In my recap of Mile 0 Fest 2020, I remarked that James Steinle’s style falls somewhere around if John Prine maintained a residency at the Broken Spoke and worked at the Mean Eyed Cat in his off time.  That’s the vibe you’ll find on his sophomore effort, What I Came Here For.  Building on where he left off with 2018’s South Texas Homecoming, Steinle mines familiar musical terrain with sophisticated and witty lyrical observations.  This is observant honky-tonk.  Thinking man’s country music.  Steel guitars support the stories of seedy characters, seedier settings and the triumphs and tragedies of modern life on the south side. “Black and White

Josh Weathers career can be described in many ways, but mercurial may perhaps be the most fitting adjective. Never one to follow the herd, Weathers has found success on his own terms. The viral nature of modern social media brought him to the doorstep of major label and reality TV fame and fortune, but he walked away because it didn’t square with what’s in his heart. A man that has the type of self-confidence and belief in the Plan, is not one to be taken lightly. Weathers has always had more talent than just about anyone around him. He’s a

It is impossible to take the rocket ride that Koe Wetzel has over the past three years and not come out a changed man. But, upon listening to his new record Harold Saul High, it is apparent he can cling to what put him on that rocket in the first place pretty damn well. The follow-up to your breakthrough album is always the hardest one to make. The tracks still all have that rough edge and brash attitude that clicked with thousands of fans; yet there’s a street smart wisdom that permeates each lyric. When I detailed Koe’s rise two

There are few artists I know as well as Josh Grider and Drew Kennedy. I’ve been lucky enough to have been a fan since their earliest moments as performers in our state. I’ve seen each of them play dozens of times in all manner of settings from backyards to listening rooms to living rooms to bars to festivals and any other scenario you can imagine. As early as 2004, when Randy Rogers Band, Stoney LaRue, Wade Bowen and Bleu Edmondson went on a tour called ‘Til The Wheels Fall Off, Josh and Drew joked about doing a tour called ‘Til

Cut from the sonic cloth of Tom Waits, John Prine, Colter Wall and Bob Dylan, Ian Noe adds some Appalachian flavor to his music to make it authentic, genuine and vital. Over the past few years, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers have both emerged from the same viewpoint, but neither of them ever quite captured the desolate emotions of greater Kentucky in such a somber way. Simpson had a winking mysticism, Childers’ music is permeated with adrenaline and Noe is straightforward and plainspoken about what he’s seen and the realities are delivered in a stark, sparse manner. Dave Cobb is