Eilen Jewell, ‘Butcher Holler: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn’, The Virginian Pilot

After releasing her acclaimed rockabilly opus, Sea of Tears, last year, the Boston-based singer/songwriter continues mining the same Americana musical vein with this tribute to one of America’s top country singer/songwriters, Loretta Lynn. This could be one of the most flattering, solid and heartfelt celebrations yet of the Coal Miner’s Daughter’s down-home country.

Here Jewell, backed only by her accomplished combo of Jerry Miller on guitars/pedal steel, Johnny Sciascia on upright bass and Jason Beek on drums, presents a dozen Lynn tunes from the ’60s and ’70s. Jewell doesn’t inject the same drawl and grit into these songs as her hero; rather, she interprets them with a slightly more folky, melodic voice. But with the spare country rocking and honky-tonkin’ at the hands of her backing boys, Jewell maintains the integrity of each feisty, melodic Lynn composition. The unflinching songs come alive as Jewell and her band keep it simple, allowing Lynn’s clever lyrics and attitude come through.   Read more...

Charlie Musselwhite

Harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite’s life reads like a classic blues song: born in Mississippi, raised in Memphis and schooled on the South Side of Chicago. A groundbreaking recording artist since the 1960s, Musselwhite continues to create trailblazing music while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. His worldly-wise vocals, rich, melodic harmonica playing and deep country blues guitar work flawlessly accompany his often autobiographical and always memorable original songs. Living Blues says, “Musselwhite’s rock-solid vocals creep up and overwhelm you before you know it. He plays magnificent harp with superb dexterity and phrasing. The results are amazing.”   Read more...

Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne may be dismissed as the kind of musician relegated to warm, fuzzy television dramas, but there’s much more to the husky-voiced singer-songwriter. On his fourth studio album, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise, he’s joined by his terrific band The Pariah Dogs: Jay Bellarose on drums, Jennifer Condos on bass, Patrick Warren on keys, Eric Heywood on guitar and Greg Leisz on steel guitar. The album was recorded in LaMontagne’s woodsy home in western Massachusetts, which helps lend that rural sound which runs through all of his records.   Read more...

JJ Grey

Photo By Jennifer Schrader

Singing with a passion and fervor directly influenced by the classic soul heroes, JJ Grey has written and recorded five albums of original songs steeped in the rhythm & blues, rock, and country soul of his native backwoods home outside Jacksonville, Florida. Grey comes from a long tradition of Southern storytellers and, in that spirit, he fills his songs with details that are at once vivid, personal and universal. After a decade of hard touring, he still spends eight months of the year on the road, bringing his music to a loyal, ever-growing, worldwide fanbase   Read more...

McGuffey Lane, 10

McGuffey Lane was formed nearly 30 years ago in Columbus. Ohio. Early radio and sales success was driven by hits like “Long Time Lovin’ You,” “People Like You,” and “Green Country Mountains.” The band’s personnel has changed over the years but the glue has remained in the form of the band’s creator and leader, John Schwab. McGuffey Lane are tireless road-dogs and fans know they can always count on an energetic, entertaining, and fun-filled music experience at their shows.

10 is McGuffey Lane’s 10th album, contains 10 tracks and is being released in 2010. The album represents their renewed energy and commitment to their music. Standout tracks include “It’s A Good Day”, “I Am Who I Am”, “Bartender” and “Song For The Road”. All the original band members came together to record the album and the results are sure to satisfy old and new fans alike.

Heart, Red Velvet Car

On their first new studio album in six years and their best new album in ages, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart balance the cool allure of acoustic instrumentation with enough grinding rockers to match the magic of their early years.

Too often overlooked and underappreciated among the mega-metropolitan elite, the Wilson sisters have nevertheless been a hugely influential force on rock and this disc could offer a blueprint to a lot of new acts looking to get their feet off the ground.

Heart sparkles on cuts that include the scorching “WTF,” the acoustic-based beauty “Hey You,” and the sizzling “Wheels,” all of which fit neatly alongside their earlier classics like “Barracuda” and “Magic Man.”

Ann’s voice can still rip a roof off a house and Nancy’s work with producer Ben Mink on instruments such as autoharp, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo and more, offer a mesmerizing soundscape throughout the 10-song disc.

Klaus Voorman & Friends, A Sideman’s Journey

An album from the musician, artist producer and famous sideman, best known for his work with The Beatles (he designed the Revolver album cover) and their solo recordings. Voormann played bass on many of the old solo Beatles albums. He was on Ringo’s first solo album Sentimental Journey, he played on John Lennon’s Imagine and on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. On A Sideman’s Journey, Voormann is joined by old mates Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Yusuf (AKA Cat Stevens), Dr. John, The Manfreds (members of Manfred Mann), Bonnie Bramlett, Jim Keltner, Max Buskohl, Van Dyke Parks, Albert Lee, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh, Don Nix and many others.   Read more...

Micky Dolenz, King For a Day

Micky Dolenz, the Monkees’ self-described “wacky drummer,” released King For a Day last week, featuring his versions of 15 songs written or co-written by the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, whose contributions to the Monkees legacy includes the hit “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” “It’s a very exciting project,” Dolenz tells Billboard.com. “She wrote so many different types of tunes. If you look at my album, things from ‘Crying in the Rain’ to ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ to ‘Upon the Roof,’ the spectrum is as wide as you can possibly get. One of her great strengths is she can just write an any genre, any sort of mood and any sensibility.”   Read more...

HOW TO BECOME A ROCK STAR…POSTHUMOUSLY

From the “I hope I die before I get old” department, have we got a deal for you!

British company And Vinyly charges £2,000 ($3,100) for the pleasure of pressing cremated ashes into a piece of vinyl, sprinkling them in like one would sprinkle cinnamon in a carrot cake, producing up to 30 records.

Not only can the records themselves be composed of ashes, but for another £3,500 artist James Hague will paint from a photo, mixing ashes in with the acrylic paint.

Should you have always dreamed of being a famous rockstar, the company can even arrange for the record to be stocked around the world in record stores for another £1,000 extra.   Read more...

Al Jardine

The Beach Boys may or may not reunite for a 50th anniversary tour next year, but they have already come together in the studio to record one song for Al Jardine’s new solo album A Postcard From California. Jardine began the track, “Don’t Fight the Sea,” as part of a planned solo album in 1978, recruiting Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnson to sing background vocals. “I was so busy doing Beach Boys stuff I never finished it,” Jardine says. “It just languished and languished, but in 1988 I got Brian to sing a high part for me. I modeled the song pretty much after Beach Boys harmony.” Just last year, despite years of lawsuits, Mike Love entered the studio with Jardine to cut the baritone part. “All the negativity between us is gone,” says Jardine. “He would have been very disappointed had I not asked him to be on it.”   Read more...