Steven Rafferty

Kory Quinn & Co. “The Blueroom” (Independent, 2020)

May 27, 2020 Steven Rafferty 0

It’s a bit of a challenge to pin down exactly where Kory Quinn is from. Most signs point to Portland, OR but there’s a Twitter account that says Chicago and a Soundcloud page that points to […]

American Aquarium “Lamentations” (New West Records, 2020)

May 7, 2020 Steven Rafferty 0

BJ Barham has always been better than average when it comes to delivering hard truths in the form of memorable turns of phrase. Fans of American Aquarium have come to expect songs that are plain-spoken, quick-witted, […]

Watkins Family Hour “Brother Sister” (Thirty Tigers, 2020)

April 22, 2020 Steven Rafferty 0

When two-thirds of the Grammy-winning bluegrass outfit Nickel Creek find themselves with time on their hands in their home base of Los Angeles, it makes perfect sense that they set up shop as the house band […]

AUK’s Chain Gang: James McMurtry “Childish Things”

April 14, 2020 Steven Rafferty 1

The most obvious connection between last week’s ‘The Town That Killed Kennedy‘ by Otis Gibbs and this week’s link in the chain is the view of the world that one gets through the window of a […]

Nathan Kalish “Songs For Nobody” (Independent, 2020)

April 7, 2020 Steven Rafferty 0

Nathan Kalish is the kind of songwriter that other songwriters love. He’s a road warrior and his travels fill the pipeline of the songwriting cycle. When you combine that with a band that’s turn-on-a-dime tight and […]

Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Tom Waits

August 5, 2026 2

The musical influence of Tom Waits over the last seven decades has spanned far beyond what one might define as americana. His deep, gravely voice, has been described as having been soaked in a vat of […]

Paul McClure “The Good And The Bad Of It”

August 5, 2026 0

The Rutland Troubadour returns for album number four. Paul McClure, on his fourth album, decided to go to pastures new and left the rural north and travelled south to East Sussex and the fine Bex-Pop Studios […]

Artists with Hearts of Gold contribute to two more albums of Neil Young covers

August 5, 2026 0

Includes tracks from My Morning Jacket, Lucinda Williams and MJ Lenderman among others. Cinema Music Group, Killphonic Records, and City Slang have announced Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 2 – Out of […]

Articles by Steven Rafferty