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Churchwood: The Beefheart of the Blues

By John Morthland, eMusic Contributor

Churchwood is a blues-rock quintet hailing from Austin, Texas; Churchwood 2, their second album, was released in February of this year, and makes them sound both more and less like a blues band than their 2011 debut Churchwood. Austin, at this point, thinks of itself as the blues capital of the world, or at least the white blues capital of the world, but you'll not be hearing Churchwood among the usual cavalcade of Austin blues… more »

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Icon: George Jones

By John Morthland, eMusic Contributor

Certainly there have been greater all-around artists, writers/singers/performers - Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash are but a few - but George Jones, according to consensus, is the greatest singer country music has ever produced. His voice and style are instantly recognizable, yet hard to describe. His voice doesn't seem to come from the gut or the throat, but from somewhere in the back of his head, forced out through clenched teeth. Words are… more »

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Who Is…Hiss Golden Messenger

By Stephen M. Deusner, eMusic Contributor

It feels odd to ask "Who is…?" of a guy who has been making music for nearly 20 years, but veteran Michael Taylor is just now finding his largest audience with Hiss Golden Messenger. It's actually his third band, following the short-lived punk group Ex-Ignota and the longer-lived San Francisco alt-country act The Court & Spark. When the latter broke up in 2007 — after four albums and nearly a decade of near-constant touring —… more »

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Sam Amidon, Bright Sunny South

2013 | Label: Nonesuch

In the Borges story “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,” an author attempts to internalize Don Quixote so fully that he’s able to recreate it rather than transcribe it. Similar metaphysics elevate the deceptively simple music of Sam Amidon, who doesn’t cover folk music so much as he regenerates it, blending together anonymous traditionals and strategic pop tunes in his own inimitable style. Homespun as it sounds, it has the heft of jazz and art music, especially now that Amidon has moved from indie upstart Bedroom Community to the august… more »

Glenn Jones, My Garden State

2013 | Label: Thrill Jockey

New-school American Primitive guitarist Glenn Jones’s fifth solo album is an elegiac jewel. You may even discern the arc of a son’s bittersweet ruminations on his ailing mother and New Jersey motherland from the music alone, before taking in song titles or back-story, which sketch the contours of a sweetly autobiographical journey. Jones is a butter-smooth fingerpicker known for diverse open tunings and other harmonic alternatives; wind chimes and upbeat tracks bookend the album, which takes a stormy turn in the middle with “Alcoeur Gardens” (the name is for the… more »

Pistol Annies, Annie Up

2013 | Label: RCA Records Label Nashville

In his 2012 memoir Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young gave a rave review to the Pistol Annies, observing that the Nashville trio was “writing their asses off.” It was an unexpected shout-out, to which the women responded via tweet that they nearly peed their pants with excitement. Such praise was warranted. On their 2011 debut, the group — which consists of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley delivered a batch of sharply observed country tunes that ranged from hilarious to heartbreaking and that appealed even to listeners who… more »

Patty Griffin, American Kid

2013 | Label: New West Records

Patty Griffin’s seventh album — and her first collection of new songs in six years — opens with “Go Wherever You Wanna Go,” a delicate rural blues number that bristles with slide guitar and promises of travel and escape. That song establishes American Kid as a meditation on wanderlust of all kinds — emotional, physical and musical — and it may be Griffin’s most adventurous and diverse effort yet. Rather than record again in Austin or Nashville, Griffin decamped to Memphis, where she absorbed the Bluff City’s deep, rich history… more »

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The Finest in New & Old Country

By Stephen M. Deusner, eMusic Contributor

Sidle on up to the bar and have a few rounds with the finest in fresh-faced folk and oak-aged country tunes. Turnstyled and Junkpiled will soundtrack the tears in your beers as well as letting the good times roll. From new bucks like Fleet Foxes and Mumford & Sons to old-timers like Merle Haggard and Townes Van Zandt, with plenty of deep cuts, there'll be plenty to scuff your boots and kick up your heels… more »

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