CD Reviews

Carrie Underwood
My Savior

Carrie Underwood's gospel music album may not be traditional in the sense that she sings these songs the same way she heard them as a child growing up. However, on the traditional/modern country music spectrum, this album leans closer to traditional country music than just about anything ...

Sara Watkins
Under the Pepper Tree

Understand that this is a children's album. Yet, if you're looking for the sounds of Sara Watkins with her groups Nickel Creek and I'm With Her bandmates, they are here on "Under the Pepper Tree," just not in the way you typically hear them. The album also features guest ...

Melissa Carper
Daddy's Country Gold

Singer/songwriter and upright bassist Melissa Carper is the genuine article. Her style evokes greats like Kitty Wells, Billie Holiday and Loretta Lynn, as heard in the dozen tunes on "Daddy's Country Gold." The "daddy" is not her father, but in a way the title owes to him too. ...

Jason Ringenberg
Rhinestoned

He's been called the 'godfather of Americana,' and while memory of folks like Gram, the rest of The Byrds, John Stewart and many others may challenge the assertion, it is safe to suggest that Jason Ringenberg is nothing less than the Americana's Fun Uncle. A central figure in the ...

Mando Saenz
All My Shame

Texas native Mando Saenz, once part of the burgeoning Austin scene, has spent the better part of the last 15 years as a musician and songwriter in Music City. He delivered three solo albums in that time but "All My Shame" marks his first in eight years. He's also penned songs for Lee ...

Nate Fredrick
Different Shade of Blue

This is the debut for Nashville-based, Missouri born and raised Nate Fredrick. While he's relatively new to songwriting, his name is on all 11 tracks, nine of them with eight different co-writers. Yet the album sounds much more familiar, comfortable and in its own way, 'old' rather than new. ...

Simon Flory
Haul These Blues Away

Simon Flory invites you into his infectious sound, taking a cue perhaps from the infamous Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner," with his opening "Peter Mack Built a Semi-Truck" and its title phrase, a plea to "haul these blues away." Born in rural Indiana to a ...

Hailey Whitters
Living the Dream

Hailey Whitters has reissued her "The Dream" album as "Living The Dream" with five bonus collaboration songs. With these added treats, it makes a good album even better. The weakest of the new additions is "Fillin' My Cup" with Little Big Town. ...

Sara Petite
Rare Bird

San Diego's Sara Petite wants to make sure you know that she has come up the hard way – no big record deals or over-the-top fawning from industry types. The title "Rare Bird," her sixth studio album, says it as did her previous album, 2016's "The Road Less Traveled. ...

Willie Nelson
That's Life

Willie Nelson's decades-old explorations into the Great American Songbook continue with his second Frank Sinatra tribute in less than three years - the solid and satisfying "That's Life." As with its 2018 predecessor "My Way," Nelson once again joined forces with the ...

Mac Leaphart
Music City Joke

Nashville-based, South Carolinian singer-songwriter Mac Leaphart is a storyteller of first order, evoking John Prine and Hayes Carll. It's perhaps no coincidence that Carll's producer, Brad Jones, is at the helm for Leaphart's "Music City Joke," filled with wry humor, plenty ...

Rod Abernethy
Normal Isn't Normal Anymore

Sometimes a listener can be humbled to confess little to no knowledge of the artist. So, the first step is to go to the credits. In the case of singer-songwriter/educator/master guitarist Rod Abernethy, we notice Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Wild Ponies) is the producer/drummer and ...

Uncle Walt's Band
Recorded Live at Waterloo Ice House

Originally released in 1982 as a 14-song set recorded at Austin's Waterloo Ice House, this expanded edition of 21 tracks by the trio of Walter Hyatt, Champ Hood and David Ball is an entertaining mix of originals and nicely chosen covers. Hyatt contributes one of the stronger country ...

Pony Bradshaw
Calico Jim

James "Pony" Bradshaw's "Calico Jim" is unlike almost any singer-songwriter album you'll hear due to the imagery he conjures up, but especially by his unique phrasing. It would be downright difficult to imagine anyone other than Bradshaw singing these songs, which ...

Justin Moses
Fall Like Rain

If one were to put together an elite group of acoustic bluegrass players and furnish them with a strong mix of original and cover songs, it would be nearly impossible to surpass what multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter Justin Moses has created with "Fall Like Rain." The self-produced ...

Willie Jones
Right Now

Willie Jones is promoted as an artist blending country and hip-hop. However, that's not exactly the blend many of us usually want. It's like those that don't like their differing foods touching on their dinner plate. Each of these genres can stand up quite well on their own, thank you very much. ...

The Burnt Pines
The Burnt Pines

The Burnt Pines comfortably fit at the smoother edge always-increasing Americana big tent. With a harmonic vocal style reminiscent of the late-'60s/early-'70s (think Simon & Garfunkel, Donovan) their music is polished in an understated, mostly-acoustic-sounding way. So very appealing to experienced ears. ...

Devin Dawson
The Pink Slip EP

Like many artists who come to Nashville, Devin Dawson had "little more than a truck, a dream and a story to tell" Following up on his solid debut album, "Dark Horse," fans will get their money's worth by EP standards here as "The Pink Slip" has six tracks. ...

Aaron Watson
American Soul

With the title track to this Aaron Watson release, the Texas singer/songwriter raises questions that he doesn't fully answer. In a severely divided country, it's getting tougher and tougher to find commonalities in the American soul. On it, Watson salutes hard workers, while also quoting the ...

Morgan Wallen
Dangerous: The Double Album

The buzz in the industry is that Morgan Wallen is primed to be the next big country music superstar. If prognosticators are correct with this prediction, the man fully deserves all the recognition. Proof positive is his "Dangerous: The Double Album," which is a humongous 30 songs long! ...