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Adobe & Teardrops Interviews Laura Zarougian on Her New Double Single

Laura Zarougian brings all of herself to her new double single “Double-Sided”/”New Used Car.” The self-described sidewalk cowgirl leans heavily into country, Western, and East Village folk on these two songs, though her Armenian heritage is never far from her mind. “New Used Car” has the jaunty, freewheeling nature of a Dylan song, while “Double-Sided” is a luscious serving of pedal steel and loneliness. Zarougian commands these performances with a sense of self and dogged perseverance. Below, she describes her process for the two songs.

I wrote ‘Double-Sided’ after moving to Brooklyn. The song started out as a reflection on a particular run-in with the wrong crowd, but has evolved since I first performed it. It definitely has strong roots in the folk storytelling tradition. Although the themes in this release are more rooted in the American landscape than the Armenian immigrant stories of my first album, Nayri, I feel like this song faces my conflicting identities. There is the sidewalk cowgirl of Brooklyn, and then there is the daughter of Armenian immigrants and refugees — both sides looking for belonging. 

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Glide Magazine Reviews Mac Leaphart’s New Album

Much like his last release, 2021’s shamefully underrated Music City Joke, Mac Leaphart’s latest seems to capture him once again genuinely enjoying doing what he does. Not since John Prine has Americana had a musician that acts so casual and even surprised by their own brilliance. There is nothing forced or manufactured as Lephart reels through a dozen superb tracks on Motel Breakfast. 

Humor and unpretentious are just as much of Leaphart’s musical makeup as is his blend of Honky Tonk and Rock n Roll. And those Prine influences are clearly not lost on him as he gives nods to the legend on “Belly Full of Peaches” (“No flag decals in heaven/Just love & love alone/John Prine’s Jesus, the one we all find on our own”). The album is crammed with colorful characters, from a musician on the road (“Rock & Roll Hey”) to a dive bar in Charlotte, North Carolina (“Ode to the Thirsty Beaver”), and Leaphart has Dylan’s knack for teasing out the details of each character slyly rather than spelling it out simply.  

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Americana UK Reviews Mac Leaphart’s New Song

Well, ok, it looks like this is going to be roots rock week – who knew?  This latest single from Mac Leaphart is the third taken from the new album ‘Motel Breakfast‘ which is set for release in a couple of days from today.   Now, it might sound like an ode to a lady called Rosey – but that is not, Mac Leaphart has explained, actually the case: “I started writing this one at the height of the pandemic when my son wasn’t in school. I was just sort of following him around the house with my guitar. The melody came first, and I decided to literally write a song about a rose that was making this person happy. Obviously, I think most people will hear it and think Rosey is a woman, but it’s actually about a flower.”  Hmm…ok.

The loose and almost honky-tonking feel of the song is no accident – it was the kind of presence that Mac Leaphart was aiming for although it was approached very ,uch on the level: “I took a few months off, didn’t play any shows, and I just wrote like it was my job,” he reveals with the aim of creating “upbeat and intelligent songwriting, à la Jerry Jeff Walker, Dr. Hook & Doug Sahm.”

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The Big Takeover Reviews Brendan Forrest’s New Album

All music is the result of some musical journey or creative evolution on the part of its maker. As such, you can often recognise unique strands of sonic DNAthat might not otherwise be present in other artists’ work, even if, on the surface, they seem like kindred musical spirits. It is such wayward and wonderful inclusions that make music an artist’s music truly their own.

Such is the case with Daydreaming Music Fiend, which might be Brendan Forrest’s first journey into bluegrass but is far from his first musical adventure. The result of those previous ones—as a Chicago blues man and a Parisian busker, teaching in underserved rural schools, and a widening of understanding playing with African players— all flavour the music, subtly and supplely.

But, this is Forrest as a bluegrass player, and the album is full of suitably riotous and rootys sounds, deft acoustica and delicate creativity. From opener “Rice’s Bag” and its incendiary folk finesse to “Olee Dae’s” layered instrumental textures and earthy tones. From “Song for John Prine” and its suitably celebratory sound to the waltzing, old-time country cool of “When Summer is Gone,” this album walks that perfect line between tradition and forward-thinking, between the familiar and the fresh.

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The Big Takeover Reviews Tai Shan’s New Album

Like all great music, Tai Shan’s song-crafting is about much more than just the matching of sounds and styles into new sonic shapes. True, she has managed to weave a signature sound that relies on folk and jazz, Americana, and even indie-pop, and so creating a blend of music that echoes with authenticity and also infectiousness, which is deftly woven but easily accessed. However, it is the additional, less tangible qualities that bring the music to life.

It is the stuff of life – motherhood, travel, personal reflection, wanderlust, and the comfort of family – that is the musical glue that holds the nuanced notes and poetic lyrics together. And the result of all these factors is a wonderfully ironic contradiction – never has an album made you simultaneously want to hold your family close and head off down the highway in search of adventure.

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Rock and Roll Globe Premieres New Music From Paula Boggs Band

The music Paula Boggs and her band creates has been called “Soulgrass” –a magical combination of soul music and Bluegrass with elements of jazz and Americana. 

It’s a sound that earned this group big critical acclaim with the release of their 2022 studio LP Janus, a work hailed by No Depression, who proclaimed, “The storytelling on this record will pull you in, but it’s the musicianship that ultimately takes center stage, thanks to an elegant, groove-laden soundscape crafted by an all-star backing band.”

And on their excellent new album, Live at Sweetwater Music Hall, the PBB flex their sonic muscles on the famed concert stage in Mill Valley, CA, where they cut loose with a performance for the ages. 

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