(Lonely Hiway Records, digital download)

OK, Vermont musicians. Raise your hand if you’ve released a really good full-length album this year.

Just as I suspected, I’m seeing quite a few hands out there. Good, good. Now, keep your hand raised if you’ve released two really good full-length albums this year.... Read more

(Self-released , CD)

After more than 30 years of writing and performing around the state, Georgia, Vt., songwriter John Gibbons has delivered his first solo album, Small Town Dance. And when they get a taste, fans of the Green Mountains’ vibrant roots, bluegrass and Americana scenes will no doubt wonder what took so long.... Read more

Before we tackle the issues of the day, I want to congratulate you, dear readers, for coming out en masse to the Blind Pilot show at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge last Friday. “Indie” shows are a notoriously iffy draw at the area’s marquee juke joint. Not to beat a dead (iron) horse into the (higher) ground, but that’s why we don’t get as many of them as perhaps we should. But on this occasion, you guys really pulled through and came close to packing the place.... Read more

Living up to the legacy of one’s parents can be challenging for many of us. But what if your parents (and grandparents) were, like, kind of a big deal?

Sarah Lee Guthrie, 30, is the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie, arguably the single most important figure in the history of modern American songwriting. And her dad, Arlo Guthrie, isn’t exactly a slouch himself.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

A few months ago, a PR woman named Kitty called me, pretty much out of the blue, and talked my ear clean off about a band she was representing, The Kind Buds. If you’re a regular reader, you have probably seen the Massachusetts-based duo listed at various smaller venues around the state. They’re here fairly regularly. You may also have snickered at the impossibly hippie-dippy pun that is their band name — the duo comprises two guys named Bud and, ahem, Budd. Get it?

Anyway, back to Kitty.... Read more

(OutTake Records , CD)... Read more

As you may have inferred by the fact that my interview with Blind Pilot drummer Ryan Dobrowski — a really nice dude, by the way — appears on the front page of the music section this week, I’m kind of excited for the band’s show at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge this Friday. In fact, I’ve had their debut disc, 3 Rounds and a Sound, pretty much on constant repeat for the last two weeks.... Read more

If you ever needed proof that success can be bittersweet, just ask Blind Pilot of Portland, Ore. The band has been touring relentlessly since 2006, canvassing the West Coast several times over … on bicycles. But as their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound began to attract national acclaim and the chamber-pop duo grew to a six-piece, they found themselves playing larger and larger stages alongside such notable folks as Andrew Bird and The Decemberists.... Read more

“You know that story about Bon Iver?” asks Michael Chorney, tending to a dented, flame-scorched stove-top percolator in the kitchen of his Lincoln home. “About how he [singer-songwriter Justin Vernon] went to a cabin in the woods for three months and recorded that album [For Emma, Forever Ago]?... Read more

Playing the lottery is a risky business. Sure, blowing a couple bucks on the occasional scratch ticket is essentially harmless. But if you’re not careful, the danger is always there to become addicted, which can lead to a lifetime of near poverty, near toothlessness and an unhealthy amount of time spent in gas stations buying tickets and praying for that elusive big score — which you would then, of course, use to buy more tickets and maybe a Twisted Tea tall boy or three.... Read more