CD Reviews

Charley Crockett
Lonesome Drifter

Charlie Crockett is far from an overnight sensation. He's a grinder, having issued 14 independent albums before his major breakthrough in 2024, the Grammy-nominated "$10 Cowboy." He is unstoppable now, releasing "Lonesome Drifter," on a major label with acclaimed co-producer ...

Seldom Scene
Remains to be Scene

It's been 50 years since the landmark album "Live at the Cellar Door" from the 53-year running Seldom Scene. With multiple lineup turnover through the years, "Remains to Be Seen" has none of the original members from that historic effort. It's the band's first album ...

Jason Boland & The Stragglers
The Last Kings of Babylon

Twenty-five years on and with 11 studio albums, Oklahoma's Jason Boland & The Stragglers keep rolling. Tapping the iconic producer, Lloyd Maines, who produced their debut, the band cut "The Last Kings of Babylon" live in the studio in just two days. With its share of rave-ups, ...

Sierra Hull
A Tip Toe High Wire

Singer, songwriter and mandolinist Sierra Hull issued her first album in five years, her first independent release and the first with her touring band for "A Tip Toe HIgh Wire." Hull's touring band includes guitarist Shaun Richardson, fiddler Avery Merritt, bassist Erik Coveney and ...

JD Clayton
Blue Sky Sundays

Troubadour JD Clayton returned to his native Arkansas to cut "Blue Sky Sundays" with his working band with the results leading to signing with Rounder Records. It's a varied country rocker filled with jangling guitars and a '70s aesthetic. Nine songs clock in well under 40 minutes. ...

Joe Ely
Love + Freedom

Ever since Joe Ely released "Love in the Midst of Mayhem" during the pandemic in 202O, he's dug into his catalog to produce three more albums, the latest being "Love and Freedom," to hit just two days before his 78th birthday. His voice remains as strong as ever as Ely ...

Sierra Ferrell
Trail of Flowers (Deluxe)

Sierra Ferrell is the Queen of Americana, having picked up multiple awards at their 2024 Americana awards show, but one has to question whether this Deluxe Edition of "Trail of Flowers" is really necessary. It's not as if it's in need of remastering, and it only includes two new ...

Ringo Starr
Look Up

Going out on a limb, Ringo Starr's "Look Up" will be one of the most significant country albums of 2025. It likely won't get much airplay on country radio, or win any CMA or ACM Awards, but it is terrific. After all, it's Ringo, ably guided by T Bone Burnett, who ...

Pure Prairie League
Back on Track

Not many bands endure for 54 years, let alone in the dated genre of country rock. Pure Prairie League (PPL), has outlasted most. So, after a nearly two-decade absence, we can relive the glorious sound of the '70s with PPL's return, "Back on Track." The band has understandably ...

Dwight Yoakam
Brighter Days

Believe it or not, Dwight Yoakam is almost 70 years old. Yikes, but 'tis true. His first major label release, "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc, Etc," hit the scene in the mid-1980's. He made quite a splash on the country music scene back then, quickly gaining radio airplay and ...

Flatland Cavalry
Flatland Forever

Some may argue that Flatland Cavalry is a bit full of themselves by issuing this career retrospective after only 10 years on the circuit. Granted, they have been prolific with six full-length albums, multiple EPs and singles. Record contracts also often specify a certain number of albums in a given time period. ...

Jamey Johnson
Midnight Gasoline

The last time Jamey Johnson released a full length album of original songs, the original Ipad was only a few months old, and Instagram had not yet launched. Basically, a lifetime ago. Since 2010's "The Guitar Song," we've had a 2012 Hank Cochran tribute album, a Christmas EP and ...

Dolly Parton & Family
Smoky Mountain DNA - Family, Faith & Fables

Dolly Parton's "Smoky Mountain DNA - Family, Faith & Fables" is a sprawling project over three LPs that's five decades in the making. The recording will be accompanied by a forthcoming docuseries. We have 37 tracks here, and 20 family members who duet with Dolly over a ...

Kelsea Ballerini
Patterns

Even in an age where we're replete with great female singer/songwriters, Kelsea Ballerini goes to places that others wouldn't touch. It sure would burnish one's image to talk about popping bottles all night, versus admitting in a 2020 song ("club") that those places can make ...

Amythyst Kiah
Still + Bright

Singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah received attention as part of the powerful foursome Our Native Daughters with Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell and Leyla McCalla as Kiah's "Black Myself" won a Grammy. Her solo predecessor to "Still + Bright" was a downcast effort, "Wary + Strange. ...

Tish Hinojosa
With Guitar & A Pen

Tish Hinojosa's "With a Guitar & A Pen" is an album that almost didn't happen as the gifted singer-songwriter contemplated retirement around the time of the pandemic, as she relates in the liner notes. So, we are blessed to hear her first album in six years and 17th overall, a ...

The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!
If I Stop Moving, I'll Fall From the Sky

The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! is the moniker for singer-songwriter Gary Van Miert of Jersey City, N.J. His third release goes even further in the psychedelic direction than his 2022 "The Adventures of a Psychedelic Cowboy." These songs straddle outright humor and the corny, overdone. ...

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Live From The Ryman Vol. 2

Jason Isbell opens by telling the audience this is their 50th appearance at the legendary Ryman, a feat not many can equal. Moreover, it's the recent seven, eight and now 10-day residencies that Isbell and his band have experienced, a testament to the in-demand status of one of the best live ...

Billy Strings
Highway Prayers

Never a judicious editor, Billy Strings' latest is 74 minutes of mind-expanding 'grassicana. The thing is, while it runs a bit long one is at a loss as to what could or should have been held in reserve; even the most frivolous numbers — "MORBUD4ME," "Richard Petty" ...

Mickey Guyton
House On Fire

Being the first Black female artist nominated for a country music Grammy for her last album in 2021 meant there was likely some pressure on Mickey Guyton to follow up with more of the same, but she's obviously not succumbing to that influence with this new slice of songs. Instead, she brings on ...