MUSIC REVIEWS

I enjoyed Chris Chitsey’s “Life Is Hard, Whiskey Is Easy” on my first pass and further plays only strengthened my esteem for the Texas singer’s new single. Chitsey has released an unadulterated modern country classic free from many of the trappings marring the bulk of today’s offerings from Nashville. There …

The new EP Dark Side from Indian-origin singer and musician Anjali Ray carries on the tradition of challenging, rewarding music sustaining her professional journey from the outset. She brings a wide breadth of musical knowledge to everything she touches without ever reducing her art to the level of an academic exercise. …

No Signal’s second album Distorted Reality serves notice that this Boulder, Colorado headquartered trio has their eyes on big game. They could have written and recorded the customary sophomore effort featuring ten to twelve solid, well-written standalone songs and walked away smiling. Riley Schmelzer and his bandmates, however, went bigger. Instead, the sixteen-song magnum …

Name Sayers’ Joyboys in the Grindhouse has broad utility. Its varied uses as a synth-pop, cumbia, psych-rock, and hip-hop collection give the eleven-track release a staying power that few other modern releases share. Devin James Fry and his three bandmates cast a hip and intelligent eye toward posterity without ever succumbing to …

Bob Dylan wrote in his Blonde on Blonde track “Absolutely Sweet Marie” that “…to live outside the law, you must be honest” and I think Marc Miner agrees with that sentiment. He populates his new album Last Heroes with assorted renegades, outcasts, criminals, and the heartbroken. It picks up where his 2020 debut Smile When …

Recording in the right setting always has an effect on the artist in charge of the project, and in virtually all cases, the aesthetics of the content they’re recording. While Taylor Jules is more known for her straightforward pop harmonies than she is for any form of soul-laden poeticisms, her …

With as much attitude as the instrumentation comprising its greatest harmony, Guillermo Marigliano’s fretting stomps into focus like nothing else does in all three of the songs featured in the new record Inner Path. While there’s a lot to what makes this EP such a fascinating and immersive listen, it starts …

Ambitiousness doesn’t always equate to indulgence, and Mainland Break does a pretty awesome job reminding us all of this in their new album One Way Ticket to Midnight. In this latest affair to bear their name in the byline, One Way Ticket to Midnight lives up to the experimental premise of Mainland Break’s …

Anthony Sobak’s music has several factors distinguishing it from run-of-the-mill fare. His vocals are definitely one of the key ingredients giving him a different flavor. Sobak’s voice is far from conventionally “pretty”, but it’s bursting with soul and rugged unquestionable passion. The miles you hear in his vocals lend added …

John Dorsch is the epitome of a musician’s musician. He hasn’t headlined stadiums with his various bands or hit the top of the Billboard charts playing electric guitar. He’s spent decades, however, perfecting his art for his edification and generations of appreciative local audiences without ever resting on his laurels. …