Sandy Carroll – Just As I Am

Elvis has one. Ma Rainey and Robert Johnson each have one, too. So does Justin Timberlake, B.B. King, Sam Phillips, Otis Redding and Johnny Cash, amongst others. They all have been given a spot on the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame, which honors those who have made a difference on the Memphis music scene. Contemporary blues singer-songwriter Sandy Carroll received her engraved note in 2008, and by 2010, it was ceremoniously placed...

Levin-Torn-White – Self Titled

Fans of Rock & Roll are sure to love what they find here. A collaboration between Alan White, legendary member of Yes, Tony Levin, and David Torn, this collection features three of the genre’s finest instrumentalists in rare form all the way throughout. The opening interlude, “No Warning Lights,” helps to get things going, and sets up the high tech sound of “Ultra Mullett.” (I love that title!) It gets even better from there. “White Noise” cranks up the guitars a little more...

Paul Rodgers & Friends – Live At Montreux, 1994

Long regarded as one of the best front men in music history. Whether it be his work in Free, Bad Company, or Queen, his hard rocking stylings have entertained fans for years. For this collection, recorded at the Montreux festival some seventeen years ago, he also invites some of his friends, such as Queen’s Brian May, Toto’s Steve Lukather, and Journey’s Neal Schon. The results are akin to a jam session for the ages. Some of the songs, such as the classic “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” still have that one-of-a-kind...

The B-52s –With the Wild Crowd!- Live in Athens, GA

Since 1976, The B-52s’ music has had a way of getting listeners jazzed. It’s impossible to relax as their irresistible blend of retro rock, surf, and post-punk dance music inspires the mind and body, sweeping them off to the odd places in their songs, like in “Mesopotamia,” “Planet Claire,” and the “Funplex.” Even retiring legends are taken over by their whacky charms. In the famous 1980 Rolling Stone interview given three days before his murder, Beatle John Lennon tells...

Xavier & Ophelia – X & O

Named for a couple of childhood dolls, Xavier & Ophelia is a new producer/singer duo based in Nashville. Dave Tough and vocalist DeAnna Moore come together for an unlikely blend of electronica, classic pop melodies and delicate vocal deliveries on their self-released debut EP, “X & O.” The pair has a hand in writing seven of the nine offered songs here, while covers of Kings of Leon hit “Use Somebody” and Jackson C. Frank’s folk tune “Milk & Honey” round out...

Willie Nile – The Innocent Ones

“Have you seen the sunshine laughin’ like a bad boy/Doin’ somethin’ that I never will?” This is just the kind of lively and descriptive lyric listeners will hear on “The Innocent Ones” – singer/songwriter Willie Nile’s latest on River House Records. Already available in Europe, where the thirty-year veteran of the New York music scene has a following, the collection of new original tunes will be released to the US market in November.

Corey Wagar – On The Edge

New Jersey native Corey Wagar has made considerable career progress already in her short career with her music, and with the release of her full-length album, she hopes to take another leap forward. Without a doubt, she’s got the talent to do so, and has assembled some fine songs and musicians as she looks to advance her career to the next level. On a sonic level, this album simply sounds good. The guitars of “Hurricane” set the pace for Wagar to give a very passionate performance. Tempo is something that Wagar handles well, with several faster-paced cuts all over the album, such as the raw and sensually charged “Me And My Girls” and “Wild Side,” both of...

Rory Gallagher – Defender

Not familiar with Rory Gallagher? The late, Irish rock movement leader has been gone sixteen years, but Eagle Rock Entertainment really wants you to know what his music is all about. His “Defender” CD is part of their ambitious Gallagher catalog re-issue project going on this year. Originally coming out in 1987, this record was the first release on the guitar phenom’s own Capo label. Self-produced, with a pure instrumental sound out-of-sync with the heavy...

Mac McAnally - Live In Muscle Shoals

Ever since a song called “Old Flame” went to the top for Alabama back in 1981, Mac McAnally and success have gone hand in hand. He has written some of the biggest songs in the format, and has been recognized the past three years as Musician of the Year from the CMA, and is once again a finalist in the category this year. McAnally has had success as a singer, songwriter, musician, and as a producer, and he is also a very fine storyteller. Each of those talents come to the forefront here on this live...

Buck Owens – Bound For Bakersfield: 1953-1956

Legendary country artist Buck Owens started doing session work for Capitol Records in 1957. By 1959, his career shot off with the hit, “Second Fiddle,” and had his first top ten, “Under Your Spell Again,” that same year. Named artist of the decade by Capitol in 1969, he had a slew of smashes with them, including signature tunes “Tiger by the Tail,” “Act Naturally,” and “Crying Time.” Later moving to Warner Brothers in 1976, Owens found his way back to his old...

Richie Owens & The Farm Bureau – In Farm We Trust

Richie Owens has been around Nashville for quite some time now. Back in 1998, he helped to produce an album on one of his talented family members who also owns a theme park in East Tennessee (Think about that one for a second.) For the past few years, Owens has been making some very unique music with the Farm Bureau, and they have developed quite a following. This disc is sure to keep...

Mike Cullison – Roadhouse Rambler

“There’s a deep, dark dungeon/In the bottom of the glass.” Hank Williams, Sr. couldn’t have said it any more whiskeyfied than singer-songwriter Mike Cullison in “Whiskey Memory,” one of six original tracks on his new EP, “Roadhouse Rambler.” Growing up in Oklahoma, and now living in Nashville, the artist has a hand in penning every honky-tonker and blues-a-billy tune here, recounting stories of did-her-wrong woes, did-me-wrong women, and bars.

E.G. Kight – Lip Service

A native of Southern Georgia, E.G. Kight has received a lot of attention as of late for her blues-drenched style and delivery. That’s as it should be, because she does it very well. In the promotional materials that come with this album, Kight’s style is referred to as “Country-flavored, Southern-fried Blues.” I couldn’t think of a better way to describe it myself. Besides the style, Kight also has her way as a songwriter as well. The opener, “Sugar Daddies,” takes an old theme, and adapts it to the struggling...

Rene Herbert – This Is

Needless to say, the music that comes out of the New Orleans would qualify as having a little bit of soul. While Rene Herbert isn’t what you would term a soul singer per se, her music does have as much power and emotion as anything else coming out of the city of the Saints. Herbert pours her heart and soul into these twelve Gospel songs, and there is not a clunker in the bunch. Gifted as a singer as well as a songwriter, she puts together lyrics that will touch and inspire you. Whether it be the prayer for strength “Something...

Hannah Miller – O Black River

Nashville has been accused a time or two of being a cookie-cutter-music kind of town. Well, whoever says that hasn’t heard artists like Hannah Miller. She’s a local singer-songwriter who’s the antithesis of “same ol’ same ol’,” delivering under-cooked lyrics in her highly personal, wisp-of-smoke vocal style, and serves them up with stirring, edgy arrangements. “O Black River” is Miller’s fifth release to date - an EP of six original songs, each of which offers a different side...