Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of 2022

I have no idea how many roots albums I bought, received for review, actually wrote about, listened to through a brief flirtation with a streaming service, and sampled via Polaris Music Prize jury membership, as well as other industry-provided downloads during 2022. But when I review other lists, I see a lot I am familiar…

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Eric Brace & Last Train Home- Everything Will Be review

Eric Brace & Last Train Home Everything Will Be Red Beet Records Eric Brace is one of the smoothest and most interesting vocalists populating Americana. While hardly a familiar name within the mainstream of roots music, those of us who have attuned our ears his direction recognize his appealing qualities. For reference, Brace and his…

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Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of 2020

I’ve been writing about roots music for 20 years, and have been assembling self-indulgent ‘favourite roots albums of the year’ lists for most of that time. While always a pleasant challenge, this year’s list was the most difficult for me to assemble. COVID-19 kept me even more tied to my remote music world this year,…

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What Else Was Donald Listening to in 2020?

What have I been listening to in 2020? Over the next few weeks, I’ll share my favourite roots albums of the year. I thought it interesting, if a bit self-indulgent, in this brutal year when we couldn’t see live music, that I also consider albums I discovered during lockdown and while under restrictions. I listened…

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Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of 2020…so far

As the first half of 2020 comes to a close (and thank criminy for that) and inspired by Exclaim! magazine’s request that I participate in their ‘top albums of the year…so far’ project (shocker: none of my albums made their list, and I even eliminated the bluegrass albums because I knew there was no point),…

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Eric Brace & Last Train Home- Daytime Highs & Overnight Lows review

Eric Brace & Last Train HomeDaytime Highs & Overnight LowsRed Beet Records More than a decade after their previous release, a six-song EP of covers, Americana group Last Train Home returns with a compelling, and majestic collection of new music. Previous albums, from their impressive, self-titled debut through 2007’s Last Good Kiss provided attuned listeners…

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Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of the Decade, 2010-2019 (#11-#20, pt. 4/5)

When considering inclusion on this list, I weighed the album’s positioning on my annual lists, how frequently I continue to listen to the recording, its impact on me—has it influenced me down a path of listening— and how enjoyable I continue to find the music. The final element is most important: can I listen to…

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Fervor Coulee’s Favourite Roots Albums of the Decade, 2010-2019 (#41-#50, pt. 1/5)

Ten years ago I spent too many weeks attempting to distill my roots music listening of the previous decade. It was painful work, but no small bit of fun. When I look back at that list, I am quite pleased at how well it holds up: a lot of great music that I continue to…

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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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Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, Thomm Jutz- Riverland review

Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, and Thomm Jutz Riverland Red Beet Records I’ve seen the Mississippi only once. One Christmas season, the year Kristy MacColl passed, we found ourselves in New Orleans for a couple days straddling an ill-fated Caribbean cruise with the in-laws. The weather for most of the cruise was unpleasant, but the couple,…

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