“Please fogive me if I can't learn to live in Generic America, Where the wavy fields got paved, The kids are out looking for a rave, and the rest of us sat on our big fat ass, watching the rose bowl parade” writes Cary Hudson in one of his manifesto-songs and he’s not changed at all: he’s still devoted to his world, to his guitars and to his Mississippi. He’s still avoiding compromises, recording in pure austerity and releasing records on his own.

Surrendering to the sweet suggestions these songs evoke is easy: get on board and take a ride.

...because Real Blasty by Kyle Andrews is really one of the freshest, catchiest, and funnie st albums I've heard in the last decade...Silicon packaging and bleeding heart, true rocker and not a poser, Kyle Andrews is a picture of determination and a handful of ideas, one of the possible quantum leaps into the future of rock and roll. Love, fury, and the most creative of laptops. Fundamental.

There's still a place in America where bourbon flows like a river, cigarettes burn fast and guitars sound masculine and rugged: in this particular case we're talking about Joshua Black Wilkins' Nashville...

Recommended by Matthew Ryan (who shares with him a certain taste for rainy days), Brian Ritchey is a big Indiana-born guy living in Nashville who could easily pass himself off as a secret member of The Jayhawks or as Ryan Adams's brother...