Writing about music has never exactly been straightforward. But it’s definitely getting harder to write about Americana. The genre is oversaturated, and so full of both modern and traditional conventions, that a lot of it just blends together. I can’t really say that about King Roy Wing, and their new

On the surface, drawing a clean line between the music of Intuitive Compass, and the solo work of guitar player Jason Dea West is a bit thorny. The warble of his distinctive voice and his deft finger-style attack on the resonator are the band’s Titanic-sized anchor, and that one-two punch

Ashland folksters The Brothers Reed launched several years ago as a leaner, more frequently bookable vehicle for brothers Aaron and Phil Reed’s songs than their nitro-charged bar band, Bucklerash. As an acoustic duo, they could play virtually anywhere, regardless of noise constraints or whether the rhythm section was available. The

Bands tend to release albums in two-year cycles. And a lot of Southern Oregon’s established acts had new releases in 2016, which made this year pretty thrilling. Almost everything that crossed the Rogue Sounds desk was something totally new, and much of it delivered. Here in no particular order were

There’s an old joke in Hollywood: How do you become a producer? You say, “I’m a producer.” It’s basically the same with indie music labels. Starting one requires little more than saying it exists and then behaving accordingly. But starting one, and running it well are different animals altogether. And

I fell in love with compilations when I was 17. My parents owned a small rental house, and one of the tenants that vacated it left behind a basket full of tapes and CDs. One of them was a compilation from Fat Wreck Chords, a small Bay Area record label.

Occasionally, I teach self-marketing workshops for musicians. The thing most folks that show up want to know is how to get press coverage. My top answer is always the same: “send out a press release.” Reporters are mavens and information-junkies, but we’re not omniscient. And if you’re not marketing your

  The first time I saw Kelvin Underwood perform was an experimental hip hop open mic in Ashland. Most of the other emcees played beats from their phones and lazily rhymed about weed. He came on stage with a massive Japanese taiko drum, and complex, polyrhythmic flows so sociopolitically savage

  Carly Rae Jepsen, the Canadian pop tart of “Call Me Maybe” fame, wrote more than 250 songs for her 2015 album, Emotion. That’s a pretty furious pace for someone that can’t even decide whether or not you should call her. Though he’s still a few songs short of  the

  In 1969, The Doors’ lead drinker Jim Morrison told Rolling Stone that he didn’t think the band of the future would be a band at all. “I can see a lone artist with a lot of tapes and electrical … like an extension of the Moog synthesizer — a