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Obscure Sound Reviews Noah Smith’s New EP

February 17, 2025

Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter Noah Smith stirs with an introspective combination of rock, country, and folk across his new EP, Cavaliers Into Cadillacs. The 37-year-old embraces an honesty within his songwriting, embracing vulnerabilities and impactful life moments — from watching one’s children grow up, to the multiple impacts of heartbreak. “I’m allowing myself to be as honest as I need to be to tell whatever story that needs telling,” Smith says.

“Don’t Break My Fall” opens the EP with an aptly dynamic aesthetical charm, swelling from folk-ready acoustics into rousing rock guitar bursts. “I know this is scary, and I know it’s gonna hurt,” the vocals convey a sense of vulnerability, capturing a crossroads in a relationship — when partners decide on a future or lack thereof. Organs bolster the beckoning vocals: “just let me drown.” A melodic yearning is palpable throughout, kicking off the EP in stellar form.

Nashville Scene Lists Ramona & the Holy Smokes as Artist to Watch

January 16, 2025

If you’re looking for a little trad country, look no further than Ramona and the Holy Smokes. The Charlottesville, Va., group takes on old-school honky-tonk with effortless ease, anchored by Ramona Martinez’s confident performance. Martinez has clarity and sincerity that bring Patsy Cline to mind — if Patsy had been allowed to get a little PG-13 with her lyrics. The band’s November EP Til It’s Over is a tantalizing sampler of what the band is capable of. Fortunately, they raised more than $20,000 on Kickstarter for their debut album, which promises to incorporate Martinez’s Latina heritage into their pitch-perfect vintage sound.

The Bluegrass Situation Reviews Ramona & the Holy Smokes’ New Song

December 13, 2024

“‘Til It’s Over’ is a song about knowing a relationship is doomed but not being ready to let go. I wrote this song after I had a terrible fight with someone I was dating at the time. I saw all the red flags and basically chose to keep going until the relationship self-destructed rather than being brave and ending it as soon as I knew it wasn’t right for me. I have done this more than I would like to admit, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

“The music video was inspired by the life of Vivian Cash, Johnny Cash’s first wife. I really feel history has done her dirty, most notably by her portrayal in the 2005 film, Walk the Line. I tried to honor her in a number of ways in the video with nods to her Catholicism, her amazing fashion sense, and her strength while her family was falling apart. ‘Til It’s Over,’ couched in the context of her life, becomes a much sadder song. Divorce was against her religious beliefs and even though she was basically abandoned, she loved Johnny Cash until she died. In our video, she reclaims her agency by picking up a guitar and writing her own song, but this is our way of wrapping up our version of the story with a redemptive moment.

Lonesome Highway Reviews Nick Gusman and the Coyotes’ New Album

December 12, 2024

What do you get if you mix a bluegrass fiddle player, a hardcore rock bass player, and a jazz-schooled drummer? It’s hardly the blueprint for an alt-country band, but it is the bricks and mortar that cement St. Louis, Missouri-based outfit Nick Gusman and the Coyotes. Their core sound is a throwback to the 90s when groups like The Bottle Rockets, Drive-By Truckers, and Blue Mountain shook up the mainstream market with their signature mix of country, indie, and punk. Nick Gusman and the Coyotes are Nick Gusman (Guitar, Vocals), Sean Kamery (fiddle), Justin Haltmar (bass), Tony Hall (keys), Garrett Rongey (guitar) and Jeremy Reidy (drums).

As was the case with the band’s previous albums, DEAR HARD TIMES (2018) and the self-titled release (2021), LIFTING HEAVY THINGS, was recorded live at Native Sound Recordings in St. Louis (‘We came in hot, turned up way loud, and recorded everything live,’ explains Nick Gusman) and the end results are pretty impressive and will most certainly appeal to lovers of the alt-country genre, which has been overshadowed by the all-embracing Americana classification in recent years.

Billboard Lists Shawna Virago’s Album as One of 2024’s Best Pride Albums

December 11, 2024

It’s a dark, oft-demonstrated truth that society lashes out at its most vulnerable members when the world gets scary, and 2024 was a shameful year for Americans scapegoating and scaremongering against the trans community. But as a trans woman who has been creating and performing since the ’90s, Shawna Virago knows a thing or two about resilience. Blood in Her Dreams adds a ramshackle punk punch to the world of Lucinda Williams-esque Americana. And while the insightful, evocative lyrics are more personal than political, there’s an undercurrent of resistance and fortitude that makes Dreams a much-needed catharsis in reality. — J.L.

Americana UK Reviews Nick Gusman and the Coyotes’ New Album

December 9, 2024

Repackaged 1990s alt-country time travel trips have rarely felt this rewarding.

It’s far easier said than done, but why does this album, the third by St. Louis outfit Nick Gusman and the Coyotes, and as fine a piece of 1990s alt-country revivalism as you could wish for, collate together so well and remain a real pleasure on the ear after multiple listenings?

For one thing, nearly all the reasons why americana fans so often hark back to the 1990s as the golden age of the genre are present on ‘Lifting Heavy Things’, and in abundance. First and foremost, the punchy, tightly disciplined sound that came to characterize the very best music (well, ok, americana) of that particular decade, pulling together the compact killer tunes of pop’s new wave with the lilting edge of traditional country, is very much present and correct. No matter which of the ten tracks on ‘Lifting Heavy Things’ you go for first, it’s like a time trip back to an age when deftly constructed, unpretentious lyrics and attractively straightforward melodies ruled the musical (well, ok, americana) roost.

So it’s evident from this album that Gusman and his five-piece backing band have an admirably clear-eyed appreciation of the strengths of 1990s alt-country. But what surely promotes ‘Lifting Heavy Things’ from the category of ‘memorably good’ to something even more superior is how effectively other musical influences and styles are weaved into the album as well.

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