Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

For many of us, Eric Brace and Peter Cooper never went away. Wasn’t it just two years ago that they produced a stellar cast of musicians on the Grammy-nominated I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow? And it’s only three years ago that Brace and Cooper released their acclaimed Master Sessions, featuring pedal [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Eric Brace & Peter Cooper — The Comeback Album"

It’s hard to pinpoint the most tantalizing, fulfilling payoff from the Pistol Annies’ 2011 debut, Hell on Heels, when the trio burst into the scene with an exciting whoosh of honesty. Sure, there was the vindication of some long-awaited attention for songwriting darlings Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, and the rush of that rare alignment of [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Pistol Annies — Annie Up"

Inspired in part by her late father, who was a teacher, World War II veteran, and the son of Irish immigrants, Patty Griffin’s American Kid–her first album of original music in six years as well as her debut on New West Records—is one of the most gorgeous collections of music we’re likely to hear all [...]

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With some albums, it’s easy to sit still, letting the music wash slowly over you while pondering—or rolling your eyes at—the lyrics. You can’t sit still with The Mavericks’ new album, their first studio album in ten years. In the immortal words of Steve Alaimo’s song, “Where the Action Is,” the raucous rhythms of this [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: The Mavericks — In Time"

Okay, okay; so we all know country songs often tells sad tales about broken hearts, shattered love, missed opportunities, tears on our pillows, and the ache of the memory of the lover that got away. Tender pedal steel breaks imitate our the aching beauty of our forlorn hearts; jagged lead guitars remind us of our [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Daniel Romano — Come Cry with Me"

It’s fitting that the cover of Willis and Robison’s new album depicts the vagaries of love as a pinball game. For a small investment—a dance, a bottle of beer or glass of whiskey—lovers flirt with the chance of getting lucky, hurtling toward a night of love and maybe the bonus of discovering they’re made for [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison — Cheater’s Game"

Many artists will say that blood, sweat, and tears go into their first album. Few, however, mean it literally. For Hilary Williams, the long-awaited release of her self-titled EP is just that, a culmination of a painful physical comeback. While driving to her grandfather’s funeral with sister Holly in 2006, Hilary lost control of her [...]

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Working in the shadows of Nashville star-making machine are a wealth of unheralded talents who occasionally take brief, fleeting turns in the spotlight. Kim Richey has had a quietly profound impact in country music over the last couple of decades with her vital contributions as a singer-songwriter. Her compositions have been cut by Brooks & [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Kim Richey — Thorn in My Heart"

Every now and again, an artist emerges into the spotlight with a heavy, quiet air of importance hanging about him or her. They’re not necessarily the best singers, the best looking or the most favored by radio formats du jour, but in the genre of country music, they’re almost always weighed down by pockets and [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Ashley Monroe — Like a Rose"

“You’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t,” Kacey Musgraves admits on “Follow Your Arrow,” a gentle rebuke of small-town gossip on her debut major-label album, Same Trailer Different Park. Amused by the self-righteous judgment handed down from nosy neighbors, she plays it off with a wink and a shrug: “So you might [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Kacey Musgraves — Same Trailer Different Park"