Which Side Are You On? By Ani DiFranco 
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Ani DiFranco’s Declaration Of Undying Love
May 9, 2012
The take-no-bull folksinger showcases her soft, romantic side in the elegant ballad “Hearse.” DiFranco sings sweetly without any sense of pain or longing, instead choosing to offer her devotion as a statement of fact.
Lay Down, Lay Low by The Steel Wheels Buy CD | MP3
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The Steel Wheels: Americana, Made By Hand
May 10, 2012
The Virginia band embraces a hand-hewn quality in its music, which is a collection of American sounds reaching from mountains to fields. A heavy hymn, “Rain in the Valley” is sparse and dense at once, carried by four interlocking voices.
Come Away With Me By Norah Jones
Mountain Stage: Norah Jones
It is not just the timbre of Norah Jones’s voice that is mature beyond her years. Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone but herself. Any way you slice it, she is a singer to be reckoned with.
New from Norah Jones: Little Broken Hearts
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Mountain Stage: Vince Gill
Guitar Slinger is the follow-up to Vince Gill’s critically acclaimed four-CD, 43-song box set, These Days, which was certified platinum, won the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Album and received an overall Grammy Album of the Year
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Mountain Stage: Kathy Mattea
Grammy winner and environmental activist Kathy Mattea, known for classic hits such as “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” has dreamed quietly about one day recording an album like Coal. Raised near Charleston, West Virginia, her childhood was steeped in the Appalachian culture and her mining heritage is thick: both of her parents grew up in coal camps, her grandfathers were miners and her mother worked for the local UMWA. But the songs on Coal are more than just mining songs. Mattea says she wanted to pay tribute to “my place and my people.”
The idea for Coal began to gel during the Sago Mine Disaster, which killed twelve WV miners in 2006. “I knew the time was right,” says Mattea. “I think there’s a mystery there. Somewhere in my DNA, there’s my great-grandmother singing, my grandma, and my people singing through me, with me.” Singer, songs, producer and pickers have come together flawlessly to form Coal, a career record for Mattea and a great gift for music lovers.
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