// Category Archive for: Country Music

Music Review: The Warden, L-I-V-I-N

Published on April 6th, 2017 in: Americana, Country Music, Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Only The Warden could change my mind about “Kokomo.” To refresh your memory, The Warden is Ward Richmond, an East Dallas hellraiser who sings about drinking and regretting, honky-tonking and shenanigans, and he does it with style and aplomb. On his welcome return, L-I-V-I-N, The Warden dips into a variety of genres that are all filtered through his particularly Texas vibe.
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Music Review: Levi Petree, It’s Country

Published on March 3rd, 2017 in: Americana, Country Music, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews, Singer/Songwriters |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Levi Petree’s debut album is called It’s Country, but it isn’t. It’s a delicious melange of things that might fit neatly under the Americana umbrella: pastoral balladry, kick-ass stompers, folksy sunniness, and more than a little punk-rock snarl. They come together to make a debut that is strong and assured, with loads of personality.
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Music Review: Don Rich and the Buckaroos, Guitar Pickin’ Man

Published on December 16th, 2016 in: Americana, Country Music, Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Retrovirus, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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In the pantheon of great guitarists, there are ones that come easily to mind: Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Jeff Beck, B.B. King. I’d add the Buckaroos’ Don Rich to that list. His style is immediately recognizable, and without his sonic experimentation, Buck Owens’s catalog would lack a certain verve. While Owens was always happy to dip a toe in the rock side, Don Rich’s playing upped the ante. His fuzzed-out guitar work on “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass?” is as fresh and timely as anything recorded in 1969, and viscerally satisfying. This is pretty remarkable for someone who was hired to play fiddle.
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Music Review: Buck Owens And The Buckaroos, The Complete Capitol Singles: 1957-1966

Published on December 9th, 2016 in: Country Music, Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reissues, Retrovirus |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Once again, Omnivore Recordings gives us the Christmas gift we need: a new Buck Owens and the Buckaroos compilation. The Complete Capitol Singles 1957-1966 covers a particularly creatively fecund phase in Buck Owens’s career: the early days at Capitol, his partnership with the brilliant Don Rich, and a string of hits that defined the influential Bakersfield Sound. The Complete Capitol Singles 1957-1966 is gorgeously remastered and sounds stunningly good. Crisp, even, with that trebly production that Buck favored (so it would sound good on AM radio) sounding better than ever.
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Music Review: Stewart Eastham, Dancers In The Mansion

Published on August 12th, 2016 in: Americana, Country Music, Current Faves, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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Stewart Eastham’s latest effort, Dancers in the Mansion, is like a wild night in a Nashville bar: the swinging country music encourages you to hit the dance floor, while occasional somber sounds result in moments of reflection. All that’s missing is a little too much bourbon. (more…)

Music Review: J.D. Malone and the Experts, Town and Country

Published on July 15th, 2016 in: Country Music, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Tyler Hodg

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The genre of country music is one of the worst offenders in producing soulless drivel. J.D. Malone and the Experts’ latest effort, Town and Country, is superior to the work of most mainstream artists in the same classification, but that’s not saying much. Where the album succeeds in exerting passion, it lacks in quality songs.

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Music Review: The Honeycutters, On The Ropes

Published on May 19th, 2016 in: Americana, Country Music, Current Faves, Feminism, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Asheville, North Carolina’s The Honeycutters have followed up 2015’s sublime Me Oh My with the completely wonderful On The Ropes. It’s good to have them back with such strong, satisfying material. Vocalist and songwriter Amanda Anne Platt’s voice is a treat: maybe older and wiser (by a year), but still hopeful. Hearts have been broken and mistakes have been made, but she’s not giving up. Ever.

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Music Review: Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter

Published on March 22nd, 2016 in: Country Music, Current Faves, Feminism, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |

By Melissa Bratcher

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Margo Price makes proper country music. Not bro-country, but honest to god, real live country music. She takes up the mantle of brilliant female singers: Loretta, Dolly, Tammy. Her debut album for Third Man Records, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, is throwback country on the surface, but her lyrics and sensibilities are completely modern. It’s an incredibly solid album, the kind of album that has staying power in your brain.

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