I’ve got a new “Think Again” column called “Kagan Gets the Kitchen Sink” and that’s here.

And I did another Kagan piece for The Daily Best and that’s here.

Alter-reviews:

What a piece of work is this Elizabeth Cook. Take a look at her bio here. As with last week’s Americana discoveries, Cook is this quiet treasure whose talents have eluded massive numbers of people in yet another indication that unfairness is the way of the world. I saw her Monday night at Joe’s Pub where the charm and the talent (to say nothing of those looks) just overflowed from the small stage. I’ve been spending some time with “Welder” is out this week and I’m going back that “Balls” cd too. It’s smart, diverse and equal parts moving and funky—which in country music, is all to the good.

Late last week, I had the extraordinary good luck to see a club show by Jorma Kaukonen and David Bromberg joined by Barry Mitterhoff at City Winery and what a night it was. Two guys I’ve been seeing since high school, but never once together, in an unassuming, comfortable setting (and the great food and drink that makes CW unique in this respect), showing off their stuff to one another, but also speaking to one another with their acoustic guitars in a language that is both unique and uniquely beautiful. The vibe was like a family reunion, if you had a really great family. (For family reunions See under Thorn, Paul: “I Don’t Like Half the Folks I Love.”) We all sang “I like to sleep late in the morning” without any help from David and it was his first song.  And I admired Bromberg’s attitude toward requests, which reminds me a great deal of the role of the Almighty as described by the author of Ecclesiastes. “I take requests, I just don’t play ‘em.”

Anyway, it was all old blues with a country feel and it went on and on for hours, because you knew these guys would be doing this even if they weren’t getting paid. There’s doing some more dates but you’ll have to do your own research, starting here.

No mail today…