CD Reviews

Lost Dog Street Band
Glory

Seldom does a band name capture the sound of its musicians as well as does the Lost Dog Street Band. The three core members grew up on the streets, and all have busking in their personal histories. Thus, we have the once wandering vagabonds – main vocalist/guitarist/banjoist Benjamin Tod, his ...

Bobby Allison and Gary Spehar
Delta Man

Singer-songwriters Bobby Allison and Gerry Spehar are two survivors of the "too much fun" '70s who somehow found some new life on "Delta Man," which comprises mostly tunes originally recorded in Nashville in the '90s and several new ones with the veteran band, I See Hawks in L.A. ...

Barry Waldrep
Barry Waldrep and Friends Celebrate Tony Rice

When Tony Rice passed away on Christmas Day, 2020, the acoustic world lost one of its finest and most influential guitar players. His impact on bluegrass, grassicana and associated acoustic music was immeasurable. Barry Waldrep is likely best known for his studio work (including a series of ...

We Banjo 3
A Winter Wonderful

We Banjo 3's "A Winter Wonderful" album is made up of eight fantastic holiday-related tracks. It begins on a high note, with John Prine's "Christmas in Prison," and its spirit never lags the whole rest of the way through. Comprised of two sets of brothers (Enda and Fergal ...

Connie Smith
The Latest Shade of Blue: The Columbia Recordings 1973-1976

Perhaps no artist in any genre has been more consistent than arguably the greatest, though not necessarily the most famous or flashiest female country singer of our time, Connie Smith. Put this box set, "The Latest Shade of Blue: The Columbia Recordings 1973-1976" right next to 2021's ...

Cody Johnson
A Cody Johnson Christmas

"A Cody Johnson Christmas" is like one of those Christmas presents where, no matter how much you attempt to disguise it with wrapping, it's no surprise what's inside after it's opened. Then again, Cody Johnson Christmas music is something most every country music-loving fan ...

Lori McKenna
Christmas Right Here

Lori McKenna includes a song titled "Christmas Without Crying," which wonders lyrically if it's possible to make it all the way through the Christmas season without crying. It also begs the question: Is it possible to make it through a McKenna album (even just an EP) without shedding a ...

Josh Abbott Band
Christmas Was

The Josh Abbott Band's five-song EP starts out slightly silly, but then gets really serious from the middle to the end. It also surprisingly covers a lot of subject matter ground in a short time span. It opens with "Santa Better Knock," which leans a little to the Eartha Kitt, sexy ...

Skip Ewing
Christmas

Skip Ewing's "Christmas" EP hits a lot of high marks, and it's only seven tracks long. However, by making all wise choices, Ewing has avoided disappointing the listener – even once – with his highly recommended seasonal offering. Ewing has some fun, as Christmas ...

Amanda Shires
For Christmas

The first thing you may notice about Amanda Shires' "For Christmas" album, is just how much piano is on it. Shires is known for her fiddle playing skills, but this album is not the right forum for a lot of fiddle work. However, Shires' enjoyable vocal vibrato is present throughout ...

Doc Watson
Life's Work: A Retrospective

With the centennial of the birth of Arthel "Doc" Watson looming just around the bend in March 2023, it's likely that this new collection of recordings by the legendary blind guitarist and singer from North Carolina is at the head of a parade of similar compilations and remembrances, ...

Eddie Montgomery
Ain't No Closing Me Down

Like many recent releases, Eddie Montgomery's first solo album was born out of the pandemic. A much more solemn occurrence was the ongoing grief trying to process the 2017 death of his band mate of 35 years, Troy Gentry. The lead-off, title track is a hard charging ode to the pandemic, ...

Mitchell Tenpenny
Naughty House

One big clue that Mitchell Tenpenny's "Naughty List" holiday collection is a winner, is how spontaneous and rocking is his version of "Jingle Bell Rock." He doesn't just repeat the Bobby Helms original, but instead makes it all his own. Then again, with a distinctive ...

Brett Young
Brett Young & Friends Sing The Christmas Classics

Brett Young's Christmas EP is a strange little thing. Like many holiday project creators, Young prefers to look backwards, rather than forward. Hence the phrase 'Christmas Classics' in the album title. Nostalgia is always huge in country music, so this approach makes some sense. ...

Pistol Annies
Hell Of A Holiday

You just knew a Pistol Annies' holiday album would be a little bit twisted. Sometimes more "Merry Christmas from the Family" than, say, "Silent Night." Comprised of three song female voices – Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley – "Hell of a ...

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Georgia Blue

Jason Isbell deserves kudos for putting a unique spin on the benefit album. Instead of throwing together a bunch of many times unrelated celebrities to pitch in, Isbell has brought together talented performers to cover Georgia-related songs and songs by Georgia-based artists. All proceeds support ...

Pokey LaFarge
In The Blossom of Their Shade

A retro feel exists on Pokey LaFarge's "In the Blossom of Their Shade" with its pleasing mix of folk, blues, jazz and country. Composed largely while LaFarge was isolated in Austin when the pandemic hit, the Illinois native endeavored to convey a mostly positive outlook. ...

Toby Keith
Peso In My Pocket

Toby Keith's core competency is traditional country, and he remains true to it that sound on "Peso in My Pocket," his first studio album in six years and a spawn of the pandemic. One of the first things you notice are the songwriting credits. The Warrren Brothers, Maren Morris and Ryan ...

Zac Brown Band
The Comeback

If you have even a passing familiarity of Zac Brown's personal history starting around 2018, you know the inspiration for this CD's title. First, Brown's 12-year marriage collapsed. Then, the world shook its collective head when he released a solo pop record ("Controversy") ...

Asleep at the Wheel
Half A Hundred Years

Asleep at the Wheel founder Ray Benson credits singer Jamey Johnson with inspiring the title track upon declaring "That's half a hundred years!" when told of the anniversary of the founding of Asleep at the Wheel. Frontman Benson is the lone constant presence during that half century of ...