The Twisters are Canada’s premier jump/blues band. Period. Nominated for a JUNO Award in 2003 for Best Blues Album and winner of the Canadian Independent Music Awards in 2003 for Blues Album of the Year.

If you're a sensitive person who's ever been on either end of a love that ended when one of you didn't want it to, there is a striking tune on here that cuts to the core of life and love and beauty and pain and loss. "Stranger Than Paradise" will resonate...and touch...and express the ineffable.

Young and old souls alike have no trouble finding themselves in the plain spoken lyrics of James Moors. After bringing an audience into the present moment with his midwestern sincerity and ungaurded humor, James unveils the layers of our common experiences to expose the magic that lies beneath them. Often compared to such luminaries as Greg Brown, Peter Himmelman and John Hiatt, James paints the landscapes we live in.

Sass Jordan's third album continues in the vein begun on Racine; this is roots rock with teeth. "High Road Easy" received considerable radio airplay, and the other rockers on the album are similar-catchy with an edge, showcasing Jordan's gut-deep voice.

Is anyone named more appropriately than Sass Jordan? On her sophomore effort, the Montreal-based rocker kicks the synth-heavy Starship impersonation of her first album to the curb, raids her old Faces and Bad Company LPs for inspiration, and turns the attitude up to 11.

For members of The Gougers, who each sport a tattoo of the band's bird-and-broken-heart logo, it is more important that audiences hear the artful and profound lyrics of the songs created by the team of singer-writer-instrumentalists Shane Walker and Jamie Wilson - vivid imagery of human lives, subtle social comment, truth - than be concerned with what sort of genre the band's music fits into.

Sass Jordan ruled the rocking hardlands awhile in the early nineties with her amazing releases “Racine” (“Make You a Believer”) and “Rats” (“High Road Easy” and “Pissin’ Down”). Her music was tough, ballsy and true at heart, focusing on her powerful voice and attitude. After her hit singles, however, it became kinda quiet, though she still released quite a few CDs through time. Now, Sass has released “Get What You Give."

8 Track mini-album follow up to their critically acclaimed 1st album release on ACR/RCA Records, "Down This Road." Tracks produced by Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson), John Kelton, and Paul Kennerley (Emmylou Harris). "The undeniable literacy within The Wrights' songwriting, and the pinpoint harmonies of this talented husband/wife duo, showcase what is truly pure about country music."

For some musicians, it all comes down to what happens on stage. Anthony Gomes burns with blazing vocals and incendiary guitar work throughout his new CD, 'Live' to be released February 19th, the first full-length concert release from a man who plays as many as 250 dates annually in North America and Europe.

Sufjan Stevens is a name that if you haven't heard it yet, now is the time. I first heard this artist, I kid you not, over the radio at work, and I quite honestly thought I was listening to some '60s band's song that I may have never heard before (the song I refer to is "Chicago") and remembering a few lyrics after coming home one evening, I did a lyrics search via Google, and turned up the name Sufjan Stevens. It turned out one of the reasons for the popularity of this particular song was its inclusion in the movie soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine, the blockbuster feel-good hit of a year or so ago. Stevens' music sounds like a cross between '60s pop and folk, with VERY heavy avantgarde and fusion elements, and could be classified, according to my standard, as no less than progressive in nature. Stevens' vocal style could be very closely compared to Paul Simon or Cat Stevens, and his storytelling abilities could easily stand beside those of an Al Stewart or Harry Chapin. Rather unfortunate that in this day and age his music gets tossed into the "catch-all" category of indie, although as an independent artist, I guess the classification is relatively apt, but pigeonholes him too much for his range and totally unique style.

Seattle, WA is famous for many things. Sunlight is not one of them. Yet illumination and warmth suffuse the self-titled debut from Emerald City quintet Grand Archives. Dark times do not necessarily call for dark music. And, while singer/guitarist Mat Brooke’s previous ensembles – Band of Horses, Carissa’s Wierd – often shied away from light, he has changed direction with this band.

Billy Ray Cyrus will forever be known for the catchy, lightweight single "Achy, Breaky Heart," which became a line-dancing anthem upon its 1992 release. "Achy, Breaky Heart" made Cyrus famous, but it also proved to be his undoing. No matter how he tried, he couldn't escape the song, nor could he replicate the success. Cyrus' music was never particularly innovative -- it owed as much to the country-rock of the Eagles as it did to the new traditionalism of George Strait and the new country of Clint Black and Garth Brooks -- but his musical worth became irrelevant in the wake of the success of "Achy, Breaky Heart" and it's accompanying album, 'Some Gave All'. The album became a crossover success after the single became a hit, spending 17 weeks on the top of the album charts. Part of Cyrus' success was due to his handsome, hunky good looks, and part of it was due to the catchiness of "Achy, Breaky Heart." Cyrus released his tenth studio album, 'Home at Last', in 2007 on the Disney label. The album debuted at number 20 on the U.S. Billboard charts, both re-establishing Cyrus as a presence in country music and highlighting the popularity (not to mention influence) of his daughter's show.

Seems like doing an album of standards has become the benchmark of a long career and respectability for those who used to pride themselves on being the outlaws of music. Willie Nelson's done it (several times) and so have many others -- and now Leon Russell joins the crowd. And the resultant Moonlight & Love Songs isn't bad at all, with graceful -- albeit sometimes anonymous -- arrangements.

This compilation, released just in time for Valentine's Day 2008, isn't the most unnecessary of Rogers's career, but it's most useful if you're fairly new to Rogers and/or his love of love songs. If you own a decent Rogers collection, such as 2004's 42 Ultimate Hits, most of this ground is covered. However, due to the gaps natural to an album such as 2006's 21 Number Ones -- Rogers's best-selling album this decade - this makes a tidy companion to that one, including as it does such smashes (but non-#1s) as "Love the World Away" and "Through the Years," missing from the earlier comp.

So at last the ex-surfer and green activist singer-songwriter delivers his dubstep metal album…Oh alright, Sleep Through…isn't a whole lot different from the Hawaii-born musician's previous outings. Depending on whether you’re a fan this could be good or bad. It's so easy to point to Johnson and cry 'bland!' or 'cozy!', but it's hard to argue with a multi-platinum track record. His status as a household name will be undoubtedly reinforced by this well-nigh perfect example of all his best traits.