

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One of the perks about being a fan of Roots music is that no banner needs to be flown or borders guarded against alien musical forms invading. We are more inclusive than exclusive, and the smart money rides on bands that use everything at their disposal. On that note, enter the Wheeler Brothers.

On their latest release, Gold Boots Glitter , the Wheeler Brothers take full advantage o...

ASHLEIGH FLYNN - A MILLION STARS

Ashleigh Flynn spins her stories in Portland, Oregon. Ashleigh takes history and sticks it in a song. On A Million Stars, her fourth release on her own imprint, Home Perm Records, Ashleigh introduces us to heroines and lawless ladies (sometimes the roles are interchangeable within the body of the characters). Her stage sets are America, though Ashleigh does take a little closer...

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Tokyo Rosenthal dropped us a line to talk about our 50 Songs on the American Condition list. We asked Tokyo how his topical songs find their inspiration…

Bob Dylan once said about the Beatles, "You guys have nothing to say", egging them on to write more meaningful tunes and touch on social commentary as Dylan is famed for. I subscribe to Dylan...

MEMORIAL DAY - FROM A VETERAN, ADVOCATE AND SONGWRITER

Walt Cronin is a reader, friend, musician, veteran and veteran's advocate. His story came to me via Facebook when I learned Walt Cronin uses his music as therapy to help veterans returning from war. His story was an interesting one and one we wanted to let him tell...in his own words. We enjoy getting stories from our fans and friends and bringing them to the public. Here's Wal...

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Mike Edwards of Spiritual Wardrobe, like all musicians, had two ideas in his mind for the business of music. One idea was the way he intuitively felt about his art and the way it could be transferre into a business model. The other option was the way the industry dictated. Mike took some time to tell his story.....Spoiler Alert! there is a happy ending.

From Mike Edwards - Spiri...

SETH WALKER - INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

The music of Nashville-based singer/songwriter Seth Walker, 39, is an engaging hybrid of Americana, blues, and jazz. But his signature style did not come easily. Walker endured a lengthy journey through several genres before he figured out which worked best for his pleasantly-raspy voice and laid-back guitar playing.

On his newest release, the self-produced Time Can Change , Walke...

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“Quit Your Job - Play Guitar” was a good opening salvo in the career of Mark Robinson. The album received high praise from what is ordinarily a stodgy, jaded blues press and it had some airplay around the country as well. What “Quit Your Job - Play Guitar” did, more importantly, was build anticipation for a follow up. That wait is over with the release of “Have Axe - Will Groov...

THE WILD RUMPUS - ALLAN SIZEMORE GETS A LIVE SOUND IN STUDIO

Finding any time to speak with The Wild Rumpus is difficult. The band is out just about every week making their way through the mountains of West Virginia for a show. Weather helped us out and we were lucky enough to catch The Wild Rumpus guitarist/banjoist/producer, Allan Sizemore, at home. He was cooking a beef stew to offset the winter storm that was hitting the mountains. W...

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GRETCHEN PETERS' NEW MUSE - A COLLINGS GUITAR

Maybe he wasn’t the only one, but Steve Forbert was probably the only one that fit so well into a club called Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers, shortened to CBGB-OMFUG, to go down in the history books as CBGB’s. While the venerated Lower East Side venue was giving birth to punk and new wave with The Ramones, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, Televisi...

YARN SERVES LEFTOVERS VOLUME TWO

We’re very lucky. Blake Christiana is a prolific man. Leftovers Volume Two takes care of the album doldrums experienced between releases by offering Yarn music ‘left off’ earlier releases. On the heels of the success of their last album release, Almost Home , Yarn present Leftovers V2 as the second in a series of releases that focuses on tracks that did not make the final selection...

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RE-PRINT

REVISITING THE MASTERPIECE OF MEMPHIS

Memphis has a long standing place in the history of American popular music dating back to the turn of the century. The center point, Beale Street, was ground zero for African American commerce and culture and served as the northern gateway to the cultural riches of the Mississippi Delta. “A meeting place for urban and rural styles,” emphasized folklorist George McDaniel, “Beale...

GARLAND JEFFREYS - THE KING OF IN BETWEEN

Garland Jeffreys has played us a song by song soundtrack to the past forty years in his recordings. It is words meeting music inside a sonic snapshot of contemporary life, as seen from the eyes of New York City native son. Growing up in the Sheepshead Bay area, named for the body of water that separates the mainland of Brooklyn from Coney Island, Garland Jeffreys ha...

THE RECORD COLLECTION

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - NEBRASKA

Bruce Springsteen has always created music steeped in the Roots of his influences, transferring jukebox, chicken shack and protest march songs into arena rock and roll. In his early years, with albums backed by the E Street Band, Bruce amped up the Jersey shore mix of Rock ‘n Soul and took it to the world….very successfully. Springsteen and the E Street Band have become synonym...

GREAT BIG SEA - XX

In band years, 20 is a lifetime. Great Big Sea have been singing, playing and charting music in their Canadian homeland for two decades. GBS member Alan Doyle has written tracks with his buddy Russell Crowe, with whom Alan appeared in Robin Hood, playing the role of Merry Man Allan A’Dayle. The key, as Alan Doyle sees it, is intention; “the way to be in a band for a lifetime is...

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THE ARCHIVES

REVIEWS

BEVEL AND EMBOSS - CELLULOID

This album oozes sweaty, dripping awesomeness! If "awesomeness" isn't a word, well, after listening to Celluloid it should be! Amsterdam based "instro-rock" masters Bevel Emboss is part Ventures, part Duane Eddy, part Wes Montgomery, part Dave Alvin all converging in a Route 66 roadhouse set in the middle of an Ennio Morricone dreamscape. This is the coolest thing since 'pipe scr...

ANGELA PERLEY AND THE HOWLIN' MOONS - NOWHERE IS NOW HERE

Angela Perley tells you right away in the song “County Fair” when she fesses up that “good time music makes me let down all my hair”. You have been warned. She and her band, the Howlin’ Moons, light a match and set fire to the five tracks that make up the group’s E.P., Nowhere Is Now Here . “18 Feet Under” is gossip delivered with a bit of homicidal advice and “Tangled Up o...

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FEATURES

THE ALTERNATE ROOT 2013 VALENTINE'S DAY SAMPLER

The huge amount of hearts and arrows sent digitally in response to our request for St. Valentine’s Day music was appreciated. The incoming music covered both sides of relationships. Whether hearts afire or hearts asunder, songs of survival or songs of sinking, middle fingers raised or arms around your lover….all moods, both down swings and emotiona...

THE ALTERNATE ROOT SALUTE TO WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - 'WOMEN ONLY' SAMPLER

The Alternate Root Women's History Month Sampler is ready for download and appreciation. We thanks the ladies who have not only contributed, but written songs that keep to the theme of this years Women History Month, Women Eductaion - Women Empowerment. Our sampler happily hosts music from Gretchen Peters, Sara Petite, Christine Ohlman, Audrey Auld, Bonnie Bishop, Susan Cattane...

ALTERNATE ROOT TV

THE TRISHAS - IN THE ALTERNATE ROOT TV STUDIO

Texas based band The Trishas joined Alternate Root TV at The Performing Artist Co-Op in East Nashville to tape a segment for Alternate Root TV Show 6. The Trishas are four multi-talented, singers that formed in 2008 to perform at a Tribute Concert for the late Kevin Welch. The four beautiful songstresses are Jamie Wilson, of the sweetheart band of the hill country The Gougers, ...

JAMES McMURTRY - IN THE ALTERNATE ROOT TV STUDIO

Perhaps one of the greatest songs of the past 20 years about the human condition in America in 2012 is 'We Can't Make it Here' from James McMurtry. McMurtry is a master of poignant, biting lyrics as demonstrated in this, one of his signature songs. This one of the very best performances we've ever had on Alternate Root TV. Filmed at the Alternate Root TV studio in Bos...

Well the banks won't be closed and schools are open...you probably won't have the day off either, which is a shame. April 20th is 420 Day. Anyway, 420 Day is a holiday so desperately in need of a soundtrack we've decided to supply one. Please join Truth & Salvage Co, Chief Greenbud, Jack Tempchin, Harlan Pepper, Brian Ashley Jones, White Mystery, Mic Harrison & The High Score, Jefferson Fox, Guy Schwartz, Jesse Dayton, The New Jack Hippie Collective, Shawn Z., Rich Mahan & The Cocktail Heroes, Dan Daniles & Your No Good Buddies and The Legendary Clampetts singing songs to celebrate the day. Read more to listen to download our first annual 420 Day Sampler.

Happy 420 Day. Need a soundtrack for a sing-a-long? The Alternate Root is proud to announce our first annual 420 Day Sampler. We would like to thanks the musicians who have donated songs. Join in a celebration of American Homegrown with American Roots music from LA boys with cowboy hats, Truth & Salvage Co, the real head on a nickel, Chief Greenbud, songwriter Jack Tempchin, Canada's Harlan Pepper, Nashville's Brian Ashley Jones, White Mystery singing an ode to the hybrid strain of White Widow, Mic Harrison & The High Score, Jefferson Fox, Guy Schwartz, Jesse Dayton, The New Jack Hippie Collective, Shawn Z., Rich Mahan & The Cocktail Heroes, Dan Daniels & Your No Good Buddies and The Legendary Clampetts singing songs to celebrate the day. Read more to listen to download our first annual 420 Day Sampler.

DOWNLOAD 420 DAY SAMPLER

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ALTERNATE ROOT TV - IN THE STUDIO

ERIC BRACE AND PETER COOPER IN THE ALTERNATE ROOT ...
As we eagerly await the arrival of the new Eric Brace and Peter Cooper album " The Comeback Album " (although for us, they've never left) we decided as a right of Spring we'd pull Peter Cooper's song about the hope and dreams of baseball fans everywhere, the hope on a day when all things are equal, the ...
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"4 ON THE FLOOR" - FEATURING BEX MARSHALL
"4 On the Floor" is a new, short form program from Alternate Root TV that highlights a four song performance by one of our studio guests. Rather than putting one video up at a time from a featured artist we've decided to put the four songs together. It will at times be accompanied by interview or dia...
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EXTENDED PLAY - WITH CHELLE ROSE AND SERGIO WEBB
Chelle Rose stopped by The Family Wash for filming with man-of-all-guitars Sergio Webb as back-up. Chelle performed four songs, three from her Ghost of Browder Holler album (“Leona Barnett”, Wild Violets Pretty” and “Shady Grove” and a new track, “Blue Ridge Blood”.

The mountains are a part of Chelle R...
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LITTLEWOLF - IN THE STUDIO
Rising from the fertile music ground of Lubbock, Texas, blues rockers Littlewolf perform their track 20 Lies Ago from the Alternate Root TV studio in Boston. Kristi Clanton, a gifted 21 year old with a booming voice a tight slide guitar chops and blues guitarist extraordinaire Steve Lott front this ...
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The Alternate Root

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Boston based alt-country rockers Jo Henley recently completed the latest "4 On The Floor" sessions at Alternate Root TV Studios in Norwood, MA and these cats have never sounde...

Our friend Steve Smith is a singer/songwriter from upstate New York. We recorded this at his home studio in Chestertown, NY with the Steven Smith Band. Steve is a solid songwr...

Amy McCarley is probably one of the better up and coming Americana/ Roots singer songwriters you've yet to hear. The Alabama native caught the ear of guitar ace Kenny Vaughan ...

Austin based Indie Roots rockers Uncle Lucius, stopped in to the Performing Artist Co-Op in East Nashville to record a set for Alternate Root TV. Uncle Lucius is another outst...

West Virginia stomp-grass from the kings of raucous, punk-infused bluegrass. From the Performing Artist Co-Op in East Nashville, guitarist extraordinaire Allan Dale Sizemore r...

The inn...

Marshall Chapman can for...

Soul music took its first steps in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sees Soul as "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky , secular testifying.”

Originally relegated to the Black Music charts, Soul music was picked up by a generation of Britis...

One of the perks about being a fan of Roots music is that no banner needs to be flown or borders guarded against alien musical forms invading. We are more inclusive than exclusive, and the smart money rides on bands that use everything at their disposal. On that note, enter the Wheeler Brothers.

On their latest release, Gold Boots Glitter , the Wheeler Brothers take full advantage o...

Tokyo Rosenthal dropped us a line to talk about our 50 Songs on the American Condition list. We asked Tokyo how his topical songs find their inspiration…

Bob Dylan once said about the Beatles, "You guys have nothing to say", egging them on to write more meaningful tunes and touch on social commentary as Dylan is famed for. I subscribe to Dylan...

From Mike Edwards - Spiri...

On his newest release, the self-produced Time Can Change , Walke...

NICE TWEETS

There is no friend in list

SEARCH THE ALTERNATE ROOT - TYPE IN THE NAME AND HIT ENTER

SIGN UP FOR THE ALTERNATE ROOT WEEKLY UPDATE

ALTERNATE ROOT TV - IN THE STUDIO

Chelle Rose stopped by The Family Wash for filming with man-of-all-guitars Sergio Webb as back-up. Chelle performed four songs, three from her Ghost of Browder Holler album (“Leona Barnett”, Wild Violets Pretty” and “Shady Grove” and a new track, “Blue Ridge Blood”.

The mountains are a part of Chelle R...