Issue Articles
The Band in the Hall
Before Hurricane Katrina, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band had recorded a new album. They had it set, ready to go, then the floodwaters came. After that, Ben Jaffe decided, “Releasing […]
A Sacred Place
Last year, Sacred Steel band the Campbell Brothers played a show at the Old Point Bar that was one of the highlights of the Jazz Fest fortnight, with the band […]
John Prine & Mac Wiseman, Standard Songs for Average People (Oh Boy)
John Prine has mastered the art of being John Prine. When he performs covers as he does here, they sound like they could be his songs. Standard Songs for […]
Kings of Leon, Because of the Times (RCA)
Funny, in England Kings of Leon are considered a southern rock band. At Voodoo, they sounded so British. Not in voice—Caleb Followill’s yowl is so backwoods as to make […]
Dale Watson, From the Cradle to the Grave (Hyena)
At last fall’s Americana Music Association conference in Nashville, everybody wanted to be Dale Watson. Many of the bands performing had fallen in love with honky-tonk music and were […]
JJ Grey & Mofro, Country Ghetto (Alligator Records)
Recent Alligator Records’ release State of Grace by the Holmes Brothers shares an emphasis on groove and voice with Country Ghetto, the newest release from Mofro. Both albums are […]
Dumpstaphunk, Listen Hear (Independent)
Late last summer, the members of Dumpstaphunk got breaks from their various touring duties. They took advantage of the moment and Ivan and Ian Neville, Tony Hall, Nick Daniels […]
Wynton Marsalis, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (Blue Note)
From the Plantation to the Penitentiary recalls the Black Arts era in African-American culture—particularly poetry and jazz, when it seemed figures such as Amiri Baraka and Rahsaan Roland Kirk […]
Kermit Ruffins, Live at Vaughan’s (Basin Street Records)
Live albums either work spectacularly or they don’t work very well at all. There was a feral, musical restlessness in the MC5 that was only captured on Kick Out […]
Slade, In for a Penny: Raves and Faves (Shout! Factory)
Slade made little impact on America, perhaps because they were too British, or maybe because they were too much a part of the glam moment in the 1970s, working […]
