Album Reviews

Album Review: Allison Moorer, Down to Believing

October 4, 2015 Jonathan Keefe 2

Since making her debut with 1997’s Alabama Song, Allison Moorer has been one of country music’s most consistent albums artists. The singer-songwriter has three unqualified masterpieces to her credit— the flawless stone-country heartbreak cycle of The Hardest Part, the politically charged The Duel, and the somber, heady Southern Gothic of Crows. Despite having those triumphs— and other excellent albums like Alabama Song and Good Fortune— to her credit, Moorer’s latest effort, Down to Believing, is perhaps the finest album of her career because it finds Moorer challenging both her singing and her songwriting voices to plumb truly difficult emotional depths.

Album Review: George Strait, Cold Beer Conversation

October 1, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 10

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

George Strait has released a new album that is consistently good, with strong vocal performances that elevate even the middling material.

Album Review: Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material

September 29, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 12

It isn’t easy to follow up a universally praised debut album, especially when you don’t have the novelty of the new in your corner. Sometimes what sounds so fresh is just by the virtue of being the first time your voice has been heard. The second time around, you can only rely on the strength of your material. Being different is no longer enough.

Album Review: Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard, Django and Jimmie

September 28, 2015 Kevin John Coyne 3

Django and Jimmie derives its title from the names of two of the biggest influences of Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard – Django Reinhardt and Jimmie Rodgers.

Album Review: Darrell Scott, Ten: Songs of Ben Bullington

September 8, 2015 Larry Rogowin 3

The greatest gift a music lover can give another is leading them to a great artist they have not yet discovered

Album Review: Jerry Lawson, Just a Mortal Man

September 1, 2015 Sam Gazdziak 1

The title for Jerry Lawson’s debut album became almost frighteningly prophetic last year.

Album Review: Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

August 17, 2015 Jonathan Keefe 7

In an ideal world, Jason Isbell would somehow be able to switch the titles of his two most recent albums. While his previous effort, Southeastern, chronicled his struggle toward sobriety and found liberation in the powers of redemption and self-worth, Isbell’s latest, Something More Than Free digs deep into the foundations of the contemporary South. In terms of tone and theme for each of these exceptional records, the titles would be more fitting were they swapped, and it’s simply remarkable that slight misnomers are as close as Isbell comes on either album to striking a false note.