If the heavy-hitters of outlaw country were acting like rock stars during their mid-'70s peak,
then perhaps it was inevitable that the outlaws would start singing rock songs -- which is precisely what Waylon Jennings did on 1976's Are You ...
Twenty-two songs, electric and acoustic, mostly in a bluesy vein, although the gorgeous folk-style ballad
Up from Georgia is also here. Talley is good with electric backing, but his acoustic country blues (Magnolia Boy, etc.) sounds fresher and more distinctive. ...
Dreaming My Dreams was Waylon Jennings' first number one record, and deservedly so. He had
created outlaw country with Honky Tonk Heroes, and then delivered two further albums that subtly developed its themes, even if they weren't quite as consistent. ...
There could only ever be one Slim Whitman. A left-handed guitar player with an arresting
falsetto vocal style that sounds eerily like Johnny Mathis blended with Roy Orbison, Whitman fell to the western side of country music, but he also ...
Where Greatest Hits had the bulk of Tom T. Hall's greatest story songs, Greatest Hits,
Vol. 2 concentrates on his silly, cutesy songs, like Sneaky Snake, I Like Beer, I Love, and Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine, among seven ...
Prior to 2014's highly regarded Goodnight Tender, Amy Ray had spent her career, both solo
and with fellow Indigo Girl Emily Saliers, dancing around the margins of various American roots traditions. The Indigo Girls' music has always been rooted in ...
The eponymous follow-up to 2015's lovely and understated Over and Even, Joan Shelley sees the
Louisville, Kentucky-based singer/songwriter and her partner in crime Nathan Salsburg delivering a warm breeze of a record that unfolds like a curl of smoke from ...
While a number of fine albums -- Aereo-Plain, Morning Bugle, and Mark Twang -- would
serve as a good introduction to John Hartford, Me Oh My, How the Time Does Fly offers the best overall collection. The reason? It has ...