Running
Artist: Desert Rose Band

This is certainly a good representation of the work the Desert Rose Band did in their prime and a project that remains a favorite. With some solid songwriting by Chris Hillman and a cover of Buck Owens' "Hello Trouble," this second release is a definitive work. With hits like "I Still Believe in You," "Summer Wind," and John Hiatt's "She Don't... Read More

Emotional Savant
Artist: John Jorgenson

Emotional Savant opens with a very promising, very gentle new age instrumental. It lasts for one minute. John Jorgenson then abruptly switches to mundane garage rock. It gets worse: he sings -- poorly. The affectations -- while they might be real -- sound contrived. The whole thing comes across as "packaged" and it just doesn't work. ~ Jim... Read More

Family Tree
Artist: Darrell Scott
Community Score: 9.00

Darrell Scott's second solo album, Family Tree, picks up where his debut Aloha from Nashville left off -- that is, it features more of Scott's great writing, singing and playing. The title track in particular captures the album's gritty, moving feel and creative blend of country, folk, bluegrass and jazz. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide Read More

Dangerous Spirits
Artist: Ray Wylie Hubbard

Sheer determination is what makes this collection of songs a force to be reckoned with. Hubbard's songs mix styles and genres recklessly, using whatever he needs to get the point across. While he doesn't have the greatest voice around, he puts his soul into his singing, leaving a memorable impression. None of these songs are comfortable, simple... Read More

Drive-In Movie
Artist: Fred Eaglesmith
Community Score: 10.00

It's no big surprise that the majority of Canadian songwriters don't get their due in the United States, but listening to Drive-In Movie from Ontario native Fred Eaglesmith, you have to wonder just how much we're missing. Eaglesmith's vivid lyrics, simple arrangements, and plaintive but sturdy voice echo the rural landscape and the wide, clear,... Read More

Tramp on Your Street
Artist: Shaver

Billy Joe Shaver's first recording in six years is a stunner. Partnering with his guitar-slinging son, Eddy, Tramp on Your Street is a rollicking yet intimate ride through the world Billy Joe-style. There are smoking country rockers that are brazen, raw, and in-your-face, such as the sizzling remake of "Been to Georgia on a Fast Train" (which is... Read More

Lost Train of Thought
Artist: Ray Wylie Hubbard

In the early '90s, unless one was an obsessive follower of the Texas singer/songwriter community, you'd be forgiven for thinking Ray Wylie Hubbard had dropped off the face of the Earth after a pair of fine albums recorded in the 1970s went nowhere and Hubbard's biggest claim to fame was writing "Redneck Mother" for Jerry Jeff Walker. But as it... Read More

A Dozen Roses: Greatest Hits
Artist: Desert Rose Band

A showcase for Hillman's pop-country vocals and the considerable chops of bandmembers such as Herb Pedersen. Together they made some of the best country singles of the late 80s, all collected here. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

Old Five and Dimers Like Me
Artist: Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe Shaver slipped onto the recording scene very quietly in 1973. He was already heralded a fine songwriter by Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, but even they'd recorded one or two songs of his up to that point. After the issue of this debut album, however, the floodgates opened for Shaver with the aforementioned trio... Read More

Little Love Affairs
Artist: Nanci Griffith
Community Score: 9.00

Little Love Affairs, Nanci Griffith's second MCA Records album, and sixth album overall, was the crucial release in her attempt to achieve success as a Nashville-based country artist, and in that context it was a failure. But it was also an artistic success, containing 11 well-written and well-performed songs in the reflective style that the... Read More

The Desert Rose Band
Artist: Desert Rose Band

The Desert Rose Band's eponymous debut demonstrated that Chris Hillman's new band could continue his country-rock tradition effortlessly. Throughout the record, the Desert Rose Band turns in tight performances, highlighted by brief, tasteful instrumental solos and yearning vocals. ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide Read More

Crusades of the Restless Nights
Artist: Ray Wylie Hubbard
Community Score: 8.00

"I wanted to be a folk singer," Ray Wylie Hubbard told annotator Geoffrey Himes of his early goal in the liner notes of his second Philo album, Crusades of the Restless Knights, and the record bore out the renewal of that ambition. Although the arrangements of Hubbard's tunes usually found several pickers playing stringed instruments (acoustic... Read More