Andrew Gulden

3 weeks ago | americanahighways.org | Andrew Gulden

Ken Pomeroy Cruel Joke Coyotes are all over Ken Pomeroy’s latest album. Not the way they’re all over so many of America’s suburbs, a symbol of how we’ve managed to foul up the environment and drive nature’s creatures from their natural home. On Cruel Joke (the singer-songwriter’s first release for Rounder Records), the canines (along with sheep and wolves, horses and stray dogs) serve as stand-ins for the ways we manage to mess up our own, personal environments, one hurt at a time.

3 weeks ago | americanahighways.org | Andrew Gulden

Will Johnson photo by Todd WolfsonWill Johnson is kind of the hyphenate of all hyphenates. The singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist-novelist-painter (seriously – he creates beautiful art, often centered around baseball) is currently touring with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, but his multi-tendrilled career goes back decades, including bands Centro-matic and Monsters of Folk, as well as making a record with the late Jason Molina and a slew of his own solo albums.

1 month ago | americanahighways.org | Andrew Gulden

Kassi Valazza From Newman StreetWe all know the old saw about the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Sometimes, though, doing the same thing and expecting the same result is more fraught with failure. Singer-songwriter Kassi Valazza, until recently based in Portland, Oregon, released two excellent records while in the Pacific Northwest, including 2023’s psych-laced triumph Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing.

1 month ago | americanahighways.org | Andrew Gulden

Samia – Bloodless There’s a notion (a fairly silly one) that certain music – usually dependent on the age of the performer – is only digestible by a fairly narrow age group. Honestly, even I’ve been tricked by that presumption. Last time singer-songwriter Samia swung through Denver, I chose not to go, even though I’d loved her recent Tiny Desk Concert. I figured the songs – and her crowd – would be too “young” for me. That was dumb.

1 month ago | americanahighways.org | Elise Cady |John Apice |John Antonio |Andrew Gulden

James Cook Texican Velvet James Cook has a new album of rootsy Americana goodness Texican Velvet, which was produced and engineered by The Great Divide‘s Mike McClure.  Arrangements with acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin, the songs are a little bit dark and a little bit like a storm blowing through a rustic country cabin. And they are all authentic storytelling from the core of human resilience.