Those who have followed Ruthie Foster’s eclectic musical history know that she can burn down any stage with her combustible blend of soul, blues, rock, folk and gospel. And when Grammy Award-winning producer John Chelew suggested she record an album in New Orleans — with support handpicked from the Crescent City’s overflowing pool of talent — it was an opportunity for Ruthie to infuse fresh spices into her already rich sonic gumbo.

First Aid Kit's sophomore album The Lion's Roar is available exclusively via iTunes now, a week ahead of release in brick and mortar stores.

Brooklyn's backwords blends modern psychedelics with folk rock, 60s pop and a myriad of sonic surprises.  THE L MAGAZINE calls it, "Twangy Americana" and "70s psych rock" and THE DELI MAGAZINE concedes, “They sure are doing something nobody else we are aware of is doing in NYC right now: unpretentious, mellow psych folk that speaks to the heart.”

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.Kottke's 1971 major-label debut, "Mudlark," positioned him somewhat uneasily in the singer/songwriter vein, despite his own wishes to remain an instrumental performer.

Independent Blix Street Records will inaugurate 2012 with the U.S.

Ten years in the making, folk rocker Mike Acerbo's debut album, The Search, is set to release on February 14th, 2012. The Search is at once intensely personal and universal - rich with themes of love, loss and the search for self.

The best songs of North Carolina’s Bowerbirds have always seemed eternal.

Fall Like Rain, Martin Sexton’s brand-new EP, finds this artist again asking relevant questions and challenging the status quo. Entertaining us all the while, he continues to call for unity in “One Voice Together” and adds: “In a world of warfare, peace is bad for business . .

Sharon Van Etten is delighted to share news of Tramp, her stunning Jagjaguwar debut album, out February 7, and the follow up to last year’s epic (Ba Da Bing). Tramp showcases an artist in full control of her powers. With her third album, Van Etten’s words and voice are now two parts of a larger evocative whole.