Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Carrie Rodriguez & Ben KyleWe Still Love Our CountryNinth Street Opus Records As duet albums go, the EP We Still Love Our Country from Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle (of Romantica fame) is pretty darn sweet. Opting mostly for covers from such […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Gurf MorlixBlaze Foley’s 113th Wet DreamRootball Records His songs have been covered by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson and he’s been the subject of tribute tunes by Lucinda Williams and the late Townes Van Zandt. When writing and singing songs in his […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Miss TessDarling, Oh Darling Miss TessThe Waltz Set She calls her band The Bon Ton Parade and the implication is high style and good times. Undercurrents of each type, with a side of the Crescent City, are throughout the longplayer Darling, Oh […]
Boudin Barndance Favorites of 2010by Dan Ferguson Phosphorescent – Here’s to Taking It Easy (Dead Oceans)Songs aglow with snapshot quality and warm cosmic country dressing. Be it broken heart ballads or swirling honky tonk rambles, Phosphorescent radiates. The Mynabirds – What We Lose in the Fire […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Syl JohnsonSyl Johnson: The Complete MythologyNumero Group Records A mother lode of Syl. That’s what you get with the visually stunning box set Syl Johnson: The Complete Mythology. It chronicles the works of the should-be-legendary Chicago blues and R&B man and does […]
Compact Capsules by Dan Ferguson Pernice BrothersGoodbye, KillerAshmont Records It’s been since 2006 that we last heard from Joe Pernice. He has been busy what with penning a novel (“It Feels So Good When I Stop”) and its accompanying soundtrack. No stranger to the indie pop […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson The City ChampsThe Set-UpElectraphonic Records ER 105 Must be that Memphis water. Jonesing for some Booker T. & the MGs sound with a contemporary-ish edge without sacrificing the soulful swells of that trademark organ B3 underpinning? Well, The City Champs is the […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Whitey Morgan & the 78sSelf-titledBloodshot BS176 Not unlike these parts, it’s also hard times in the Motor City. In these kinds of times, sometimes there’s no more perfect escape for the downtrodden than a few cold ones in the honky tonk and […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Duke RobillardPassport to the BluesStoney Plain Records Local blues guitar demigod Duke Robillard is smiling pretty big on the cover of his new Passport to the Blues. The joyousness translates straight from cover to contents with Robillard spreading the wings wide, so […]
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson L.A. based indie Anti Records has terrific balance. It’s a label that pays heed as much to the old sages (Tom Waits, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot) and pioneers (Bettye LaVette) as it does contemporary movers and shakers (Neko Case). Most importantly, the label […]
