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Rain, Wind and Speed
UPDATE 8.18.22 – The Neal Casal Music Foundation is reissuing special edition vinyls of Rain, Wind and Speed- get yours here. This is part two of Petal Motel’s series where we go through each Neal Casal solo album one by one and chat with friends and fellow musicians who participated in their making. Neal Casal’s second release, the tender, raw Rain, Wind and Speed, was recorded in just five days…
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Jeffrey Silverstein – Petal Steel : Playlist
Jeffrey Silverstein’s album You Become the Mountain was released in early April. It’s become my go-to album when I’m in need of some soothing, quietly affirming, binaural tones. It’s ambient, affirmative, extremely pretty, and a little weird. Which makes sense considering that the record’s inspired by the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, meditation, long-distance running and Silverstein’s experience as a special education teacher. The album is difficult to classify –…
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Fade Away Diamond Time
This is part one of Petal Motel’s series where we go through each Neal Casal solo album one by one and chat with friends and fellow musicians who participated in their making. In 1994, Neal Casal and several other musicians set up shop in a mansion in Santa Ynez, California, and spent a few weeks living there, recording the younger singer-songwriter’s debut album. Fade Away Diamond Time was an instant…
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Trummors – Dropout City
Dropout City is the fourth album by Trummors. The band consists of Anne Cunningham and David Lerner, who share songwriting duties, and call on an assortment of musical friends that vary from album to album to make the true desert music they’ve become known for. Blending the best sounds from psychedelic music, country-rock, and folk rock, Trummors’ Dropout City is a tour of all the best parts of Americana, with…
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Zephaniah OHora
The thing about Zephaniah OHora that’s been discussed to death is some sense of astonishment that such a real deal country sound could come from New York City. Well, why not? As a newcomer to NYC, I’m personally grateful to Zeph for cultivating NYC’s country scene. He’s the guy in control of the live music schedule at Skinny Dennis, the best of the very few honky tonks in the five…
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AC Sapphire – Desert Stars : Listen
“Ethereal folk rocker” AC Sapphire’s album Omni-Present was released in February 2020. Her dreamy vocals carry ruminative lyrics and accompany her unique instruments of choice. Produced by Matt Adams of the Blank Tapes, this is some good desert music! Check it out. Buy Omni Present on Bandcamp.
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Kenny Roby – The Reservoir
The Reservoir is Kenny Roby’s first studio album in seven years, and he certainly had a well of inspiration to draw from. Made on the heels of great loss, The Reservoir is less punchy honky-tonk than the bulk of Roby’s previous work. It’s a more sophisticated, polished, folk-rock album, perhaps a musical metaphor for Roby’s transition from Raleigh to Woodstock. The spirits of fellow residents like Bobby Charles and Jackson…
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Kenny Roby
In the late 90s, Kenny Roby ushered in the alt-country wave that spread across the world with his band 6 String Drag. Since then he’s released a steady stream of records both with the band and on his own. We talked about his latest release, a gorgeous 16-track, deeply personal record called The Reservoir out August 7th on Royal Potato Family. You recently relocated to Woodstock, is it an indefinite…
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Greg Loiacono – Mystic Traces
Whatever project Greg Loiacono’s involved with sounds quintessentially Californian. Mystic Traces is no different. Loungey and open with a laid-back sound, the album cruises and coasts like a drive down the 1. It’s easy listening in the best and truest sense of the phrase. Between his work with the Mother Hips, the Green Leaf Rustlers, and collaborating with countless other Bay Area musicians, it’s no wonder this album sounds so…
