Ryan Davis has a way with words, and the direction they take often yields strangely insightful surprises. Vocally, he gets a lot of comparisons to the late David Berman of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains, and when Davis sings in his burly drawl, it’s hard not to hear it. While Davis shares Berman’s knack for […]
The lyrics of “McMemories,” a twangy, distortion-drenched standout from Dogwood Tales’ new album Every Star in Rockingham County, unravel like a flashback in an episode of “Friday Night Lights.” Seeing a street sign sends singer-guitarist Kyle Grim’s mind reeling, and he’s suddenly recalling moments of youth—sharing a Coke at a fast-food restaurant and kissing someone […]
Joe Firstman is a musical journeyman who’s taken an uncommon career path. In the early 2000s, he inked a deal with Atlantic Records and played piano-driven pop music that emphasized the soulful depth of his voice. Then he made an interesting pivot and became a late-night talk show bandleader, fronting the musical ensemble for “Last […]
Joe Pug takes the craft of songwriting seriously. That’s heard in his catalog—now seven albums and two EPs deep—filled with thought-provoking lyrics but also gleaned throughout the 300-plus episodes of his podcast, “The Working Songwriter.” On the interview-based show, Pug largely avoids artistic pretense and romance—instead he dives deep into the labor of being an […]