“The best country singers die in the back of classic cars” – Rawlings and Gillian Welch and Impala, Chevrolet. Higher Ground, S Burlington, VT. Thurs. 11-12-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $30 adv, $35 day of.State Theatre, Portland, ME. Fri. 11-13-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $37.50.Lupo’s, Providence, RI. Sat. 11-13-15, doors 7pm. $32-$39.50Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA. Mon. 11-16-15, 8pm. $34.50. You’ve always liked Dave Rawlings. You just haven’t known it. He’s the male-half to Gillian Welch (check out everything from Time (The Revelator) to The Harrow and the Harvest) and everything the two touch is blissful earnest country. Now take your always-scintillating Welch-Rawlings duo, add aRead More →

Tyler and Maggie Heath + band (+ waterfall). Photo (C) Laurie Heath. The Met, Providence, RI. Thurs. 11-12-15, 7pm. $15 adv, $17 day of.Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA. Fri. 11-13-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $15 adv. A glorious return to the East Coast cometh a band with a sound like a tidal force. Having left us jaw-gaping at Newport in 2014 (do excuse the poor sound quality), siblings Maggie and Tyler Heath (with about a dozen other musicians) have been on a tear with their sophomore Dear Wormwood. We will admit this: we adore their folksy harmonies. We adore their exuberance, their bright energy. AndRead More →

The Oh Hellos – Dear WormwoodElektra– out now4.5 / 5 We’ve anticipated this follow-up to 2012’s bright folksome Through the Deep, Dark Valley for far, far too long – since Newport ’14. On their sophomore full-length, these southern Texans have put us in the awkward position of having to promote their first LP above their follow-up; and yet, if this is that supposed “sophomore slump” that so many bands seem to go through… then only “wow” can be said of it. If it weren’t for Dark Valley, which we’d give a more than solid 5 of 5 (the third in our 6 years of blogging),Read More →

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – Self-TitledStax Records– out now4 / 5 We caught him at the Newport Folk Fest nigh two months ago, and this grimy, (night) sweaty fellow showed us how to boogie your tired soul out. The Herman, MO-born Rateliff is indeed soulful, smoking, burning on his self-titled Stax debut, his fourth full-length. If you haven’t heard “S.O.B” on the radio, humming in the bar, in the bottom of that bottle, then maybe you should sober up and clean your ears out. Seemingly his anthem, Rateliff’s strength here, and on this album, is the grit he blows through his lyrics. TheRead More →