Various Artists- Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots review

Because I haven’t written quite enough reviews in 2019, I accepted a last minute assignment from Country Standard Time to take a run at the latest Bloodshot compilation. Once upon a time, Bloodshot comps were integral to my listening, and even when they stopped being essential- and entirely entertaining- I still made room for just…

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Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of 2019

My gosh, this was hard. How hard? Willie Nelson- Ride Me Back Home got bumped during the last week, and I had to decide Bruce Springsteen- Western Stars wasn’t a roots album. I reviewed 109 albums at Fervor Coulee (and elsewhere) during 2019, didn’t have time to review or chose not to review several dozen…

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Helene Cronin- Old Ghosts & Lost Causes review

Helene Cronin Old Ghosts & Lost Causes HeleneCronin.com Looking for someone who straddles the folk, country, and Americana worlds as comfortably as Mary Gauthier, Kate Campbell, and Mary Chapin Carpenter? Look no further. Depending on the song, Cronin sounds a little like each of the named singers, and her approach to songwriting is similar—personal narratives…

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Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley- World Full of Blues review

I’ve been away the last several days, and while I was gone Exclaim! published my review of Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley’s latest, World Full of Blues. Link is here: https://exclaim.ca/music/article/rob_ickes_and_trey_hensley-world_full_of_blues It is a stout recording I highly recommend.

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Susan Gibson- The Hard Stuff review

Susan Gibson The Hard Stuff SusanGibson.com She wrote one of the biggest country songs of the last quarter century, but most of us are still unfamiliar with Susan Gibson. “Wide Open Spaces” hit #1, is among the Dixie Chicks’ signature songs, and—while obviously great—quite frankly isn’t even Susan Gibson’s best song. That distinction may go…

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Various Artists- Strut My Stuff review

Various Artists Strut My Stuff Modern Harmonic 32-tracks of obscure, formative, and hardcore country from independent labels scattered throughout the States? Yes, please. Do a bit of vinyl bin diving, and you may find a gem or three. Do a lot over a number of years, and you may come up with enough to fill…

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LaTresa & The Signal- The Blood and The River review

LaTresa & The Signal- The Blood and The River BoonDog Records LaTresa.com An Alabamian who has long resided in Nashville, LeTresa Smith has been around country and bluegrass music professionally for a couple decades, and her album of several years ago—Love, Babies, Jesus, and Sweet Potato Pie…—was a Fervor Coulee favourite. Eight years later, LaTresa…

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David G. Smith- Who Cares review

David G. Smith Who Cares DavidGSmithMusic.com Songwriters are a different breed, we know. Where many of us observe through cliché and personal viewpoint, the lyrical songwriter perceives via meter and rhyme, turn the expected upside-down, and provide witness to that which hides. On previous albums within my collection, including Non-Fiction and First Love, Iowan David…

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Tim Isberg- Running on the Edge review

Tim Isberg Running on the Edge TimIsberg.com I had intended this summer to explore writing reviews as ‘quick-hit’, hundred-word exercises, better suitable for the current freelance market. Another 600-words later, I again offer my apologies. My motto: If you can’t be good, be long. A pleasant Alberta surprise made its way to me this summer,…

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Chris & Adam Carroll- Good Farmer review

Chris & Adam Carroll Good Farmer AdamCarroll.com ChrisCarrollSongs.com What makes a good farmer?Patience.A work ethic superseding common sense.An appreciation for silence.And trees.A soft touch from harden hands. And heart.Pragmatism. After completing this list, truly stream of conscious and not realizing where it was going, I discovered I had just described a good songwriter. A pair…

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