Joey Willis

Few artists have had as profound an impact on regional Mexican music as Chalino Sánchez, who is widely regarded as the “Godfather of Corridos.” Decades after his death, his influence can still be heard throughout the modern corridos movement. Modern artists like Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano (both of whom have performed at Coachella) have brought corridos to international audiences, but much of the genre’s modern identity can be traced back to Chalino. His songs gave voice to immigrants, laborers, small-town figures, and families whose stories rarely appeared in mainstream music. Rather than presenting larger-than-life heroes, Chalino chronicled real people with such detail and authenticity that listeners felt connected to the lives behind the names. Originally released in 1991,

By 1977, Bluegrass was arriving at a crossroads. Questions about whether to stay in a strict acoustic framework or to push the boundaries and include non-traditional instruments like drums, pedal steel, and electric instruments. This is where the short-lived group Boone Creek took up the mantle of experimentation and laid the foundation for what would become “Newgrass.”

Gary Stewart’s reputation as “King of the Honky-Tonks” rests on the hard-drinking honky-tonk classics that made him one of country music’s most distinctive voices in the 1970s, but One Track Mind visits the years before the hits arrived. One Track Mind is drawn from demos, home recordings, and acetate transfers dating from 1967 to 1972 found by producer Mark Linn. This collection captures Stewart as a young songwriter finding his voice in Nashville soon after moving from Florida. One Track Mind stands as a surprisingly cohesive listen that highlights just how much of Stewart’s talent was already in place long before Out of Hand made him a star.

As a pianist, Bobby Timmons had already left a lasting mark on hard bop before recording This Here Is Bobby Timmons in 1960. As a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet, he helped shape some of the era’s defining recordings while contributing compositions that would become jazz standards in their own right. His debut as a bandleader gave him the chance to step out from behind those legendary groups and reveal the full scope of his talent. Rooted in the gospel music he grew up with in his father’s Philadelphia church, Timmons blended blues, soul, and swinging hard bop into his own unique style. More than sixty years later, This Here Is Bobby Timmons is joining Craft Recording’s Original Jazz Classics series on 180-gram vinyl cut from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.

Australian songwriter Alex Cameron has spent the past decade writing songs about the outliers, the failures, and the tragic characters on the fringes. Initially performing in a persona as a failed entertainer, Cameron strived to embody the characters that he writes about. On his fifth album, Late to Set, those familiar characters remain, but the tone is noticeably more reflective. Following the polished swagger of Oxy Music, Cameron opts for a leaner, moodier sound. Sparse drum machines, brooding synths, and restrained guitars leave plenty of room for his unmistakable songwriting to carry the stories. The result is an album that often recalls the tension and literate songwriting of early Elvis Costello.

The mark that Miles Davis left not only on jazz but also on hip-hop, rock, and funk cannot be overstated. This year marks what would have been the 100th birthday of the jazz legend, and the year-round centennial celebration is seeing multiple reissues from labels. As part of their Original Jazz Classics series, Craft Recordings is releasing Cookin’ with The Miles Davis Quintet featuring all-analog (AAA) mastering from the original tapes by Cohearent Audio on 180-gram vinyl.

In 1957, John Coltrane was still building the foundation of a career that would eventually alter the course of modern music. Having already established himself as a vital member of Miles Davis’s first great quintet, the fully realized artist behind Blue Train, Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, and countless other landmarks had not yet completely emerged.

Elliott Smith has become one of those artists whose life and work are difficult to separate. Author Jamie Fisher spent four years talking to just about everyone in Elliott’s life to create a clearer picture of who Elliott was and what he was like as a friend, musician, brother, and boyfriend. From the outset of

After the release of Mer de Noms, A Perfect Circle faced the difficult task of following one of the strongest debut albums of the alternative rock era. Rather than trying to recreate the sound of its predecessor, Thirteenth Step took a more focused and thematic path. Unlike their debut album, where Billy Howerdel had already written the songs prior to Maynard James Keenan joining, Thirteenth Step

There are plenty of albums that define a particular moment, but few are as inseparable from their time and place as Happy Mondays’ Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches. Released in 1990, it caught Manchester’s indie and club cultures at the point where the two were becoming almost impossible to tell apart.