Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#726 in the Series) is Jerry Douglas, Traveler I’m guessing that some of you may have never heard of Jerry Douglas, but as a music lover he has been a part of your acoustic life for more than a decade. As THE premier slide dobro player in the business today and a genre spanning artist, he seamlessly flows between Pop, Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and Indie Rock without ever breaking a sweat. Jerry Douglas is to the dobro what Zamfir is to the pan flute. Supporting the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, and even more contemporary artists including his new BFF’s Mumford and Sons, he has lent his...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#725 in the Series) is Squackett, A Day Within a Life. This is a project that goes back to 2008 when longtime Yes bass player Chris Squire was planning another solo record. His first and only previous release was 1975’s Fish Out of Water, though he did another project with Yes part-timer Billy Sherwood, and a Christmas record Chris Squires Swiss Choir in which Steve Hackett was the other main half of the band. Hackett was the guitar virtuoso of Genesis who survived the Peter Gabriel departure to write and perform on two post-Gabriel records, one of which Wind and Wuthering is in my opinion his greatest work. He also has released...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#724) is Royal Southern Brotherhood,  Royal Southern Brotherhood The band of musicians that is generally considered to be the first “super group” is Blind Faith.  Blind Faith included Eric Clapton, who had just left Cream because he was tired of mediating the cat fights between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.  Steve Winwood, also a member of a band that was in disarray, with all of the members of Traffic arguing over song rights and musical direction, and the aforementioned Ginger Baker. The self-titled album that resulted from this brief crash-and-burn union was, depending on the music critic of the day you were reading, brilliant or bloated.  The record was considered bloated due...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#720 in the Series) is Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Big Moon Ritual A couple of weeks ago, on one of the few sunny days we’ve had so far this year, I was sitting out in the back garden enjoying a beer and browsing online. I came across a phrase I’d never heard before: Cosmic California. Hmmm, I thought, wonder what the hell that can be about. I sipped my beer. I read on……… Like most people who listen to a lot of music, I sometimes get a little jaded. I look at the shelves of CD and vinyl and I think that I can’t be bothered listening to any of it, heard...

    Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#716 in the Series) is Jimmy Fallon, Blow Your Pants Off Choosing your go-to talk show host is a lot like choosing a spouse or a dog.  It is a decision that is typically made when you are in your mid-twenties, one you are stuck with for at least a decade at a minimum, and you must be prepared for them to at times bring you joy, sometimes disappointment, and from time to time they will soil your rug. If the current stable of late night talking heads were a classic rock artist Jay Leno would be Bob Seger in that he is definitely showing his age, his monologues have not...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#715 in the Series) is Bonnie Koloc, Rediscovered Bonnie Koloc arrived in Chicago from Iowa in 1968. Although she was closely associated with the Earl of Old Town, her first club date was at the Quiet Knight, which was then located on Wells Street at that time. 1973 marked the release of her first record on Ovation. Many albums followed with the current release, Rediscovered. Representing her 15th recorded outing, Bonnie has been known for her original material along with her fine interpretations of songs by other songwriters. Her repertoire crosses many musical genres from folk to jazz and blues, giving her wide appeal to a broad based audience… Time for full...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#711 in the Series) is Dexys, One Day I’m Going To Soar Nothing’s changed, not really. Despite all the personnel, stylistic and sartorial revamps over the years, Dexys have remained at heart a Soul band. The first album was fuelled by the passion of Northern Soul, the second infused by emotive Celtic Soul, and in 1985, the band’s masterful “Don’t Stand Me Down” settled into a slightly more sedate groove. That one is a real lost treasure and remains Kevin Rowland’s masterpiece. It was a total flop at the time but has gained in reputation over the years and been re-released at least twice, that I know of. Kevin Rowland is famous...

    Rolling Stone Magazine is providing a free stream of the new album “Americana.” The album will be released next Tuesday, June 5th.  It’s the first album with some of the members of Crazy Horse in nine years (Greendale). It’s the first album with all of Crazy Horse in 16 years (Broken Arrow). HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE STREAM  Neil explained the newest project in a March 19 press release. “A very young choir of children plays with Crazy Horse” he said. “They’re songs we all know from kindergarten, but Crazy Horse has rearranged them, and they now belong to us.” “What ties these songs together is the fact that while they may represent an America that...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#706 in the Series) is Pat Green, Songs We Wish We’d Written II In 2001, Pat Green, Texas Troubadour and “Grasshopper” to Texas Hill Country “Sensei’s” Jerry Jeff Walker, Joe Ely, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Tommy Alverson, released an album along with Cory Morrow that was called Songs We Wish We’d Written. The record as the name implies included an eclectic stable of songs that had become standards in their respective live shows and were tunes that had artistically influenced both of the young singer-songwriters.  Some of the songs featured were straight up country classics like the Waylon Jennings hit “Are You Sure Hank Does it That Way” and the Jerry Jeff...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#703 in the Series) is Cory Branan, Mutt With Mutt, his debut release on the Chicago based Bloodshot Records Label, Cory Branan should go from being one of the best kept secrets around, to a “where have you been all of my life?” delicious musical find. Early in his career, with his name being talked about in the same breath as Ryan Adams, Pete Yorn, and Conor Oberst as one of the new young guns, the Memphis based singer-songwriter has shed his post-punk, harder edged sound, he was in a Black Sabbath cover band at one point, for a more introspective classic rock vibe with a renewed focus on the songwriter side of...