Brian Q. Newcomb 
Sturgill Simpson A Sailor’s Guide To Earth Atlantic Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Country like it should be! Album Review: If like many, you’ve given up on modern country music, which these days sounds more like 80s AOR bands Foreigner and Loverboy than outlaw country icons Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and the like. … Read more
John Doe The Westerner Cool Rock Records [2016] Fire Note Says: John Doe leans back on the roots that first inspired him. Album Review: The L.A. punk band X arguably cast a longer shadow than one would expect based on record sales and airplay singles. Made up of John Doe (vocals/bass), Exene Cervenka (vocals), Billy … Read more
Andrew Bird Are You Serious Loma Vista [2016] Fire Note Says: Are You Serious brings a high level of energy and musicality to the table. Album Review: Andrew Bird has been busily carving out a unique place for himself among the indie/folk & rock movement as an artist in his own right ever since departing … Read more
Jeff Buckley You And I Legacy Recordings [2016] Fire Note Says: Another glimpse at a great talent lost too early. Album Review: It was a shock when singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, having won praise for his remarkable voice and promising songwriting chops, accidentally drowned while swimming in the Mississippi River in Memphis, TN, in 1997 at … Read more
Weezer Weezer (White Album) Crush/Atlantic Records [2016] Fire Note Says: This is the album for your summer vacation! Album Review: It seems like every new album from Weezer comes with a tale about how Rivers Cuomo has finally recaptured the lighting in a bottle that sparked those great songs from the band’s 1994 self-titled debut … Read more
The Lumineers Cleopatra Dualtone Music Group [2016] Fire Note Says: Similar formula holds The Lumineers in place. Album Review: It can be a humorous undertaking, if also frustrating as hell, to watch the music industry flail around in its search for the Next Big Thing only to play a seemingly endless game of “follow the … Read more
Robbie Fulks Upland Stories Bloodshot Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Fulks knows how to bring his stories to life. Album Review: It’s been twenty years since Robbie Fulks solo debut album on Bloodshot Records, when his smart, often witty, approach to traditional folk and country music helped define what would become known as “alternative country.” … Read more
Violent Femmes We Can Do Anything [PIAS] [2016] Fire Note Says: The Violent Femmes remain smart and funny, odd, dark and subversive. Album Review: It’s hard to express just how big the Violent Femmes became in the alternative rock music world of the mid-80’s. The mostly acoustic, Milwaukee-based trio’s self-titled debut album (1983) offered up … Read more
Iggy Pop Post Pop Depression Loma Vista [2016] Fire Note Says: Iggy Pop at his best! Album Review: At this late date, one imagines it would be difficult to make new music with Iggy Pop. With such a unique and established artist, whose excessive live performances are the stuff of rock music legend, it would … Read more
MUTEMATH: Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH – March 30, 2016 The first time I saw MuteMath was ten years ago, their self titled debut album had come across my desk as a pre-release but it wasn’t yet in stores. They were playing one of those tiny trailer sets early in the day at the Warped … Read more
Vandaveer The Wild Mercury WhiteSpace Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Vandaveer deliver one of their most mature and fully realized collection of songs to date. Album Review: Vandaveer is the name used by Washington D.C.-based, folk/rock singer-songwriter Mark Charles Heidinger and a close group of musicians who collaborate on his projects. Debuting as a recording … Read more
The Bonnevilles Arrow Pierce My Heart Alive Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The Bonnevilles deliver a full, raw and edgy blues rock sound. Album Review: “Rock & roll may not be dead,” once suggested a poet, “but it’s getting sick.” It’s a familiar story, you can think of examples from nearly every era. Rock music … Read more
The 1975 I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It Interscope Records [2016] Fire Note Says: New album is a journey that covers a lot of musical territory. Album Review: The 1975 are, to say the least, an enigma. A quartet of high school friends from Wilmslow, … Read more
Waco Brothers Going Down In History Bloodshot Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Solid effort from Waco Brothers on their ninth LP. Album Review: On their ninth album, Chicago’s Waco Brothers dig even deeper into their passion for mixing country music’s earthy song-craft with punk’s hard rockin’ delivery. Coming together originally in the mid-90’s when John … Read more
Mavis Staples Livin’ On A High Note ANTI- [2016] Fire Note Says: Livin’ On A High Note continues to extend Staples legacy. Album Review: At 76 years of age, Mavis Staples could be resting on her laurels, touring at her leisure performing the classic music written by her father Pops Staples that were pop hits … Read more
Bonnie Raitt Dig In Deep Redwing Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Raitt is completely in charge, doing it her way from start to finish. Album Review: On her 2012 release, Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt had returned to recording after a quiet time of loss and grief – her mother and father had died in ‘04 and … Read more
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY – February 21, 2016 It’s been over 35 years since the release of Bruce Springsteen’s The River, but the veteran rocker has had no trouble filling arenas with fans more than happy to pay premium ticket prices to revisit both the artist’s, and … Read more
Lucinda Williams The Ghosts Of Highway 20 Highway 20 Records [2016] Fire Note Says: It is clear that Williams owns this patch of the road. Album Review: “I know about the pain and all that jazz,” sings Lucinda Williams in her smokiest voice, and you sense that she’s just scratching the surface of that deep … Read more
Tedeschi Trucks Band Let Me Get By Concord Music Group [2016] Fire Note Says: Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks have brought a level of purpose to their third record. Album Review: On their third collaborative studio album, singer Susan Tedeschi, guitarist Derek Trucks and company have brought a level of intentionality and purpose to their … Read more
David Bowie Blackstar Columbia Records [2016] Fire Note Says: There will only ever be one Bowie! Album Review: Released on his 69th birthday (1/8/16), and as fate would have it, two days before David Bowie would die, “Blackstar” finds the iconic rock chameleon staring down the Grim Reaper. In the album’s 10-minute title track, Bowie … Read more
Bruce Springsteen The Ties That Bind: The River Collection Columbia Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Springsteen revisits The River in this majestic box set. Album Review: In 1980, Bruce Springsteen released the only double album of his career, “The River.” While the New Jersey-based singer/songwriter had already been on the covers of Time and Newsweek … Read more
The Bottle Rockets South Broadway Athletic Club Bloodshot Records [2015] Fire Note Says: South Broadway Athletic Club is what maturity looks like. Album Review: It’s been 6 years since the last studio album of originals for Bottle Rockets, but 23 years into their recording career the St. Louis Americana quartet remains true to their classic … Read more
Richard Thompson Still Fantasy Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Still works as a re-introduction of an artist that any serious music fan will want to hear for yourself. Album Review: Richard Thompson has been a music critics’ favorite since his early days in the premier British folk rock group of the late 60’s, Fairport Convention, … Read more
Alabama Shakes Sound & Color ATO Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Alabama Shakes take you on another pendulum ride full of raw expression. Album Review: Three years ago, when Alabama Shakes came out of nowhere to rock the world with their debut, Boys & Girls, driven by soulful R&B-influenced roots rock and the stunningly unique … Read more
JJ Grey & Mofro Ol’ Glory Provogue Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Imitation is the greatest form of appreciation. Album Review: Working out of Northern Florida, JJ Grey & Mofro have come closest to capturing their live energy on their 9th full-length project in 15 years, a sound that has made them fans in the … Read more