Album and song reviews
Mon Rovîa, the Liberian-born, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter, invites listeners into his origin story on his debut album, “Bloodline.”  Released Jan. 9, 2026, via Nettwerk Music Group, “Bloodline” is a 16-track, 42-minute project that moves like […]
Every year, I try to narrow things down. Every year, I fail — and honestly, I’m OK with that. These are the albums that stuck with me in 2025, the records I kept coming back […]
What would you do if you knew there was a chance you couldn’t continue a career you’ve loved for the past 35-plus years? That’s exactly what singer-songwriter Rhett Miller faced when he recorded “A Lifetime […]
I’ve always loved music that carries a sense of heaviness. I still remember listening to “White Room” by Cream on a cassette tape in my dad’s truck and how the music seemed to cover me […]
I’ve been feeling quite nostalgic lately. Call it old age—having recently turned 40—or whatever, but I’ve been remembering the past fondly. In 2006, during my senior year of college, back when I read Filter magazine […]
Este, Danielle and Alana Haim have been my summer friends since I was introduced to them in 2017. It was just before I heard “Want You Back,” the first single from Haim’s second album, which […]
I’ve been listening to a lot of Ben Kweller lately. The Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter has been one of my favorite artists since I discovered his 2002 solo debut, “Sha Sha,” the following fall. I’ve been […]
Checking in with longtime artists feels like catching up with old friends, and it’s one of the great joys of writing The High Note each week. I was delighted to see singer-songwriter Samantha Crain release […]
Most jam bands live for live performance. There are a few notable exceptions like Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” and “Farmhouse” by Phish. However, most songs written by jam bands serve primarily as launchpads for interstellar […]
If it weren’t for the Philadelphia Folk Festival, I don’t know if I would’ve discovered a fraction of my favorite artists — Valerie June is one of them. The Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist released her sixth […]
