Quick Picks
Album | EP | Single
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The Sound Cafe Rating
5 star = essential, 4 star = excellent, 3 star = good, 2 = fans/collectors, 1 = for completionists only
The Barlow: Horseshoe Lounge
Colorado Country. That's the sound The Barlow has been making since 2017, combining Red Dirt, Americana, outlaw country and guitar-heavy Southern rock into songs that are as rugged as the band's Denver home. Two years after releasing their self-titled debut album, bandmates Shea Boynton, Ben Richter, Brad Johnson, and Troy Scoope are back with 2021's Horseshoe Lounge.
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Rosedale Junction: Rosedale Junction
Rosedale Junction is the crossroads of traditional American born and raised blues, country, R&B and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll. Founded by Boston based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Toby Soriero, the band’s debut album, Stompin’ on the Front Porch, harkens back to the golden era of album rock, when LPs were played from beginning to end, lyrics told stories and songs featured plenty of guitar solos.
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Jenny Colquitt: Dear Daughter
Jenny Colquitt is a singer, songwriter, musician from the North West of England. She began writing music in her early teens and from there has played many venues and spread her music far and wide. Jenny released her second E.P titled ‘Dear Daughter’ in 2020 following a break to pursue a career in the NHS. Following this release she fell back in love with music and went on to release the single ‘Captain Thomas Moore’ in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore and also as a tribute to the NHS.
All of the proceeds go to The Captain Tom Moore Foundation in his memory.
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https://jennycolquittmusic.com
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Mike Plume: Lonesome Stretch Of Highway
Having first arrived on the scene in the midst of the alt-country insurgency of the early 1990s, Mike Plume and his loyal band have logged countless miles around the globe, touring with the likes of Steve Earle, The Mavericks, John Hiatt and others, while befriending legends such as Levon Helm and Stompin’ Tom Connors. The lessons he’s learned along the way have left an indelible mark on Lonesome Stretch Of Highway, with its songs destined to take a place among his best-loved tunes.
Plume has long been known for his richly detailed storytelling style and unyielding devotion to rock and roll’s original spirit. That’s all present on Lonesome Stretch Of Highway, powered by Plume’s earthy, uncompromising voice. That combination is proof that one of Canada’s most accomplished singer/songwriters remains at the top of his game.
Overall, Lonesome Stretch Of Highway finds Plume reborn in many ways. Its nine tracks bear his distinctive stamp, but with an added crackling energy that’s a byproduct of hard-won experience. Recorded in his adopted hometown of Edmonton, the album marks Plume’s third collaboration with producer Marek David, and the first time they’ve worked together since 2001’s Fools For The Radio.
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The Ollam: Elllogy
The Olllam were formed in 2012 as a collaboration between legendary Belfast piper John McSherry (Lunasa, At First Light, Ulaid), fellow piper/whistler and grammy-nominated producer Tyler Duncan (Carly Rae Jepsen, Vulfpeck, Theo Katzman), Michael Shimmin (May Erlewine, Joshua Davis, Millish), and Joe Dart (Vulfpeck).
The resulting debut album, now considered a cult-classic (and winner of the 2012 Indie Acoustic Music Award for Best Instrumental Album), is lush with trance-like melodies, stunning instrumental virtuosity and a magical marriage of tradition and technology, finding the listener somewhere between Radiohead and Planxty with the ambient emotionalism of Nick Drake or Explosions in the Sky. Since their first album’s release, the band’s inventive musical compositions arrangements have been earning them sold out shows across Ireland.
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The Ollam's new album, Elllogy, is due for release within the next month or two.
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Willie Nelson: That's Life
Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That’s Life is Willie Nelson’s second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie’s first ode to Frank, 2018's My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, "Luck Be A Lady,” "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "You Make Me Feel So Young," and "I Won't Dance" (a duet featuring Diana Krall).
Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That's Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood--where Frank Sinatra, created a string of album masterpieces--with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas. Willie delivers 11 new studio performances, coming alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements on an album mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who's recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer). The album cover features a brand new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore.
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