All by Ryan Bush

Review- Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle: Self-Titled

Review- Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle: Self-Titled

Ryan Bush

It’s the type of tunes that you can hear the hardwood creak beneath the rocking chair. You taste the smoke from burning tobacco, feel the warmth of that Kentucky elixir spilling against your throat. Every note, a boot stomp in time to the lick of the banjo, heart bouncing with the tug of bass. The dust and dirt jumping from the floorboards to the kick of the drum - all, crashing into a chaotic symphony of folk mastery. Needless to say, Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle don’t create the emotion - they are the emotion. 

Review- The Dead South: Chains & Stakes 

Review- The Dead South: Chains & Stakes 

Ryan Bush

Clawing from the shadowy crevices of the traditional Bluegrass underbelly, The Dead South continue the creative tear behind their fourth full-length studio offering, Chains & Stakes, an epic collection that solidifies the four-piece, forty-fingered crew as a growing Americana staple. Embarking on the United States tour by kicking off the shenanigans in Cleveland, Ohio on February 12th, the band has gained explosive notoriety behind their loyal followers - The Good Company - a title pulled from 2014’s successful inaugural album of the same name. 

Single Review- Josh Mitcham: Liar, Liar

Single Review- Josh Mitcham: Liar, Liar

Ryan Bush

Unabashed about tackling new challenges within the bustling realm of musical genres, Josh Mitcham continues to grow his impressive catalog of creative successes without hesitation. Plucked fresh-from-the-vine today, the Kentuckian has released his premiere single “Liar, Liar,” from the forth-coming album, Color Shift, set to drop for ears everywhere on March 1st. 

Review- William Matheny: That Grand, Old Feeling

Review- William Matheny: That Grand, Old Feeling

Ryan Bush

Cloaked within the casual confines of a brass-buttoned jean jacket, spectacles steaming against the sweat creeping from his forehead, William Matheny is the quaint town Poet Laureate - that Seer with the Deets surrounding the Friday Night follies that transpire beyond the flashing yellow traffic light across from the local gas station. He’s lost between the strums of his guitar, habitually pushing the glasses back onto his nose between chords. The stage is his arena - at least for a short time - an elegant veracity of sound and word colliding before the crowd. Make no mistake, this is creative energy in full bloom: Matheny, the Maestro, in complete control. It’s Hemingway and Petty thumb-wrestling on a dirty summer road. 

Review- Abe Partridge: Love in the Dark

Review- Abe Partridge: Love in the Dark

Ryan Bush

When the Martians decide to make their presence known on U.S. soil, I want Abe Partridge to be our official interplanetary Ambassador, without damn question. 

You see, compared to the typical backwoods bumpkin that simply gets beamed-up and probed, Partridge would be the strongest example of the creative prowess contained within Humankind: A fine specimen demonstrating the purest of arts - writing, singing, playing and painting - the whole enchilada, rolled-up tight in a delicious tortilla of talent. Thankfully, we all get to enjoy Partridge’s latest collection of tunes with Love in the Dark, reminding us all that some folks are just plain gifted - period. 

Stephen Wilson Jr.: bon aqua

Stephen Wilson Jr.: bon aqua

Ryan Bush

It’s the tangled, beautiful collision of sound and word that makes Stephen Wilson Jr’s debut EP, bon aqua, a defining collection of Midwest music folklore. Born in the sweeping corn rows of southern Indiana, Wilson - fresh off of inking his signature with Big Loud Records - plows onto the scene in a creative cloud of mud and dirt, tip-toeing about the fine lines of Americana, Grunge and Rock without remorse. It is unapologetic Folk thundering from a dirty diesel stack on a two-lane road.

Drayton Farley: Twenty on High

Drayton Farley: Twenty on High

Ryan Bush

Fueled by the calloused blue-collar souls and dusty, tattered, jeans of the working way of life, Drayton Farley has become the poet of the Everyday Man. Enveloped in the craft of capturing the rural heartbeat of America in a mere collection of lyrics, Farley continues his troubadour musings with his latest release, Twenty on High, featuring 10 tracks steeped in intricate detail and emotion - a trait Farley demonstrates flawlessly. 

Jeremy Squires: Hymnal

Jeremy Squires: Hymnal

Ryan Bush

Inhaling deep into those shadows that sway in the candlelight of a cold, dim room, Jeremy Squires has crafted a lullaby for the bruised soul. Hymnal, now the 13th album of his collection, proves Squires’ prowess as a haunting songwriter, cloaked in eloquent wording and a warmth that is soft, yet unrefined. There’s a beauty found within the pain of his sound, and it’s quite easy to lose one’s self in each phrase that Squires allows to softly slip from his lips. An album grounded in loss and shrouded by the pain that life can conjure, Squires' Hymnal faces the dark head-on, tackling his own personal obstacles of overcoming a failing marriage and the mental shambles the body endures. 

One to Watch: Kadie Meadows

One to Watch: Kadie Meadows

Ryan Bush

I’ve found that when Kadie Meadows sings, the world isn’t such a damn cold place.

The self-dubbed “Sad Song Sally” has a way with words - A real-life Appalachian siren, breathing her poetry into the dusty hollows of the Tri-State Region and beyond.

Inspired by her buckeye roots - Zanesville, Ohio for those of us keeping track - Meadows has been gaining hefty steam following her 2021 inaugural album, Memory Lane, pulling words and creativity from the experiences that life has thrown before her.

Trampled by Turtles: Alpenglow

Trampled by Turtles: Alpenglow

Ryan Bush

For nearly 20 years, the perfect-storm sextet that is Trampled By Turtles has continued to toe the line with creative sounds and unforgettable lyrics, establishing the band as one of the most voracious touring acts in the country. With their tenth studio album, Alpenglow, TBT shows no signs of faltering behind the new release. A testament to the edges that the band harmoniously blurs between the stomping realm of Bluegrass and the driving rhythms of solid Rock-n-Roll, Trampled By Turtles have always stirred the music genre cauldron with their poetic verse and spot-on sound: Always flawless, always original.

Lance Rogers: Pretty Gone

Lance Rogers: Pretty Gone

Ryan Bush

A clean mix of wittiness and heel-pounding sonics, Lance Rogers’ latest single, “Pretty Gone,” is here - and it’s pretty damn good.

“This song is sort of a humorous song about a guy that lost his beautiful girlfriend and is trying to figure out how it happened,” Rogers said of the piece. “As the song progresses, it becomes apparent that he drinks too much and he was really the problem the entire time.”

Fresh off of the renowned Red Barn Radio stage, which features the finest of Appalachia’s music scene, Rogers' sound glowed on the July 20th live broadcast, blending tunes from his 2021 self-titled release, as well as new works - all while backed by a full band to further compliment his dusty, dirt-road tone.

Cody Howard: Appalachian Dream

Cody Howard: Appalachian Dream

Ryan Bush

Music transcends life.

It travels beyond the hollers and dark foothills of the countryside, weaving and diving its needle into the fabric of every breath that we take in and exhale. The words tumble through the mind and fuel lost hearts with vigor. One cannot help but smile, cry, laugh and welcome the highwall of emotion that is conjured with each note and within each verse.

Imagine a place where all of this mystique and complex power babbles and flows. And there you will find Cody Howard, sharing his magic from his debut album, Appalachian Dream.

Howard is, perhaps, as damn humble as a successful musician and songwriter may come. In a room full of people, the most creative and genuine personality in the entire scene would probably be Howard, quietly sharing a soft crooked smile from the side of the room. He's a young mind with an old cherub’s warmth and an “awe shucks” Eastern Kentucky drawl.

Eric Bolander: Can't Get There From Here

Eric Bolander: Can't Get There From Here

Ryan Bush

Soul-driven and home-crafted with master precision, Eric Bolander is quickly becoming a glowing jar of foothill muse. With his latest collection, Can’t Get There From Here, Bolander offers an alluring peek into his beautiful spellbook, behind a 12-track collection of gritty bliss.

“The Wind was an album that, for the first time, I felt it sounded like me and what I wanted a complete album to be,” stated Bolander, referencing his 2019 release. “The new album is about taking chances and pushing boundaries from within myself. I wanted these songs to move the listener through a journey that they, themselves, find on their own; I’m just the tour guide leading them through this space that is inside my mind.”

It’s the smooth, warm blade engrained in Bolander’s voice, along with the expert instrumentation from the band – elements that are paramount throughout each piece – that serve as hardened-proof that Bolander is continuing to grow his sound and prowess at a magical rate.

Lance Rogers: Self-Titled

Lance Rogers: Self-Titled

Ryan Bush

When Lance Rogers sipped from that teeming fountain of creative mystic, he drank the whole damn thing dry. Bone dry. Desolate dust left swirling at the bottom of the well kind of dry. Thankfully, with the release of his debut, self-titled album, Rogers has given us all a taste of his gift, and it’s nothing short of breathtaking – another example of the Kentucky influence burning from the Appalachian foothills.

“To release my debut album feels like the first day of kindergarten in a way,” says Rogers of the accomplishment. “Nerves and joy, a little crying. The thing about starting kindergarten is that there’s years and years ahead of you, ones that will form you and test you. I feel like that, but I’m excited to keep walking down this path. It’s my hope that this album will open a few doors and minds, and will be the opening scene of a series of authentic and true-to-life albums into the future.”

John R. Miller: Depreciated

John R. Miller: Depreciated

Ryan Bush

With a simple name and veins flooded with creative magic, John R. Miller has etched his brand across the musical landscape, demonstrating this gift with his solo debut album, Depreciated – an eleven-chapter odyssey drenched in talent. Throughout the years, Miller has gained notoriety amongst the explosion of musical brilliance smoldering from the Appalachian foothills and the streams of the Shenandoah Valley. With bands including Prison Book Club, The Fox Hunt, as well as The Engine Lights, Miller continued to grow and fine-tune his craft, which is exemplified though Depreciated – each track penned by the dusty backwoods poet himself.

Gathering from personal experiences and fueled by Miller’s wandering van tromping about the countryside, Depreciated offers a sound that captures much of the influences that played through Miller’s own speakers – an eclectic and genre-bounding balance.

One to Watch: Dave Shoemaker “Foreverything”

One to Watch: Dave Shoemaker “Foreverything”

Ryan Bush

Love is an art all its own. It breathes life into the soul and can make the heart feel more than ever thought possible. It’s the ups and downs. The good and bad. Growth and loss. Sharing each breath next to the one who is your living muse. Southeastern Kentucky’s Dave Shoemaker has managed to capture all of this emotion with his newest single, “Foreverything” - a poetic testament that paints the reality of pure love and all of its power.

A flourishing songwriter with deep lyrical prowess, Shoemaker cut his teeth on an eclectic line of musical genres, all of which have impacted his sound, along with a voice that is jaggedly soft, rising and falling with each word and verse.

“I grew up listening to classic rock radio and back porch pickin’ at my grandparents'. In middle school/high school, I fell in love with the Seattle sound and really came to love Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, and I still do love and listen to those bands. I'm a lover of music and I feel like I draw a lot of inspiration from music of all spectrums, whether it be Ralph Stanley to Neurosis or Guy Clark to The Drive By Truckers. I'm all over the place with my musical taste,” Shoemaker shared.

Grayson Jenkins : Hand Me Downs

Grayson Jenkins : Hand Me Downs

Ryan Bush

Steeped in the rolling coal hills of Western Kentucky, combined with a voice matching the smoothness of the rolling water of a cold creek, Grayson Jenkins’ newest release, Hand Me Downs, is a testament to what great songwriting can ignite in the heart and soul.

A reflection of honoring life and all the good that it can entail, Jenkins, along with his backing band, The Resolutions, provide a sound worthy of a smoky barroom, but with points of the contrasting brightness of a warm, sunny day. It’s a mesh of melody and catchy lyricism that Jenkins continues to feed as an artist and writer.

“I’m always taking notes on my phone or scribbling down words in a notebook. I steal little phrases and observations that pop out in life or conversations and try to put them to song. Most days, I free-write about random places or things, with no rhyme or melody in mind. That helps to exercise the writing muscles and can usually pull me out of a slump if I’m in one. For me, it’s just about filling out my tool bag with different ways of writing so that I can run with whatever pops in my head,” Jenkins says of his creative process.


Nick Dittmeier and the Sawdusters: Companion (Extended Edition)

Nick Dittmeier and the Sawdusters: Companion (Extended Edition)

Ryan Bush

An album combining Dittmeier’s fantastic song writing capabilities, along with grooving guitar riffs, Companion (Extended Edition) showcases an “A Side” of studio tracks recorded in 2019, while “B Side,” Alive in a Barber Shop in Southern Indiana, boasts The Sawdusters’ talents from a live viewpoint, creating a unique listening experience that encompasses the entire emotion of the sound.

“I really value having a full band to go out and do tour dates, because that's what I would like to see from other songwriters, and I love playing with other musicians. One positive about the shutdown is, we actually got to practice and micromanage things about our sound. We released some video from a live session we did in July and it captures what we were working on. On bass, I have Bob Rutherford and Josh Bradley on drums,” says Dittemeier.

Straight from the first track, “It’s Gonna Break Your Heart,” Dittmeier’s songsmith prowess comes through with a stunning flow and smoothness – with a truthfulness in his voice.

I still think about you baby / Every hour everyday / I’m still trying to kick these cigarettes / Before the baby comes in May

It’s the simple way of connecting simple words and creating an idea that Dittmeier sings with ease.


Premiere: Sean Whiting – Perfect World

Premiere: Sean Whiting – Perfect World

Ryan Bush

Sean Whiting has a voice that melts souls …. it’s an instrument that can stand on its own. A lava that does not stop flowing. Ever. The passion and tone carry in every lyric of his newest single, "Perfect World," due to drop on November 6th, 2020.

Part of a live performance recorded at Fat Cave Studios in Jackson, Kentucky, in August of this year, Whiting pours his emotion into a bluesy tone that defines the “Appalachian Rock” genre that he so helped to create and forefront.

The sound is smooth. The words are sincere. They cut deep – but heal. The first of a possible three EP singles in the upcoming months, Whiting puts his talent to use with a tremendous backing, including Austin Lewis (Electric Guitar), Trevor Litteral (Bass), and Clarke Sexton (Drums) – not to mention the fantastic artistry of Sam Rogers (Engineer) – "Perfect World" pulls the curtain on what Whiting has to offer to the music realm, especially as a songsmith and visionary.


Laid Back Country Picker: Kingsport

Laid Back Country Picker: Kingsport

Ryan Bush

That sound you hear ripping through the valley and rambling over the hill is proudly brought to you by Laid Back Country Picker and his newest album, Kingsport

A stalwart in the musically-enriched soil of Eastern Kentucky, Laid Back puts his talent to work with a combination of witty storytelling, head-bouncing rhythm, and some electric guitar work that is nothing short of precise and, sometimes, down right mesmerizing.

Released by Hickman Holler Records, the label owned by Tyler Childers, Laid Back was immersed in an unbelievable wealth of talent, including Producers David Ferguson and Kenny Miles out of The Butcher Shoppe recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee, Kingsport is a testament to what happens when creative forces combine – including the album art of the one-and-only Jimbo Valentine. Backed by the likes of Hayden Miles on drums, Russ Pahl on guitars, JT Cure on bass, Jesse Wells on Fiddle/Banjo and Honey (Laid Back’s sweetie) with backing vocals, there is something that is, undeniably, the “Laid Back” sound. Oh, Shady Boggs offers his talents with vocals as well. Let’s not forget him.

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