Unyieldingly pleasant, that’s what it is. Lisa Biales’ “Just Like Honey” is nearly the perfect companion to a rainy day on the couch, a sunny day in the garden, a road trip or a night on the town. It’s the record’s strength and maybe its weakness, too. That depends when you’ve got the blues.The sixth album on her own Big Song Music label, “Just Like Honey” covers 11 Americana and blues tunes and includes a co-write and two originals.

Boulder was rocked off its ass this week when Social Distortion came through town, bringing with them their infamous brand of rockabilly a la punk rock. Frontman Mike Ness and crew were on hand to deliver the Social D experience, greatest hits and then some.

Classic. The word more properly evokes a feeling than a concrete meaning. The meaning would be flatly explained as something from the past that has gained a memorable status. When applying “Classic” to the bluegrass genre a whole new set of meanings and associations surface. Bluegrass is classic Americana. A genre that is wholly American and comes loaded with stories and fables that define less of a time than a mentality. The workingman’s blues.

Yarn is a true workhorse of a band. The Brooklyn, NY outfit plays an average of 200 shows a year and their cohesion as a band is tried and true. On Friday, they brought their alt-country/bluegrass blend to Quixotes in Denver for a two-night run of outdoor performances.

As the bartender made his last call, Todd Snider knew his evening with his hero Jerry Jeff Walker was coming to a close. They finished their drinks and slipped out the exit into a still dark night. It was the hour in which a busy city was fast asleep and only the air made a noise. Together they began to tiptoe down lonely city blocks until they heard the strings of an acoustic guitar... 

Two and a half months ago, I was fortunate enough to get my first glimpse of Elephant Revival, the Lyons band whose sound is so unique, a reporter coined the term “Transcendental Folk” in an effort to capture it.

Keller Williams is an artist that is hard to put your finger on.With a career's worth of music ranging from electronica to children's music and everything in between, it is easy to see that there is more going on in this guitar-vituoso's head than one can expect from an entire band.

There is a lot going on in Trace Bundy's newest studio release, "Elephant King." Fans of Bundy should instantly recognize his signature style, laced with looping harmonies, percussion on the guitar body, and complex music theories and melodies that could only come from him.

Trevor Robbins’ solo project, Lowlander, is a Folk infused singer/song writer’s safe haven.  In his self-released album “Criminal Mischief”, Robbins’ soft howl steals away like a reverb wind into the western hillside. The acoustic landscape of this album has rich finger-picked textures which blend warmly with Robbins’ dusty, melodic voice.

Mysterium Tremendum, the latest release from the Mickey Hart Band, has the former Grateful Dead drummer digging yet deeper into his ever-expanding knowledge and love of sound for another fine record. Hart’s merry band of musicians plays along to sound waves transformed from electromagnetic radiation given off by the sun, planets, stars and galaxies.