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Some folks listening to Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison's new duet album, "Cheaters Game," may well exclaim, ‘Well, it's about time!' after finally hearing these two talented country singer/songwriters recording music as a pair for the first time.
Willis has built quite a following for her independently-minded feminine perspective, while Robison has written hits for the Dixie Chicks (Travelin' Soldier) and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (Angry All the Time), as well as penning the ultimate Willie Nelson tribute, What Would Willie Do? and recording it as a solo act. Now billed as the Bruce And Kelly Show live, these two talented individuals have pooled their resources together to create something really special. "I think it was about a year and a half, maybe close to two years since Bruce and I started playing together with the intention of working up songs to do for this project, " Willis says, when asked how long "Cheaters Game" has been in the... »»»  Last fall, singer/songwriter Steve Forbert dropped the 14th studio album of his 35-year career, the impeccable "Over With You." Critics recognized the album as a return to the form Forbert displayed on his earliest works - 1978's stripped back and personal "Alive on Arrival" and 1979's more lushly produced and commercially accessible "Jackrabbit Slim" - but the fact is that Forbert has never strayed far from their basic folk/rock tenets.
As if to drive home that point, Blue Corn Records has reissued "Alive on Arrival" and "Jackrabbit Slim" as a double-disc package featuring bonus tracks from each album's sessions ("Slim" features a live take on Forbert's lone hit, Romeo's Tune, recorded in New York City just after the album's release). Although nothing in the reissue could be considered unreleased - the bonus tracks were included in Forbert's "Young, Guitar Days" discs over a decade ago - this is the first time they've been programmed with their respective... »»» Over the course of the past 20 years or so, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller have both experienced a certain rise in their respective rootsy country profiles. Miller has become one of Nashville's hottest speed dial numbers, as an artist, a guitarist-for-hire (a role he has performed for Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, among others) and an intuitive producer (he's currently working with Executive Music Producer T Bone Burnett to provide the soundtrack for ABC's "Nashville" television series).
Lauderdale's success as an artist has been more of the cult variety, but he has just as surely become one of Music City's most dependable songwriters and collaborators, notching high-charting hits for the likes of the Dixie Chicks, George Strait and George Jones, earning a couple of Grammys for his work. It's not terribly surprising that Lauderdale and Miller's friendship stretches back to a time when neither one of them was a known entity. When both were New York-based in the early '80s, they frequently backed each other up on different club dates, finding a mutual affinity for their talents and strengths.... »»» For 16 years, Eddie Stubbs has ruled the airwaves in Nashville; since 1996, he's regaled listeners with stories about country and bluegrass artists new and old, cued up 45s and 78s of classic country songs, and introduced the pure strains of country music and the deep history of that music to everyone who's tuned into 650 WSM-AM. From 7 p.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday, Stubbs' evening show can be heard over the airwaves on WSM from 38 states and parts of Canada as well as worldwide over wsmoline.com. As the longest-running DJ in that time slot in the 87-year history of the station, Stubbs - the 2002 Country Music Association's Large Market Broadcast Personality of the Year and 2012 inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame - has become a legend in his own time, adored by his listeners and beloved by country music artists.
The late Kitty Wells and her late husband, Johnnie Wright, brought Stubbs to Nashville in 1995 to play fiddle in their band. A life-long... »»» Way, way back in the last century – in 1998, to be exact – an assemblage of Nashville's primo session players and sidemen were looking for a way to kill time between turns on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Among them was Kenny Sears, a veteran fiddler whose resume included stints with Mel Tillis, Dottie West, Ray Price and Faron Young.
"We used to get together in the dressing room backstage at the Opry and have these jam sessions that went on all night long," Sears recalls, "and we were having so much fun with that, the Opry stars would make time to stop by there, sing a song or two with us – we kind of found some magic there, something that was really fun." That magic soon became The Time Jumpers, a Music City phenomenon of now a decade and a half, establishing themselves as the "ultimate club band" and playing to standing room Monday night crowds at the venerable Station Inn. In addition to Kenny Sears and his sultry, alto-voiced wife Dawn Sears, the crew includes... »»» In business, in sports and in music, the conversation often turns to the concept of the indispensible man, the person whose talent elevates the entity in question above all others and whose absence would cause that entity to stumble and fall. The fact is that indispensability is largely a myth; no single person holds that much sway in any given enterprise.
And yet, there is an underlying psychology that reinforces and supports the idea of the indispensible man. Teams are built around a single player, businesses are helmed by powerful and singular executives, and bands are assembled around a key musician. When those crucial elements are removed, the psychological vacuum that remains after their departure can cause irreparable damage. If jamgrass outfit Leftover Salmon had completely bought into the concept of the indispensible man, their new album, "Aquatic Hitchhiker," their first new studio album in eight years and their debut on their own LoS label, might never have... »»» In the midst of what is almost certainly the busiest and most exciting of their dozen or so years as a professional bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers were en route to a late April festival gig in Texas, touring in support of “Nobody Knows You," their first “solo” release in three years (and first on Rounder following four earlier on Rebel).
February brought them into the Grammy whirlwind with “Rare Bird Alert” (also on Rounder), their collaboration with Steve Martin, which had already yielded Entertainers of the Year recognition from the IBMA last fall. The band’s genesis goes back to the late 1990s when guitarist Woody Platt, bassist Charles Humphrey III and banjo player Graham Sharp were students at the University of North Carolina exploring their newfound love of bluegrass. Mandolinist Mike Guggino had grown up with Platt in Brevard, N.C. and was asked to join the new band, named for Steep Canyon Stout, a California brew they had encountered along the way. Fiddler Nicky Charles was added in 2005, and the lineup remains unchanged since.... »»» By Michael Rampa Trampled by Turtles is one of the best bluegrass bands around, sort of. They hesitate to ascribe any particular label to their unique sound. When asked to clarify, front man Dave Simonett said, "I don't really know what to say when I'm asked that. I hesitate to say bluegrass because I'm familiar with that kind of music. I feel that is a genre that has set boundaries that, and anytime you stray out of that, you're not really considered a bluegrass band no matter what instruments you're playing on. I would say it's Americana with string instruments, but whatever anyone wants to call it, that's fine."
The Duluth, Minn. quintet had shows booked before they had decided on a name. Mandolin player Erik Berry made it up as a joke. Simonett explained, "We all brought our lists of names to rehearsal one time, and we agreed to decide on the name that we hated the least, and that one stuck." The band is comprised of Simonett (guitar and vocals), Tim Saxhaug (bass, vocals), Dave Carroll (banjo, vocals), Ryan Young (fiddle) and Berry (mandolin).... »»» With its latest full-length, "Leaving Eden," the uniquely modern, old-timey jug and/or string band Carolina Chocolate Drops was faced with the daunting task of following up a highly successful major label debut album. After all, "Genuine Negro Jig" earned the act a Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy.
All pressure aside, though, these new tracks are just as unusually enjoyable as those found on the group's debut. Led by Rhiannon Giddens' assertive female vocals and Dom Flemons' male vocal counterpoint plus Hubby Jenkins on mandolin, this album touches upon world music with Mahalla,, old time gospel via Read ‘Em John and the sort of traditional folk that would make any ‘60s folk music revivalist proud, particularly exemplified on the recording's title track. These Southern players wisely looked to esteemed musician and producer Buddy Miller to produce. In addition to being a darn good guitarist, as well as an underrated singer and songwriter, Miller has brought his hroots music expertise to everyone from grand dame Emmylou Harris to rocker-turned-roots-guy Robert Plant.... »»» Martina McBride was introduced at a CMT awards presentation as "one of the greatest voices ever created by God." While debatable that her voice may be the result of divine creation, her high octane soprano is one of the most beautiful and powerful in music. Her latest studio release, "Eleven" ("Hits And More" came out in January as a greatest hits plus package) is her most personal to date. Most everything about the record is unorthodox starting with its launch via train tour. Twenty years into her career, she severed ties with the long-time label and management that brought her superstar status and with which she has garnered multiple awards and 24 Top 10 singles.
In many ways, she is a study in contradiction. Hardly an imposing physical presence at 5'2', her vocal pyrotechnics challenge the structural integrity of any venue. She has made a career recording songs that empower women like the peppy This One's for the Girls, but her signature, Independence Day is more somber and deals with domestic abuse. Additionally, she has been country music's most-played female artist of the past 11 years.... »»»
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