Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1051 in the Series) is Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat. I wasn’t familiar with Jenny Lewis when she appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show a few years back. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of her, since I was a little familiar with her band Rilo Kiley. I guess just not enough. I had just walked in the door, flipped on the TV as they took the stage on that Kimmel episode.  I really liked what I was hearing. This was my sound. This was square in “my wheelhouse” to lean on a cliche. It was at the end of a day when I was in one of my “Gram Parsons moods” so her...

  T0day’s Cool Album of the Day (#1044 in the the Series) is Whiskeytown, Strangers Almanac. There are very few albums that I can look back on and say that it shaped what I listened to for the rest of my life.  Strangers Almanac is one of those albums.  I had a roommate that kept telling me that I needed to listen to this artist named Ryan Adams.  I kind of had a rule at the time that if the album came out in the 80’s or later I wasn’t that interested.  I finally gave it a chance and it redefined my taste in music. If you compose music we recommend the best violin case to protect your instrument all times....

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1037 in the Series)  is Lyle Lovett, Pontiac I was a music distributor in 1987 and was sitting at my desk when a Senior Vice President named Dennis Sinclair walked in and tossed “Pontiac” on my desk. He said, “Carta,check this out, This is all you. I think you’ll really like it.” Senior VPs always got their hands on the goodies first. As I jumped in my Pontiac and headed on Route 83 southbound I popped the disc into the player. The first song I heard was “If I had a Boat” second up was “Give Me Back My Heart” then “I Loved You Yesterday” and on an on. OK, Lyle, you got me!...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1033 in the Series) is Nomad Planets, You’re Never Alone Until You Panic The following was originally posted back about seven years ago. Let’s read it again shall we… This is a piece that I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time. What’s taken so long? That’s an easy one.  I love this album so much that I never thought I could do it justice with words.  I still don’t think I’ll be able to but I had to make sure that you knew about. You can hear the album its entirety below so even if I slobber and make zero sense at least you can just blow me off and...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1011 in the Series) is Jason Isbell, Southeastern. Well, this one has kinda taken me by surprise to be honest. As a long-time admirer of both Jason Isbell and his former band Drive By Truckers I really thought I had him pegged and that I knew pretty much what to expect from anything he’d release next: good, solid  Americana fare with maybe three or four exceptional songs on each album. I have to say however that he’s proved me wrong with Southeastern, this time out he’s offered up a complete gem of an album, full of wonderfully personal songs, straight from the heart, sparkling and emotive. He’s taken it to the next level...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1007 in the Series) is Bob Dylan, Modern Times. About twelve years ago I had a chance to visit upstate New York on a business trip. My journey would start in Albany, continue day by day west.  I’d spend a day in Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and eventually Buffalo.  After l landed in Albany I met up with a few other ‘soon be’ friends that would make the same trip. When we arrived in Buffalo, ‘Tom’ jokingly suggested that next year, we should rent a Winnebago. We could all save on rental cars and hotel rooms. I added, ‘Yeah, we could call ourselves the Rolling Thunder Review!’ Of course we never did, even though...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1001 in the Series) is Willis Alan Ramsey, Willis Alan Ramsey Willis Alan Ramsey is the Harper Lee of the Americana, Alternative Country scene of the 1970’s and his eponymous album is his To Kill a Mockingbird. Released on New Year’s Day 1972 Willis Alan Ramsey was the first, last, and only album to be released by an artist that many consider to be one of the forefathers of the Outlaw sound who heavily influenced such Cosmic Cowboys as Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker and Ray Wylie Hubbard. With a Texas Troubadour sound that is more Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and Joe Ely than Willie Nelson, Willis Alan quickly...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#994 in the Series) is Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy Most music fans will know the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (if they know them at all) as the makers of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”, a superb album which has become semi-legendary in certain circles, with good cause. It was an essential purchase when it came out in 1972, a wondrous 3 LP set within which tribute was paid by a younger generation to some of the most revered performers of traditional Country music. The likes of Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs and Roy Acuff were on board for a seminal release on which both sides of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#981 in the series) is the debut self-titled album by Mudcrutch. I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never been the biggest Tom Petty fan.  Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s OK, I do like him. I’ve seen him and really enjoyed the show. (Althought I liked the opening band the del Fuegos better)  I’ve liked some of this work but I think the best thing he ever did was his original single “American Girl” and that was 1976. But…. however, I really liked his Mudcrutch album! Here’s what Mudcrutch was all about. They were Petty’s first band formed in 1970.  The band did include a number of future Heartbreakers. They...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#977 in the Series ) is Nanci Griffith, One Fair Summer Evening. “Variety; Learning about different types of music; bringing different genres to different people.”   These were just some of the objectives that we publically discussed when we started this project just about a year ago. We’re most definitely going to continue in that direction tonight.  This is one of those albums that requires you to “be in the proper” mood. However, when you are, this album is about as good as it gets. “What mood is that?” you ask?  Mostly a mellow feeling I’d say, interested in hearing some wonderfully written songs being sung by a woman with a marvelous voice that...