Rachel Cholst

Rachel Cholst

Roxie Watson — Try A Little Kindness

Roxie Watson has been near and dear to my heart for quite some time. The four-piece amiably dips into bluegrass, country, rock-a-billy, and folk with equal measure, and on their fourth release Try A Little Kindness, they throw in a…

The Naked Sun — War With Shadows

A classroom teacher with political consciousness and roots rock leanings, Philadelphia’s Drew Harris is a man after my own heart. His band, The Naked Sun, takes its name from an Isaac Asimov novel that exposes our fear of authority and…

Max Garcia Conover — Streetlights

Max Garcia Conover bowled me over with his previous album Motorhome. “Streetlights” continues in the same vein with a bigger sound: strange patchworks of keenly observed memories set to comfortably worn melodies and Garcia Conover’s performative vocals lead to a…

Anjana Vasan — Too Dark For Country

Anjana Vasan’s bold EP Too Dark For Country bears a double entendre. The songs here, like most good country songs, are not particularly buoyant (though “Key Lime Pie” is delectable). But the London-by-way-of-Singapore singer-songwriter addresses the near-constant racism she endures…