From France with love for Country Music
Rich O' Toole released his 8th studio album, "Ghost", on June 21st, four years after the brilliant "New York" (reviewed here on this blog). The 12 songs of this record were written or cowritten by the Houston native artist. "Need You To Stay", cowritten with the brilliant Texan artist Jade Marie Patek, is a splendid... Continue Reading →
This is my first review in almost three months. It's a very long time, even more with such a lot of fantastic releases all along the summer. At this point, after having been a witness of a summery profusion of musical gems, it's hard to know where to start. As we're entering the fall, let... Continue Reading →
Country music is, firstly, quality storytelling. Instrumentation is important, particularly pedal steel and fiddle, but what makes a great and relatable country song is, primarily, songwriting. Leon Majcen is an artist who grew up, from a young age, listening to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and John Prine. He knows about the importance of the... Continue Reading →
Ellis Bullard released his sophomore album, "Honky Tonk Ain't Noise Pollution", via Feels So Good Records, on February 9th. Two years after his acclaimed debut "Piss-Hot Freightlining Country Music", this new LP is an unmissable record for honky tonk and real country lovers. Each and every song present on this album is a gem, starting... Continue Reading →
Duke Oursler is a Kansas native singer and songwriter, who now lives in Macomb, Western Illinois. His new studio album, "He Shot More Than Birds", released on January 19th, via the Farm Way Records, that he coproduced with Mike Himebaugh, is a country rock LP with excellent storytelling about the life in midwestern little towns... Continue Reading →
Abby Hamilton is a young singer and songwriter from Wilmore, Southwest of Lexington, Kentucky. She was raised in a musical family, with great aunts part of a gospel group named The Hamilton Family, and a brother who's the lead guitarist in her band. Abby Hamilton released two EP's, "Broke Girl", in 2017, and "Afraid of... Continue Reading →
Vinnie Paolizzi is a suburban Philadelphia native singer and songwriter, descending from Italian immigrants, who now lives in Nashville. For years, he hosted there "Revival", a weekly writers round where songwriters shared songs, a place for them to rub shoulders and talk shop. After a 2021 EP, named "Private Sky", Vinnie Paolizi released, on November... Continue Reading →
With such a lot of brilliant country albums released this year, some great records had probably not all the success that they deserved. If 2023 would have been a "normal" year for country music, there's absolutely no doubt that Scott Southworth's new album would have been part of all the talks for best album of... Continue Reading →
If you love quality music, you couldn't miss Joe Stamm Band, this summer. After a brilliant EP, "Fort Smith", released on July 14th, they released a new album, on August 11th, named "Wild Man". Defining their music is a hard task. If you ask them, this Midwestern band from Central Illinois will tell you that... Continue Reading →
I always said and repeated on this blog that country music, even though it's rooted in American South, has no frontiers. I've listened and reviewed excellent and real country music from Rhode Island, Ohio, Washington State, Canada, even from UK or France. The album reviewed on this post was made by an artist from Frederick... Continue Reading →
Country Music France 