Brian Q. Newcomb 
Steve Earle & The DukesJerry JeffNew West Records [2022] Steve Earle remembers playing the Sand Mountain Coffee House in Houston, TX, when just starting out. He says there was a mural on the club’s back wall with the painted faces of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker; he could see the mural … Read more
Tedeschi Trucks BandI Am The Moon: III. The FallFantasy / Concord Music [2022] The amazing enterprise that the Tedeschi Trucks Band undertook by dropping an EP of material from their massive master-work, I Am The Moon, for four straight months, continues with the 6-song collection, III. The Fall which builds on the musical breadth and … Read more
Tedeschi Trucks Band w/ Los Lobos & Gabe Dixon: Rose Music Center; Dayton, OH; Sunday, July 24, 2022 Generally speaking, journalistic practice requires one to start a concert review with the focus on the established headliner, the artist at the top of the ticket, the reason most fans paid hard-earned money to attend a specific show. … Read more
Jack WhiteEntering Heaven AliveThird Man Records [2022] When Jack White released the hard-hitting rock album Fear of the Dawn, back in April, he promised a second “folk” album was just months away. And for those of us who were curious what White meant exactly by the term folk – was this going to be Woody … Read more
Caroline SpenceTrue NorthRounder Records [2022] Virginia native, Caroline Spence did what any Americana singer/songwriter would do after winning the American Songwriter Lyric Contest and additional accolades at the Kerrville Folk Festville in 2014, she moved to Nashville and began making records for the Rounder label. Her 2017 release, Spades & Roses, won her comparisons to … Read more
Drive-By Truckers w/ Lydia Loveless: Dayton Masonic Center; Dayton, OH; Saturday, July 23, 2022 As Drive-By Truckers suggest in a couple of their album titles, they are an “American Band” paying tribute to the ongoing “Southern Rock Opera” taking place all around them over the course of 26 years, and 14 studio albums. Rooted in the … Read more
Adrian BelewElevatorBliss Entertainment/Ingrooves Music Group [2022] Adrian Belew may have played an essential role in King Crimson’s 80’s revival, accompanying Robert Fripp into the 90’s and early 2000’s, but the celebrated guitarist was first “discovered” by Frank Zappa, and went on to play supportive roles alongside David Bowie, Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club, … Read more
InterpolThe Other Side Of Make-BelieveMatador Records [2022] On the easy-going final track of NYC-band Interpol’s 7th studio album, The Other Side of Make-Believe, vocalist Paul Banks sings, “I keep pushing it forward/all these obstacles in my way,” so perhaps the best advice given all of life’s challenges and disappointments is to “Go Easy.” In the … Read more
Tedeschi Trucks BandI Am The Moon: II. AscensionFantasy/Concord Music [2022] As promised, a month after the initial EP from the “I Am The Moon” project, Tedeschi Trucks Band returns with this 7-song second chapter, a further continuation of this thought experiment fleshed out in the band’s rich, musical vocabulary. On I. Crescent, especially in the … Read more
WeezerSZNZ: SummerCrush Music/Atlantic Records [2022] No doubt the biggest challenge when committing to produce a concept album around a predetermined narrative and artistic themes is maintaining the integrity of the storyline and finding creative ways to meet the established expectations. With SZNZ: Spring, Rivers Cuomo laid down a number of markers that he attempts to … Read more
The Psychedelic Furs w/ X: Made Of Rain 2022 Tour; Rose Music Center; Dayton, OH; Wednesday, July 6, 2022 As if special ordered for the day of The Psychedelic Furs “Made of Rain” tour’s arrival in Dayton, Wednesday was a dreary, rainy day at mid-afternoon, but by the time the opening act, legendary L.A. punk band … Read more
PrincePrince And The Revolution: LiveLegacy Recordings [2022] The word “genius” probably gets thrown around too loosely when referring to talented pop and rock artists. Even the most successful artists often flow in and out of fashion, often those who’ve produced a recognized “masterpiece,” suffer from the dreaded sophomore curse or move all too soon from … Read more
Chagall GuevaraHalcyon DaysSplint Entertainment [2022] No doubt every serious music listener has got a few pet bands that have been relegated to the world of “shoulda, coulda, woulda,” an act you encountered in their early days that impressed you that they had the songs, the sound, the talent, the smarts to go the distance and … Read more
ShearwaterThe Great AwakeningPolyborus Music [2022] In the six years since that last Shearwater album, Jonathan Meiburg published a novel, formed a new band with members of the band that had opened for them on their last tour called Loma then recorded and released two albums, played and recorded adaptations of David Bowie’s Lodger album, eventually … Read more
Soccer MommySometimes, ForeverLoma Vista Recordings [2022] On the 2020 release, Color Theory, Soccer Mommy explored emotions across the spectrum, but clearly her lyrics felt most at home in the darker hues and textures of the palette. Of course, Soccer Mommy is singer/songwriter Sophie Allison; buoyed by a strong critical response and tours opening for Liz … Read more
Bill MalloneeHere It Opens With A Prayer, But It Closes With A SongSelf-Released [2022] Bill Mallonee may not be a household name, but he’s been making music for over 30 years, a decade leading the Athens, GA band Vigilantes of Love, and 20 years producing indie rock, folk/rock, and Americana as a solo artist. Currently … Read more
Tedeshi Trucks BandI Am The Moon: I. CrescentFantasy/Concord Music [2022] When singer/songwriter Susan Tedeschi, already with six albums and a storied career to her credit, and slide guitar wunderkind and Allman Brothers Band acolyte Derek Trucks joined their romantic lives, and then their two bands together, it was obvious they were a courageous lot. Now, … Read more
The Dream SyndicateUltraviolet Battle Hymns And True ConfessionsFire Records [2022] In many ways, Steve Wynn and his reconstituted band, The Dream Syndicate, have spent the decade since the band reformed in 2012 trying to sort out who they were and how they wanted to sound in this new era, or as Wynn sings in the … Read more
Andrew BirdInside ProblemsLoma Vista Recordings [2022] In the follow-up to his fine, Headphone Approved 2019 release, My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird continues to deliver smart, thoughtful music that displays his talented violin skills in catchy pop-oriented songs, most that defy simplistic genre categories. On that work, he seemed quite taken with the world of … Read more
John DoeFables In A Foreign LandFat Possum Records [2022] Before “Folk music” was an established commercial genre and came to be associated as a specific style of acoustic music, it was first and foremost music made by and for regular folk. Whether sung around a campfire or on street corners, and broadly speaking folk music … Read more
Sharon Van EttenWe’ve Been Going About This All WrongJagjaguwar [2022] There’s a lot going on in our world right now, and rocker Sharon Van Ettan, like many of us, takes the whole mess quite personally. In her song “Anything,” she admits to being “Up the whole night, undefined/Can’t stop thinking about peace and war.” But … Read more
Drive-By TruckersWelcome 2 Club XIIIATO Records [2022] The opening chords of Drive-By Truckers’ fourteenth studio album carry the dense distorted grungy guitar sound of The Dirty South in a way that recalls many of the band’s releases across their long, 26-year history. They lead the listener into the 7-minute talking blues of Patterson Hood’s The … Read more
SlangCockroach In A Ghost TownKill Rock Stars [2022] Slang started out as a side project for drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) and singer/guitarist Drew Grow, in Portland, Ore. over a decade ago, singing covers of the Everly Brothers and Traveling Wilburys, but Cockroach In A Ghost Town finds them joined by Anita Lee Elliot on guitar … Read more
WilcoCruel CountrydBpm Records [2022] The advance word on Wilco’s 12th studio album, Cruel Country, was that the long 21-song double-disc release would be a return of sorts to leader Jeff Tweedy’s country music roots. Tweedy’s previous work in Uncle Tupelo was largely responsible for creating that expectation, something the band strived to distance itself from … Read more
Craig FinnA Legacy Of RentalsPositive Jams/Thirty Tigers [2022] By now, after eight albums with The Hold Steady and four solo studio albums, we’ve figured out that Craig Finn is as much of a storyteller as he is a songwriter. Finn has a penchant for dark narratives about folk trapped in the difficult outcomes of bad … Read more