Brian Baker

Dave Alvin is rock 'n' roll's true everyman. That role has been ably played in the past by Springsteen and Mellencamp and Hiatt and a host of others whose perspective has been altered by the distance that success ultimately imposed upon their working-class roots. Alvin might be in the Big...

Andrew W.K. is the Tiger Woods of rock'n' roll. He has no interest in being a worldwide rock star, although that may be the inadvertent result after the release of his debut album, I Get Wet. When he talks about his plans for the album and himself, he speaks honestly...

With the roar being generated over the new Wilco album, it's hard to hear the smaller releases that are its contemporary and, in some rare cases, nearly its equal. The Radar Brothers' new record is one such work that is clamoring for cocked ears. Although the Brothers are far from...

If there's a book that details the problems inherent with one-man-band albums, Jonah Matranga -- d.b.a. Onelinedrawing -- has surely committed it to memory and has avoided every pitfall with the self-assurance of someone who has already learned enough bitter lessons. Formerly with Far and New End Original, Matranga has...

Born in Wyoming, raised in Missouri and Texas, schooled in New York and London, and living in Wales, Jeb Loy Nichols is a child of the world. This clearly shows in his musical explorations. Nichols's work is rooted in folk/country/soul, but it lives in nearly as many places as he...