Music is in indie folk singer-songwriter Shantel Leitner’s blood. Following in the footsteps of her mother, aunt, and grandfather (all country singers), Leitner began singing at a young age. “I was pretty bashful, so I didn’t sing with them until my grandfather lovingly nudged me to,” Leitner said during a recent phone interview. Now at […]
Music is in indie folk singer-songwriter Shantel Leitner’s blood. Following in the footsteps of her mother, aunt, and grandfather (all country singers), Leitner began singing at a young age. “I was pretty bashful, so I didn’t sing with them until my grandfather lovingly nudged me to,” Leitner said during a recent phone interview. Now at […]
Glenn Jones first made his musical mark as a member of the experimental rock band Cul de Sac in the ’90s. His work with that group eventually led to him become the protégé of the legendary, beloved, and notoriously difficult John Fahey, who was then enjoying a late-career resurgence. Since Fahey’s passing a decade ago, […]
Deriving its name from the loss of the Man in Black himself, Cashless Society embarks on a high-spirited, rambunctious mission to preserve the unique rockabilly sound that erupted from Memphis, Tennessee in the 1950s and ’60s. If audiences pause long enough between boisterous sets, they may notice that the lead guitarist donning the swagger of […]
Abandoning rigid classical training at Juilliard for the free-spirited dominion of rock, alternative country, and Americana, Andrew Leahey and his backing band, the Homestead, create feel-good music with impressively refocused talent. Now comfortably at home in the music mecca of Nashville, the Richmond native found himself dreaming up his new EP, Summer Sleeves, while cruising […]
For the past five years, Andrew Cedermark has consistently made some of the best and most vital rock music around: unpretentious and exuberant, quiet yet confident, messy and triumphant. But his career path has been a strange one, with several unexpected twists and turns, a story that is still being told as he cautiously finds […]
Through a two-and-a-half-decade career, Anders Osborne has consistently proven to be one of New Orleans’ most versatile musicians. Since releasing his debut album in 1989, Osborne has become a Crescent City mainstay, able to vary his sound from edgy Bayou blues (2001’s Ash Wednesday Blues) to introspective soulful folk-rock (2007’s Coming Down). He’s collaborated with […]
Contemporary folk duo Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin, a.k.a. The Sweater Set, first met as teens in a Washington, D.C. church choir. In the years since, the pair has taken their vocal training and friendship on the road, developing multi-instrument arrangements that include the ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel, and even the kazoo, layered with “elaborate lyrical […]
Often appearing on stage in faded tees and ripped jeans, Gary Allan embodies the homegrown simplicity of country music. Injecting elegance into lyrics laden with manly understatement, Allan’s unpolished voice tells the stories of everyday life, love, joy, and pain. In his latest release, Set You Free, the California native proves that raw, unadulterated emotion takes on entirely new […]
The pun-named Dwight Howard Johnson is neither a hotel chain nor a center for the Lakers, but rather a Charlottesville band. It plays appealing and charming pop rock, drawn from the timeless well of all pop rock bands, while reminding one of the 1990s, when such pop music was actually popular. The most obvious comparison […]
Transcendental whimsy With no less than seven members, spiritual rock group NYMPH blurs traditional musical genres to the point of nonexistence. Deriving their visionary sound from the realm of free-jazz, the Brooklyn-based group weaves their way through pulsating African beats and jazz thrills to ethereal guitar harmonies, providing a musical trip across cultural, artistic, and […]