By Chris Cooper

When the bio sheet for a band arrives with the greeting “Dear Pop Revivalists,” I feel a mixture of curiosity and dread. Good pop or bad pop? Classic pop, schlock pop, punk pop (ugh) or what? For Pete’s sake, Beethoven was the “pop” music of his era; so exactly what kind of pop am I reviving here?

By Joe Hooten

When it seems like you’ve heard all there is to hear from our Carolina troubadour Mr. Ryan Adams, he follows through with his promise and comes out with his third release in one year. The album 29 is a relatively short nine-track disc that symbolically recounts a year of his life during his 20’s.

By Chris Cooper

It’s not unusual in music circles for one’s sound to be recognizable but the name to be mostly unknown. Such is the case for bluegrass veteran Curly Seckler.

By Chris Cooper

If you didn’t know already, Jamie Cullum is that kid who was on Pay-Per-View last summer. It was a “freeview” concert, I think, during which he ran around like a complete nut on a huge stage, before an equally large crowd, in front of a gigantic English castle somewhere.

By Chris Cooper

Let’s just go ahead and say it: terrible title for an album. Thankfully, a lot of the music on the disc is quite good, and even does have some soul, as noted in the press release. This is especially shocking since it came from Nashville, which hasn’t exactly been the epicenter of anything “soulful” for a good long while.

By Chris Cooper

Eric Brace writes damn fine songs. His band Last Train Home plays these songs pretty damn well, too. Heck, Mr. Brace does some great stuff with the songs he didn't write, as well. Bound Away is such a good listen that I've had a bit of trouble finding a way to start the review, so let's just leave it at this: go buy it and enjoy it.