We Can Be Horses, the first full-length album from Milwaukee-based Buffalo Gospel, is a stunner. Like a hit-you-between-the-eyes-and-you-didn’t-know-what-happened kind of deal. Buffalo Gospel’s work is a fine example of modern, minimalist Americana. Vaguely melancholy, cautiously optimistic, 100% moving. The band’s…
For those of you who, like me, need to brush up on your folk music history, Alice Gerrard is a living legend. One of the first musicians — let alone ladies — to popularize bluegrass among ’60s hipsters, she also…
Nicki Bluhm’s polished folk pop grabs you by the ear and doesn’t let go. The Gramblers’ self-titles album may not be for you more rugged readers. But it holds a place in my heart. Bluhm’s sunny voice and the…
It’s been a while since I’ve had an album make me smile, then completely gut me, then make me smile again. Bravo, Tillers. The Tillers may owe their style to traditional Appalachian music, but unlike most of the folkies I’ve…
It took me a long time to jump on the I Can Lick Any SOB bandwagon. I though the few songs of theirs I’d heard a little crude (although “Westboro Baptist Church” holds a special place in my heart) and…