429 Records
He went from the Northern California foothills (Cameron Park, near Placerville, to be exact) to Sacramento to San Francisco, but as Greene put it in a recent radio interview, “For being on the road a lot, it kind of doesn’t matter where I live.”
Yep Roc
Who does Lauderdale think he is, Ryan Adams? Actually, when it comes to prolific, he’s about to best Adams’ feat of three albums in a year. “Honey Songs” is the second in a trio planned to span a nine-month period.
Tempus Fugit/SPV/InsideOut
RPWL’s latest release contains “This Is Not a Prog Song,” a title easily tweaked to “This Is Not (Your Grandfather’s) Prog Band.” Drummer Manni Muller (who took over for Phil Paul Rissettio), bassist Chris Postl, guitarist Karlheinz Wallner and singer/keyboardist Jurgen “Yogi” Lang make music that lacks bombast yet retains the ethereal synthesizer and cosmic guitar playing normally associated with traditional prog outfits.
Delta Groove
It’s nice to watch Gen-X prodigies morph into world-class blues guitarists for the new millennium. Costello, 16 when his debut was released in 1996, possesses the same caliber musicianship as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa.
Dirt Farmer/Vanguard
Four albums from 1977 to 1982 — that was the extent of Helm’s solo studio output until now. Twenty-five years is a long time, but in the former Band drummer’s case, it was worth the wait.
