Issue Articles
I Write the Songs
For Jim McCormick, becoming a Nashville songwriter has been a four-year journey from crashing on a friend’s couch for weeks at a time to a livelihood in the country music […]
The Baseball Project, Vol.1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (Yep Roc)
Last night, I went to Zephyr Field, and if you think about what you’re watching, it’s easy to get romantic about baseball. Catching for the Z’s was Raul Casanova, […]
Astral Project, Blue Streak (Astral Project)
Like much of New Orleans, Astral Project has the blues. Blue Streak is its first studio album since Katrina, and the compositions are their reactions to the storm and life […]
Irma Thomas, Simply Grand (Rounder)
On After the Rain, producer Scott Billington surrounded Irma Thomas with a smaller band than usual, and the results earned her a Grammy. For Simply Grand, he once again stripped […]
Liese’s Living Room, Hope So…(Independent)
The strength of Hope So… is its vibe, an amiable New Orleans rock groove that is influenced by R&B, soul, island music without ever working too hard. Everything sounds effortless, […]
Swenson Wins Press Club Award
Saturday, July 19, the Press Club of New Orleans honored excellence in journalism in the Crescent City. In a ceremony at the Harrah’s Hotel, consulting editor John Swenson’s “Every Accordionist […]
Hacienda Brothers, Arizona Motel (Proper)
Earlier this year, the Hacienda Brothers’ singer Chris Gaffney passed away after a bout with liver cancer. His voice and guitarist Dave Gonzales’ twang defined the Tucson-based band’s country soul. […]
George Long, Katrina Days: Life in New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina (Xlibris)/Yoshio and Keiko Toyama, The Holy Land: New Orleans, The Saint: Louis Armstrong (Touseisha)
Not surprisingly, Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath was irresistible for photographers. How often does the landscape you’ve known all your life become an unimaginable, alien place? How often does any place […]
Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue (Sony/Legacy)
Boy, Metacritic.com’s scorecard suggests there is some seriously overheated love in the critical world for the reissue of Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue. I don’t remember the album being […]
Various Artists, Eccentric Soul: The Tragar and Note Labels (Numero Group)
Sometimes archaeologists dig and find dinosaur bones; other times, the find the rounded arrowheads of a forgotten tribe that starved to death. The Numero Group’s “Eccentric Soul” series faces […]
