Driftwood Magazine
In Which Jack Gets ‘Rescued’ from the Island
In August 2010, I found myself shipwrecked on a deserted island with nothing to do but wait for the tide to bring me crates of oranges, bandannas, and CDs. Then I got picked up by a boat. I expect real life will soon be intruding. Family members to get reacquainted with. Work to go back […]
Review: Chris Smither, Hundred Dollar Valentine
Chris Smither Hundred Dollar Valentine [Signature Sounds (2012)] Before rock music found a way to make listeners sad in novel ways, there was country and the blues. Chris Smither has been making quietly successful, powerful songs to make you wistful since 1970. Morrissey and countless Emo bands could learn a thing or two by listening to Smither’s entire […]
Review: Cajun Roosters & Friends, Transatlantic Sessions
Cajun Roosters & Friends Transatlantic Sessions [www.cajunweb.de] Transatlantic Sessions is probably one of the most unusual recordings in Cajun music; but then again, the Cajun Roosters aren’t your ordinary chank-a-chankers either. The award-winning Roosters aren’t from the heart of Cajun country but are actually a pan-European band consisting of Britain’s Chris Hall (accordion/rubboard) and Sam Murray (percussion/lapsteel); Scotland’s […]
Feature Review: Admiral Fallow, Tree Bursts in Snow
Admiral Fallow Tree Bursts in Snow [Nettwerk (2012)] Admiral Fallow‘s Tree Bursts in Snow is a versatile record thoroughly entrenched in modern British folk rock. The 5-piece begins the record with a surprisingly sparse male-female duet, “Tree Bursts,” and the first voice you hear is Sarah Hayes, though nearly all of the leads afterward on […]
Review: Bap Kennedy, Sailor’s Revenge
Bap Kennedy Sailor’s Revenge [Proper (2012)] When I heard that the raspy voiced troubadour Bap Kennedy had enlisted Mark Knopfler for his latest effort, it was pretty much guaranteed that I would be excited to hear it. But when I heard that Sailor’s Revenge was a collection of Celtic-influenced folksy material, I couldn’t cue it […]
Travelogue: Festival In the Desert 2012
Festival In the Desert 2012 Photos and Essay by Ezra Gale In January of 2012 I travelled with a friend to Timbuktu, Mali, for the legendary Festival in the Desert. The trip was a long-planned for pilgrimage to the breeding ground of some of my favorite music on the planet—the crossroads of West African rhythms, […]
Review: Jon Chandler, The Gang
Jon Chandler The Gang Arroyo Records You can’t sing about the land if you don’t ride the land. When it comes to the rugged Wyoming terrain, Jon Chandler certainly knows a thing or two since he’s been riding the Outlaw Trail (near Kaycee, WY) with a crew of cowboys since 1978. Hence, the inspiration for The Gang, songs […]
Review: Kardemimmit, Introducing Kardemimmit
Kardemimmit Introducing Kardemimmit [World Music Network-digital download only (2012)] Kardemimmit is a Finnish group composed of four young women who sing and play the Kantele, which is the national instrument of Finland. The Kantele is a zither of 15 or 38 strings that is played by plucking the strings, and produces a sound similar to […]
Review: Karen Collins & the Backwoods Band, No Yodeling on the Radio
Karen Collins & the Backwoods Band No Yodeling on the Radio [CDBY (2012)] “Country music is as good as it’s ever been,” Ray Price once remarked in an interview backstage at the 2008 Country USA music festival in Oshkosh, WI. “The problem is that they don’t always play country.” If Price should ever see Karen […]
Review: Paul Thorn, What the Hell Is Going On?
Paul Thorn What the Hell Is Going On? [Perpetual Obscurity/Thirty Tigers (2012)] Tupelo-born songwriter Paul Thorn’s soul streak runs deep. On What the Hell Is Going On?, he takes songs from Lindsey Buckingham; Ray Wylie Hubbard (who guests on vocals); Allen Toussaint; Buddy & Julie Miller; Elvin Bishop (who also contributes guitar); Rick Danko of the Band; Paul Rodgers […]
Feature Review: Willie Nelson, Heroes
Willie Nelson Heroes [Legacy Recordings (2012)] Unless you’re among the legion of hardcore devotees who worship everything Willie Nelson has released in recent years, ya gotta admit that the Red Headed Stranger can be uneven at times. Luckily, Heroes doesn’t follow that suit. It’s a tight and focused record recalling disparate elements of Nelson’s 1966’s […]
Review: Chicha Libre, Canibalismo
Chicha Libre Canibalismo [Barbès Records (2012)] Chicha is Spanish for any variety of fermented beverage. In the late 1960s, it was also a fermentation of various musical styles that were “loosely inspired by Colombian cumbias but incorporated the distinctive pentatonic scales of Andean melodies, some Cuban guajiras, and the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, wah-wah pedals, farfisa organs […]
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