Amythyst Kiah — Dig
Amythyst Kiah is going to be famous. That’s the first thing Karen (of Karen and the Sorrows) told me, and when I heard her perform life this past Friday I knew it to be true. No less than Toshi Reagon…
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club — The Commandments According to SCAC
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is an alt-country institution that, sadly, I’m not familiar with. Fortunately, The Commandments According to SCAC is an excellent introduction for slackers like me. The Commandments feels like a full-throttle ride through a Stephen King novel.…
Jamie Lynn Vessels — Cassanova No More
After a short detour north, let’s continue our trip to New Orleans. A few days into Jazz Fest, my sister and I rolled into a bar on Frenchman Street to check out Jamie Lynn Vessels, whom a number of people…
Lynn Drury — Come To My House
When Paul Sanchez tells you that someone is the best rhythm guitarist they’ve ever played with, you pay attention. Due to the events referred to in my previous series, Your Twenties Are a Motherfucker, etc etc I’m only just now…
Cannondolls — Crumbs
If you want to win my heart, write a good murder ballad. I’m swooning over the Cannondolls’ “Bed on Fire.” In general, it’s a genre that I wish would be put to rest (so to speak), as it perpetuates a…
Chris Staples — Golden Age
Bill Waterson once famously noted that “People who get nostalgia about childhood were obviously never children.” Chris Staples (not to be confused with Chris Stapleton) seems to have applied that maxim to early adulthood in Golden Age (thus concluding our…
Lydia Loveless — Real
Moving forward with my series, Your Twenties Are a Motherfucker But It Probably Gets Worse (NB: I don’t personally think it does…at least not for a while…), there is no better conveyor of suck-titude than Lydia Loveless. I find Loveless’…
Courtney Marie Andrews — Honest Life
Courtney Marie Andrews has many accomplishments under her belt: playing with Damien Jurado, collaborating with Jimmy Eats World, touring internationally, producing the finest album of 2016 (this one.) She has one more important but dubious notch to add to her…