Austin, TX by way of Denton, TX rockers Riverboat Gamblers have built a reputation for being raucous performers who don’t mind bleeding a little during their frenetic live-set. The spirit of their live-performance ways are captured brilliantly in their new record, Underneath the Owl (Volcom). ...

First things first. The new album from Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles , The Stars Are Out (Sugar Hill) is a Rock & Roll record. The quicker we all accept that and move on, the better. The reason I implore any possibly heartbroken twangophile to quickly end their season of mourning and embra...

Eastwood, a harmonizing country band from Dallas, deserves a bigger audience....

Often times, an artist or a band may get wrapped up in the effort to conform to a sound or style rather than seeking to create a vibe that actually fits them more effectively than many of the preordained titles and labels available really do. When Travis Hopper, lead singer and songwriter for Dallas...

As I mentioned a while back, the excellent Doug Burr from Denton, TX is soon releasing an LP that consists of songs inspired by The Psalms. As high as my expectations are for this disc, I am certain that the disc will exceed those almost unfair expectations. The Shawl (Spune/Velvet Blue) comes out d...

I’ll admit it, I watched the CMT show Can You Duet this past summer. This is gonna sound crazy…real crazy, but there was some serious talent on that show, and for once, the artists that had real talent ended up making it to the end. I did have my issues with the show. The judges (Naomi J...

In the late-nineties and early in this current millennium, the Texas-Country scene exploded, not only in the Lone Star State, but throughout the South. The vast scope of the music attracted many listeners, as the movement represented an alternative to the product that was being churned out in Nashvi...

I have recently spent a solid amount of time listening to albums from various bands that call themselves Country, Roots-Rock, and even Alt-Country. As I listen to these albums, I find myself breaking down each song to analyze the components that make the album fit within the boundaries that the band...

Some call it Old-Timey, New-Grass, Jam-Grass, Rootsy, Pre-WWII, Folk or hell, some label junkies may even dream up a title like Appalachian Dumpsta-Funk (not bad actually, can’t it be as useful as “Alt-Country”?) The fact is, in the last few years we have witnessed an Ellis Island-...