MUSIC REVIEWS

2020 has felt like the year of Americana no matter what channel of the pop music lexicon you’re interested in, but on the flip side of the movement, artists like Ted Cline have been inspired to keep the flag of puritan country music flying as high as ever before. Rather …

Mixing a little bit of country, blues, folk and pop/rock together in a single isn’t exactly a new idea, but that doesn’t make the cocktail Mad River puts together for the world in “Come As You Are” any less exciting this June. Available in both single and lyric video formats, …

In the lyric video for their cover of the classic pop staple “I Can See Clearly Now,” The Side Deal offer a full-bodied pop/rock response to the pessimism that has run rampant in pop culture recently. There are no clouds in the sky here, nor are there any vague references …

The late John Prine provided a unique voice to some of Americana’s greatest songs. His storytelling, his talent for finding the beauty in everyday people and plain livin’. Not as widely known, but just as poetic and talented is the witty Paul Mark & The Van Dorens. The New Yorkers’ …

Churning in a vortex of seduction, the beat in JTK’s new single “No Be Mouth (feat. Tunji)” grabs listeners from the get-go and doesn’t release us until the song has come to an end. Perhaps even more powerful than JTK’s swarthy vocal in a couple of spots, the rhythm in …

Go Back Where They Came From is the latest album from Montana’s King Ropes. Featuring interpretations of songs that have greatly influenced the band. Among the gems are covers from Ray Charles, Beastie Boys and even Arcade Fire. True to the spirit of the originals, King Ropes’ versions bring a …

So often we hear of bands or artists who are at their rope’s end, the turning point in their career where they either let the dream go or push through the brick wall. One such artist that captures both the essence of not giving up and unrelenting to the pressures …

Casting a dark yet wholly enticing shadow with every incredible beat it throws in our direction, “Living in My Dreams” gets Impresario’s new LP Songs from Inside started on a spectacularly smooth note to put it quite mildly. Leading us down a path beset with harmonies somehow both heavenly and menacing …

On the back of a blushing fiddle’s leading melody, listeners are prone to getting lost in the strut of “The Picture on the Wall” right out of the gate when examining the new album from High Fidelity, Banjo Player’s Blues. Though not the firecracker of an instrumental that “Turkey in the …

New York City never ceases to possess some of the most interesting and exciting musical artists. For a city thriving with all sounds and all genres, one singer/songwriter just on the outskirts of NYC is slowing things down and keeping things trim. Tim Brandt’s Long Walk Home, is an Americana, …