An intoxicating combination of Celtic and techno is what you’ll find on An American Wake, the latest offering from Flynn. On “Alive” he sings, “You make 9 to 5 feel like a sunny afternoon,” his rich baritone detailing the beauty of a lover as electronic drums mix with guitar and banjo.
New England folk favorite Ellis Paul stops by to sing backing vocals on “Father of Mine,” a tune sure to bring a tear to the eye of even the toughest tough guy. But other than Paul and a few other friends on isolated songs, what you hear is all Flynn. The multi-instrumentalist has written, arranged and performed all songs on the album. While this technique can sometimes result in a homogenous sound, Flynn proffers such a unique combination of instrumentation and musical styles that the album shines with all the brilliance of Irish emeralds under a flashing strobe light.

www.flynnmusic.com

“Away Awhile” is the first track off Cole Guerra’s latest release. Sparring piano and strings underscore moody vocals. “I had fancy cars and dreams / Now things are different for me,” he sings, in a voice reminiscent of Eddie Vedder. Dark? Yes. But absolutely worth a listen.
Highlights from the record include “Holed Up,” in which Guerra sings of “the lucky ones, with their names in lights and their stomachs pumped.” Electric guitar and Hammond organ add fuel to the brooding fire. “Hocus Pocus” deals with the fickle nature of fame with layered, overdriven guitars. “While he’s got their ears and eyes / The kids are happy now / They think he’s gonna be the one.” A chorus of background “ooohs” come in to accentuate the point.
Scarves & Knives is cut from the cloth of modern rock, but with a cello here, an accordion there, Guerra manages to keep things fresh and utterly captivating.

www.coleguerra.com

It’s accessible, in an esoteric sort of way; it’s avant-garde, in a friendly sort of way. Ambient rock is the best way I can think of to describe Idaho’s music. Electric guitar lines overlap and weave around each other in “The Orange Cliffs.” Impressionistic piano lines combine with overdriven guitars and melodic distortion. Over all this you get the random vocalizing of Idaho, aka Jeff Martin. He oohs and aahs, he hums and makes what can only be called percussive mouth noises.
Words are few and far between on this record. And even when they appear, such as on “The Mystery,” the obscurity remains. His lazy, honey-draped tenor tells us “It’s a lie that’s filled with reason / It’s a code you’ll never figure out.” He could easily be talking about his music. Although The Lone Gunman may be a code we’ll never crack, we’ll certainly want to give it multiple listens in the attempt.

www.idahomusic.com

Melissa Lewis perfectly captures what it is to be human on Simple Life. Fear, loss, love and joy all make their way into her songs in the most natural of ways, surrounded by full arrangements that add even more depth to her thought-provoking lyrics.
Lonesome electric guitar and synthesizer float over a kicking drum beat on the opening track, “Falling.” Her vocals are versatile enough to softly entreat the listener to “give in to the truth” before sailing up to belt out the title line. Other gems include “Everything,” a song of letting go, but not without hope for the future (“I’m still ready to give everything”), and “How You Are,” a song to a lost love. Cascading electric guitars lend an ethereal quality to instrumental breaks while jangly tambourine keeps us firmly aware of the beat.
While the genre remains elusive—softer than pop, hipper than adult contemporary—the full production give the songs body, and Lewis’ powerful voice infuses each lyric with life.

www.melissalewis.net

Sparse banjo and a military-style snare drum are what first greet us on Deliverance, the latest offering from Amy Martin. The first song, also the title track, is a Civil War–style ballad telling the tale of a woman on the run. “The hem of her dress hung heavy and wet as she ran through the fast-falling snow,” sings Martin.
Track highlights include “Raven’s Wings,” mixing fiddle and acoustic guitar with lyrics about hope for the future (“Someday I’m gonna get me a pair of raven’s wings”) and the darkly haunting “Day of Reckoning” (“when the sins of the father are borne by the child”).
Martin has just the right combination of twang and sincerity in her voice, somewhere between Loretta Lynn and Dar Williams. Her melodies wind their way through the acoustic guitar like they’re traveling a back-country highway: in no particular hurry, but certain of their destination.

www.amymartin.org

The Madison, Wis. power trio On a Sun consists of John McWilliam on lead vocals and guitar, Thomas McWilliam on bass and Michael McWilliam on drums. Amazing coincidence or family relation? Either way, one thing’s for sure: They don’t need anyone else.
The heavy new rock sound of On a Sun is solid and complete. Vocals are delivered in the style of Alice in Chains or Jane’s Addiction, while the rhythm section keeps things tight. Album highlights include “Forgive,” a tune about an unspoken crime (“Feel the core inside you melt down like the one in Chernobyl”), and “Independence,” which encourages an unnamed individual to stop being a victim and take responsibility for the wrongs in their life. The compactness of the ensemble allows each player to shine, and ominous drums, driving bass lines and fuzzy, over-the-top guitar lines are sure to please. Watershed, in a word, rocks.

www.onasun.com

She’s won a Dove award, sold 10,000 units and had songs featured in movies and TV shows. And that was just with her first record. Although that debut may be hard to top, Kendall Payne’s sophomore album seems poised to do just that.
“Scratch” starts off with a few bars of a string quartet. “How do you dream when you can’t fall asleep,” sings Payne, her voice the perfect combination of soft and strong that we loved in Sinéad O’Connor. “Rollercoaster” features rhythmic acoustic guitar and half-spoken lyrics à la Ani DiFranco, while “The Moon” proffers sparse piano and the vocal richness of Natalie Merchant. This diversity—the ability to tap into the strengths of so many different artists—is what sets Payne apart from the crowd. Grown is a record rich in details, beautifully crafted songs and arrangements displaying all the soft, intricate beauty of a butterfly’s wings.

www.kendallpayne.com

With titles like “Joe McCarthy is Sweeping Off His Grave,” you might expect to find lyrics of a political nature on Colin Spring’s latest release. And though you wouldn’t be wrong, you may be surprised by the depth of feeling and the range of emotion that are also present, chugging along atop a rolling Wurlitzer organ and sold blues/rock beat.
“What is all this free speech for when we can’t use it anymore / It’s the red scare with a veil across its face … they’re still blacklisting all the tongues that misbehave,” sings Spring in his husky, born-to-rock voice—not quite Dylan, not quite Springsteen, just absolutely real. “Does She Still” takes a quick trip through past loves; “Lover, There’s a Light On” has the feel of an Italian ballad with plaintive mandolin, while the poetic imagery of “November” will take your breath away. Check it out, you won’t be sorry.

www.colinspring.com

Joy Lynn White has an amazing instrument in her voice. The strength and stamina of Janis Joplin, the angst of Lucinda Williams and the expression of Iris DeMent all rolled into one. You’ll be enthralled from the very first strains of Hammond organ and electric guitar on “Keep This Love” (“I’d like to let you go / But my heart can’t say goodbye”). White won’t let you go until the end of final track “One More Time,” in which acoustic guitar and sweet vocal harmonies fade like the setting sun.
One More Time will certainly be marked as a masterpiece for the Nashville-based singer who has often shared the stage with country great Buddy Miller. Song topics range from love lost and found, to situations more specific—case in point, the curiously titled “Girls With Apartments in Nashville.” White’s fanbase will be thrilled, and One More Time should win her even more converts.

www.joylynnwhite.com

Peppy fiddles, rollicking banjo and clear vocals mark The Art of Virtue, the latest offering from Adrienne Young & Little Sadie. Young kicks things off with the title track, which sets the mood for the entire record. “Gonna start a revolution / Made of action not of words / Practicing the art of virtue …”
Other tunes laud the joys of simple life, sometimes mourning how far we’ve moved away from it. “Jump the Broom” tells of the tradition of a makeshift mountain wedding in which lovers simply join hands and step over a broom, while “Hills and Hollers” describes a town where “they laid the first paved road back in ’45 … now the oil in our veins runs thicker than the blood.” Co-producer Will Kimbrough lays down solid guitar lines to underscore the lyrics.
Young’s voice rings with the luminous tones of Alison Krauss or Aoife O’Donovan, and the music will certainly set your foot to tapping.

www.adrienneyoung.com