Hal has been a professional music journalist since 1994, writing predominately about country, blues, Americana, roots rock and singer/songwriter genres for a variety of publications. He won the prestigious Keeping the Blues Alive award for journalism in 2009.
Two chords, an intermittently missing question mark, and Joe Cocker. Those are some key ingredients behind “Feelin’ Alright?,” penned by Dave Mason, his most covered song by a wide margin, that helped it become a classic rock, soul, and pop standard. At 21, singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Mason had experienced fame as one of the key songwriters in More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic MORGAN WADETHE PARTY IS OVER(recovered)(Ladylike/Sony)🎵🎵🎵🎵 There hasn’t been much downtime in singer/songwriter Morgan Wade’s career since her 2021 solo debut Reckless, and its lead single, More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic Paul ThornLife is Just a Vapor(Thirty Tigers)🎵🎵🎵 ½ Americana didn’t even have a name when roots singer/songwriter Paul Thorn released his 1997 debut. Since then, More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic Jason Boland & the StragglersThe Last Kings of Babylon (Proud Souls Entertainment/Thirty Tigers)🎵🎵🎵🎵 The eleventh album from the Oklahoma-born and raised Red Dirt country rockers More
The legacy of protest songs is rich, deep, and musically diverse. There are tunes in almost any genre that, over the decades, carry the socio-political messages of the times and, often frustratingly, remain relevant today. From Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan to Bob Marley, the Staple Singers, and even Beyonce, these typically transcend the era More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic beabadoobeeThis Is How Tomorrow Moves(Dirty Hit)🎵🎵🎵1/2 Slayer, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Kanye West, Donovan, Black Sabbath, and ZZ Top. Those wildly disparate artists More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic AMOS LEETRANSMISSIONS(Hoagiemouth/Thirty Tigers)🎵🎵🎵1/2 This is singer/songwriter Amos Lee’s first new material in two years, but he’s been busy. He released albums covering the songs of More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic MORGAN WADEOBSESSED(Ladylike Records/RCA Nashville)🎵🎵🎵 By now, it’s clear that even though the heavily tattooed Morgan Wade might look like she fronts a death metal band, More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 notes – Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic MEGAN MORONEYAM I OKAY?(Columbia)🎵🎵🎵1/2 When Megan Moroney changed her college degree from accounting to music, the financial industry’s loss was country pop’s gain. Based on More
“Theme From Shaft”Written by Isaac Hayes Right on. Can ya dig it? Shut your mouth… Sound like the early ‘70s? You’re daaaamn right! Those by-now iconic words are some of the few, mostly spoken, lyrics to Isaac Hayes’ 1971 No. 1-charting title track to the motion picture considered one of the first and best examples of More
RATING CHART:1 note – Pass1.5 notes – Mediocre2 notes – Average2.5 notes – Above Average3 notes – Good3.5 – notes Great4 notes – Excellent4.5 notes – Exceptional5 notes – Classic CROWDED HOUSEGRAVITY STAIRS(BMG)♫♫♫ It has been confusing to follow the erratic history of Crowded House. The Australian/New Zealand band has disbanded and reformed multiple times More
Discussions about songs usually revolve around the concepts of hooks, bridges, choruses, and of course lyrics. But the 1962 instrumental “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the M.G.’s has few of these. Yet it’s one of the most famous, resilient, and influential songs to emerge from the golden age of soul music. How Did More
