Here, Hobart Willis and the Back Forty debut six original, high-energy, West Coast- style country tunes, with none of the pretense, hackneyed lyrics, or phony pathos that characterize pop-country radio these days. Willis and the Back Forty–Pat McGraw, the original bass player for the Two Dollar Pistols, on bass and harmony vocals; Craig “Frosty” Ellington […]
Bryson Strauss
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Made in Americana
Once again, the small mountain town of Wilkesboro, N.C., was transformed into the monster music event Merlefest, which drew more than 70,000 fans for four days of the best Americana music in the country. With a lineup that read like a Who’s Who of country, bluegrass and old-timey music, fest-goers were treated to performances by […]
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Breakin’ Out
In early February, local singer-songwriter Tift Merritt played a solo show at the Lakeside Lounge in Raleigh to a modest crowd of friends and fans. Two weeks later, she was standing backstage at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles, waiting for her cue and trading compliments with Elton John. In an interview almost a year […]
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There’s a Tear in My Beer
Let’s be honest. Country musicians are obsessed with the cracking and crumbling of hearts. Jimmie Rodgers was known as “The Blue Yodeler” for the grave lament in his songs and Hank Williams always seemed to be in a virtual weep as he sang “Your Cold, Cold Heart” or “With Tears In My Eyes.” It challenges […]
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Straight From the Break
In the 1930s, before blowing his steam whistle and hollering, “Let her go, boys!,” the Grand Ole Opry’s “Solemn Old Judge” used to coach performers to “keep it down to earth.” Though pop-country musicians have long abandoned that fundamental tenet, it’s consoling to know that Triangle artists Greg Hawks and the Tremblers still carry the […]
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Thad Cockrell and the Starlite CountardThad Cockrell and the Starlite Country Band
Thad Cockrell knows that there’s something soothing about a celebration of personal suffering. On this self-titled, self-released CD, Cockrell and his Starlite Country Band give us seven tracks of pure misery followed by a brief respite of triumphant gospel. Damn, what a great feeling! Cockrell fully understands the cathartic power of a sad song and […]
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HoovervilleLucky Rabbit’s Foot
There is nothing hesitant about Lucky Rabbit’s Foot. On this debut CD, Greg Hanson and John Bemis of Hooverville display all the courage of seasoned recording artists. They step right up and put down twelve tracks without hesitation, laying claim to territory in both traditional country and its underground counterpart, alt-country. While Bemis strums rhythm […]
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Renaissance Man of Raleigh
Local musicians thank him during their shows and credit him in the liner notes of their CDs. One artist described him as a “spiritual advisor” while another acknowledged him as a co-songwriter. And it was Emmylou Harris who christened him the “Renaissance Man of Raleigh, North Carolina.” With such a mystique surrounding Van Alston, it’s […]