Americana singer/songwriter Tom Russell was born in Los Angeles in 1950. Raised on the cowboy music of the American West, he grew up to be a talented songwriter, and began issuing albums under his own name in the early '70s. However, Russell's material was also recorded by such luminaries as Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Dave Alvin, and Doug Sahm, and... [+] Read More

Americana singer/songwriter Tom Russell was born in Los Angeles in 1950. Raised on the cowboy music of the American West, he grew up to be a talented songwriter, and began issuing albums under his own name in the early '70s. However, Russell's material was also recorded by such luminaries as Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Dave Alvin, and Doug Sahm, and k.d. lang, to name only a few. While much of Russell's work mined the country tradition, he was also known to flavor his work with Tex-Mex, folk, and the cowboy music of his youth. After an acclaimed career spanning two decades, Russell found another gear with 1999's Man from God Knows Where. A concept album eight years in the making, the LP presented a song cycle inspired not only by America's pioneers, but by Russell's own immigrant ancestors. Borderland, a set inspired by Russell's newfound home in the Juarez border region of Texas, followed in 2001. Modern Art appeared in April 2003 and Hotwalker -- a conceptual work inspired by Russell's encounters with author Charles Bukowski -- followed in 2005. A year later Russell released Love and Fear, an album focusing on what he called "the ragged outback of love." ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide [-] Hide

June Tabor is probably the finest female traditional British folk singer of the late 20th century -- if not the best British folk singer of her time, period. What links her to Britain's past traditions are the chilling and emotional qualities of her voice. What links her to the British present is her fine taste in material, arrangements, and... [+] Read More

June Tabor is probably the finest female traditional British folk singer of the late 20th century -- if not the best British folk singer of her time, period. What links her to Britain's past traditions are the chilling and emotional qualities of her voice. What links her to the British present is her fine taste in material, arrangements, and backing musicians, along with a willingness to try different things and interpret work by contemporary songwriters.

Tabor's first high-profile project was a duet album with Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior in the 1970s (the duo dubbed themselves the Silly Sisters for the occasion). An all-star cast of some of the leading lights of the British folk scene supported the singers, including Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, and Andy Irvine. For her own albums and tours she has worked with outstanding guitarists, most notably Jones and Martin Simpson. She's also tread into folk-rock waters with Fairport Convention (whom she's guested with onstage) and the Oyster Band (with whom she collaborated on a 1990 album). Her 1994 album, Against the Stream, found her still at her peak, interpreting both traditional tunes and efforts by modern-day composers, including Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson. Subsequent efforts include 1996's Singing the Storm, 1997's Aleyn and 2000's Quiet Eye. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Buffy Sainte-Marie has enjoyed a long career that has seen her rise to stardom on the folk circuit and try her hand at country, rock, soundtrack themes, acting, activism, and children's television. For most listeners, she remains identified with the material she wrote and sang for Vanguard in the mid-'60s. Her songs that addressed the plight of... [+] Read More

Buffy Sainte-Marie has enjoyed a long career that has seen her rise to stardom on the folk circuit and try her hand at country, rock, soundtrack themes, acting, activism, and children's television. For most listeners, she remains identified with the material she wrote and sang for Vanguard in the mid-'60s. Her songs that addressed the plight of the Native American, particularly "Now That the Buffalo's Gone" and "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying," were the ones that generated the most controversy. Yet she was also skilled at addressing broader themes of war and justice ("Universal Soldier") and romance ("Until It's Time for You to Go"). She was also a capable interpreter of outside material, although her idiosyncratic vibrato made large-scale commercial success out of the question.

Sainte-Marie was born to Cree Indian parents and adopted by a white family. Signed to Vanguard, she was one of the folk scene's more prominent rising stars in the '60s, and certainly the only widely heard performer articulating Native American viewpoints in song. Much of her best material from this era, however, gained its greatest commercial inroads via cover versions. "Universal Soldier" was one of Donovan's first hits. "Until It's Time for You to Go," perhaps her best composition, was covered by numerous pop singers, and became a big British hit for Elvis Presley in the early '70s. "Cod'ine," one of the few '60s songs to explicitly address the dangers of drugs, was covered by Californian rock bands Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Charlatans.

Sainte-Marie didn't pigeonhole herself as a folky, though, recording in Nashville in the late '60s in attempts to break into the country market. In the 1970s, she would make some rock records, including one (1971's She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina) with contributions from Ry Cooder and Crazy Horse. These country and rock outings were far less successful, both commercially and artistically, than her early folk efforts.

But Sainte-Marie was never as reliant on selling units as most musicians. She kept busy with a long-running stint on Sesame Street, performing benefits for and organizing on behalf of Native Americans, and composing for movies (she won an Oscar for the theme to An Officer and a Gentleman, co-written with her husband, producer Jack Nitzsche). She hadn't made an album for 15 years before issuing Coincidence and Likely Stories in 1992. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Since 1984, Bill Morrissey has released a series of albums of original songs that have startled and delighted the following he's built up in touring around the Northeast. By the second one, North, he'd been picked up by the Philo division of Rounder Records. Morrissey sings in a surprisingly flexible deep voice (somewhat reminiscent of Leon... [+] Read More

Since 1984, Bill Morrissey has released a series of albums of original songs that have startled and delighted the following he's built up in touring around the Northeast. By the second one, North, he'd been picked up by the Philo division of Rounder Records. Morrissey sings in a surprisingly flexible deep voice (somewhat reminiscent of Leon Redbone's croak, but more supple). His songs are full of humor and pathos, expressed in keenly observed details. This is small-town life, sometimes desperate, sometimes hopeful, but always presented in new, unexpected ways on releases including 1989's Standing Eight, 1992's Inside, 1994's Night Train, and 1996's You'll Never Get to Heaven. Something I Saw or Thought I Saw continued that tradition in 2001. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide

You know you've got a shot when Joan Baez covers one of your songs. That's what sparked the career of Alabama singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis in 1979 when Baez chose to include "Song at the End of the Movie" on her Honest Lullaby. From there, Pettis was involved with the Fast Folk movement in New York in the '80s alongside artists such as Shawn... [+] Read More

You know you've got a shot when Joan Baez covers one of your songs. That's what sparked the career of Alabama singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis in 1979 when Baez chose to include "Song at the End of the Movie" on her Honest Lullaby. From there, Pettis was involved with the Fast Folk movement in New York in the '80s alongside artists such as Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. He continued to write songs and eventually embarked on his solo career in 1987 with the independent release of Moments, an album which some still consider his finest. Following that, Pettis made his way onto High Street Records, issuing four releases between 1991 and 1996. Tinseltown, While the Serpent Lies Sleeping, Chase the Buffalo, and Making Light of It all garnered much critical praise, but failed to find a widespread audience. What Pettis did find were fans in other artists who began adding his original tunes to their own repertoires. Dar Williams snagged "Family" for her Mortal City disc, while Garth Brooks tapped "You Move Me" for his hit Sevens. Maintaining his status as a songwriter has always been a focus for Pettis, from his time at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios to his work as a staff writer for PolyGram Publishing in Nashville. Making his name as an artist is another matter, and one that Pettis continues to pursue. In 1998, he aimed himself in a slightly different direction, he signed on with Compass Records and released Everything Matters. A fine collection of poignant character sketches, Everything Matters has a more refined, mature sound than previous efforts, perhaps due to the production of Grammy winner Gordon Kennedy who is best known for his work on Eric Clapton's "Change the World." ~ Kelly McCartney, All Music Guide [-] Hide

This album was originally released on the Topic label in 1980, when June Tabor was just coming into her own as a solo artist. She had made two albums with Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span) in the 1970s, both of which were fairly lighthearted collections of English folk songs. On A Cut Above, she is teamed up with uber-guitarist Martin Simpson and... [+] Read More

This album was originally released on the Topic label in 1980, when June Tabor was just coming into her own as a solo artist. She had made two albums with Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span) in the 1970s, both of which were fairly lighthearted collections of English folk songs. On A Cut Above, she is teamed up with uber-guitarist Martin Simpson and begins to show the darker colors that would typify her subsequent work. "Admiral Benbow" (a gorgeous sea song with a lovely choral tag at the end) and the cheerfully despairing "Flash Company" are light enough, but her hair-raising a cappella performance of "Number Two Top Seam," a song about a coal mine explosion, shows her at her best -- stark, chilling and beautiful. She also manages to cut Linda Thompson with her rendition of "Strange Affair," possibly the saddest and most beautiful of all the sad and beautiful songs written by Linda's ex-husband Richard. Martin Simpson, who is the very soul of taste throughout this album, mars "Strange Affair" with an ill-advised slide guitar solo, but it's the only mistake anyone makes on this album. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Whole New You is an appropriate title for Shawn Colvin's fourth studio album of new material, her first in four-and-a-half years. Much has happened in the interim. In career terms, Colvin had made several modestly selling albums before A Few Small Repairs appeared in the fall of 1996. The album was another modest seller until "Sunny Came Home"... [+] Read More

Whole New You is an appropriate title for Shawn Colvin's fourth studio album of new material, her first in four-and-a-half years. Much has happened in the interim. In career terms, Colvin had made several modestly selling albums before A Few Small Repairs appeared in the fall of 1996. The album was another modest seller until "Sunny Came Home" hit the singles charts in the spring of 1997, going on to hit number one on the adult contemporary lists and the Top Ten on the pop charts. Then it won the Song of the Year and Record of the Year Grammys, while A Few Small Repairs spent a year in the charts and sold close to a million copies. That means that Colvin can no longer be considered a niche artist, but must compete in the mainstream, even though she is actually a one-hit wonder up to this point. She reacted as you might suspect an artist would after a breakthrough release; she maintained her exposure by doing a Christmas album and some soundtrack work while taking her time on a follow-up. Personally, her life has been at least as tumultuous. A Few Small Repairs was her divorce album, but during the lengthy run-up to Whole New You she remarried and had a child, which clearly has given her a different perspective (and another reason for that title). Within all this change, however, there are certain constants. She continues to collaborate with writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist John Leventhal, who continues to come up with imaginative musical tracks clearly informed by mid-'60s pop sensibilities. The title track (and first single), for example, is distinctly Beatles-esque, with twangy guitar and George Martin-style spare string arrangement, while "Bonefields" employs what by now should be called the Burt Bacharach Memorial Horn Trick, a sole flugelhorn playing a countermelody at the end of the tune. The arrangements are full of such echoes, but they remain echoes; Leventhal weaves instruments and effects together evocatively, but not overtly. Something similar can be said about Colvin's lyrics, which she sings in her characteristically becalmed voice, with its timbre that suggests Helen Kane (the "boop-boop-de-doop" girl) without the humor and her phrasing that gulps syllables for emotional resonance. Though she is given to making simple statements, they are imbedded in impressionistic reflections on life. Over and over, she sings of being committed, whether she wants to be or not: "I can't find my way to stay and I can't find my way to go and I can't give up without a fight" ("A Matter of Minutes"); "Anywhere you go I will go there" ("Anywhere You Go"); "I'm bound to you and there's no in-between" ("Bound to You"). In a sense, the album's 11 tracks make up one elliptical song in which the narrator thinks about the choices she has made recently with a sense that those choices are irrevocable. For the most part, she doesn't mind that, it seems, but she's certainly aware of it. Amid the various references to steadfastness and the allusions to childhood, there is little passion, but plenty of clear-headed acceptance. This is an album about marriage and family, not love, at least not the kind of romantic love that most pop songs are concerned with; in fact, the word "love" is never mentioned. For that reason, the most interesting song is the most complex one, "Another Plane Went Down," a seemingly random assemblage of news reports and nightmares that, in its way, feeds into the album's main theme. After all, to have a sense that you have finally found a home that depends on your relationship to other people is to fear that some accident will take it away from you. Whole New You may not contain a song that will spark sales and awards the way "Sunny Came Home" did ("Bound to You" would make a great single, though), but anyone who, like the artist herself, has come to the safe harbor of family life (even with its many challenges) after a long, uncertain voyage through personal relationships and life experiences will appreciate Colvin's ruminations on the subject. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Like Infamous Angel, My Life opens on a light note, which is hardly adequate preparation for the emotional turbulence that follows. The album is dedicated to Iris Dement's father, who passed away prior to its release, and although there are some scattered moments of joy here, they are largely absorbed by a collection of songs dealing with primal... [+] Read More

Like Infamous Angel, My Life opens on a light note, which is hardly adequate preparation for the emotional turbulence that follows. The album is dedicated to Iris Dement's father, who passed away prior to its release, and although there are some scattered moments of joy here, they are largely absorbed by a collection of songs dealing with primal anguish and longing. DeMent's writing has hardened a bit, producing her most mature and encompassing song in "No Time to Cry," which serves as an anchor for the album's rich sentimentality and is also an indication, in its social obsessions, of the direction her next album would take. Elsewhere, DeMent's songcraft remains exceptional but, as before, the true magic is in her voice, which imbues even the simplest songs with perfect, pure emotion. Highlights include Maybelle Carter's "Troublesome Waters," "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day," and a terrific rendition of Lefty Frizzell's "Mom and Dad's Waltz." The gorgeous title track closes the album, a piano-cello duet that is one of her most moving performances. For those who appreciate DeMent's rough-hewn voice, it is nearly impossible to exaggerate the beauty of these recordings. ~ Jim Smith, All Music Guide [-] Hide

On Pierce Pettis's fourth album, Chase the Buffalo, he shows a great deal of growth as a writer and studio performer. Pettis's other releases have had some high points, but on this CD, Pettis's politics and Southern gothic folk style are integrated better. His writing is more consistent and stands up to his mature and controlled vocals. The... [+] Read More

On Pierce Pettis's fourth album, Chase the Buffalo, he shows a great deal of growth as a writer and studio performer. Pettis's other releases have had some high points, but on this CD, Pettis's politics and Southern gothic folk style are integrated better. His writing is more consistent and stands up to his mature and controlled vocals. The production by David Miner is also more focused on Pierce's style than before. This is an album worth tracking down. ~ Richard Meyer, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Following on the heels of the fluke success of Loudon Wainwright III's only hit single, "Dead Skunk," and Attempted Mustache is an excellent encapsulation of all things Loudon. Even so, sales were disappointing, and Wainwright's audience did not expand beyond that of a small, loyal cult. The LP kicks off with "The Swimming Song," a... [+] Read More

Following on the heels of the fluke success of Loudon Wainwright III's only hit single, "Dead Skunk," and Attempted Mustache is an excellent encapsulation of all things Loudon. Even so, sales were disappointing, and Wainwright's audience did not expand beyond that of a small, loyal cult. The LP kicks off with "The Swimming Song," a tongue-in-cheek celebration full of clever lines, banjo pickin' and a touch of Doug Kershaw's Cajun fiddle. "A.M. World" reflects on life with a hit single, obviously written while "Dead Skunk" was climbing the charts. "Liza" is an a cappella folk song about childhood friend and classmate Liza Minnelli, who had recently won an Oscar for Cabaret. "I Am the Way" recasts Woody Guthrie's talking blues "New York Town," with Jesus Christ hanging out in Jerusalem proclaiming, "Every Son of God gets a little hard luck some time," and confessing, "Don't tell nobody but I kissed Magdalene." "Dilated to Meet You" is a welcome-to-the-world greeting card for a soon-to-be-born child, but on "Lullaby," the singer pleads with his son Rufus to "shut up and go to bed," complaining "you're a late night faucet that's got a drip." This album also includes the Wainwright classic "The Man Who Couldn't Cry," a lengthy short story set to music about a character who suffers all manner of tragedy and abuse, but is still incapable of showing emotion. Throughout Attempted Mustache, Loudon Wainwright III's droll, dry sense of humor is conveyed by his world-weary everyman's voice, capturing small vignettes of life through a skewed, slightly left-of-center lens. ~ Jim Newsom, All Music Guide [-] Hide