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ROBBIE FULKS - I Told Her Lies [SOUTH MOUTH/Bloodshot]
	Terrific alt.country singer/songwriter, entertaining as hell.
MANDO MAFIA - Traveler's Advisory/Rocktown [MANDO LINIMENT/Black Rose]
	I first heard these guys at the Clifftop Appalachian Music Festival
	last year in W. Virginia -- superb band, some trad and bluegrass
	tunes, some originals, some trad tunes from faraway lands. See
	'em live if you have the chance.
DAVID LINDLEY & HANI NASER - Cottonmill Blues [OFFICIAL BOOTLEG, 
	LIVE IN TOKYO/Pleemhead]
	Mr. Dave's first self-released CD, and perhaps his best ever.
	Recorded live during one of his legendary "solo" shows ('cept 
	at the time he wasn't solo, he was accompanied by percussionist
	Naser), playing a tune from Kentucky on a Turkish instrument called
	a saz.  Brilliant stuff.
ANDY IRVINE - Never Tire of the Road [RAIN ON THE ROOF/AK Records]
	New self-release from the incomparable Irvine of Sweeney's Men,
	Planxty and Patrick Street fame. Recorded as if he was at one
	of his live solo shows, himself and bouzouki and harmonica. This
	track is his tribute to the spirit of Woody Guthrie's songs, a
	major influence.
JERRY DOUGLAS - The Ride [RESTLESS ON THE FARM/Sugar Hill]
	Brand-new from the dobro virtuoso.  This track co-written and 
	performed with Béla Fleck

NEW BIRTH BRASS BAND - Go To The Mardi Gras [D-BOY/NYNO Records]
	Debut from the newest and youngest band in the New Orleans
	street brass band tradition, with lots of modern influences.
	They hail from the Tremé neighborhood in the 6th Ward.
THE WILD TCHOUPITOULAS - Meet De Boys on de Battlefront [WILD TCHOUPITOULAS/
	Antilles-Island Records]
	Sole release by legendary Mardi Gras Indian tribe, led by George
	"Big Chief Jolly" Landry, uncle to the Neville Brothers, who
	back up the Tchoupitoulas with the Meters.

STEVE RILEY & THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS - My True Love [BAYOU RULER/Rounder]
	Steve and the boys try English-language swamp-pop with mixed
	result ... there's lots of great Cajun material though, including
	this classic.
ROSIE LEDET - Bad Weather [ZYDECO SENSATION/Maison de Soul]
	Rosie breaks Queen Ida's monopoly on female zydeco musicians,
	and is quite popular back home.  Little to no French music, but
	drivin' contemporary zydeco.
WALTER MOUTON & THE SCOTT PLAYBOYS - Convict Waltz [J'AI ÉTÉ AU BAL/
	Arhoolie]
	Also known as "La Valse de Quatre Vingt Dix Neuf Ans" ("The 99 Year
	Waltz").  Mouton makes a rare festival appearance at this year's
	Southern California Cajun & Zydeco Festival.
TERRANCE SIMIEN - Macque Choux [JAM THE JAZZFEST/Tone Cool Records]
	New EP from wild man Simien, who blends a lot of R&B into his
	sound.  Drivin' track, named after the yummy Cajun corn dish.

CORDELIA'S DAD - Spencer Rifle [SPINE/Appleseed Records]
	From their newest.  Outstanding traditional American music band.
	This song's from Arkansas, boyhood home of our nation's president, 
	and is about doin' the nasty (woohoo!)
AUBREY HAYNIE - Tobacco Patch [DOIN' MY TIME/Sugar Hill]
	Debut album from young fiddler-mandolinist.  Stellar performances,
	joined by the likes of Jerry Douglas and Béla Fleck.
DOCK BOGGS - Sugar Baby [COUNTRY BLUES/Revenant]
	Outstanding collection (with 60-pg. booklet) of Virginia banjo
	player and singer, from the last '20s.

SON VOLT - Creosote [STRAIGHTAWAYS/Warner Bros.]
MIKE IRELAND AND HOLLER - Headed For a Fall [LEARNING HOW TO LIVE/Sub Pop]
	Pop-country?  "Alt.contrypolitan"?  Whatever you call it, 
	it's good stuff.  Nice little bit o' honky-tonk on this tune.
FRED LeBLANC - Crazy 'Bout You [...PLAYING THE GAME OF MY LIFE/Self-release]
	Solo release by lead singer of Cowboy Mouth, a kick-ass 
	rock 'n roll that shows off their country and folk roots as well
	as the punkabilly ones.  Despite his animal antics on stage, he's
	a terrific and contemplative singer and songwriter.  This CD was
	recorded at home on a 4-track cassette deck.

LOUIS PRIMA - St. Louis Blues [COLLECTOR'S SERIES/Capitol]
	Yeah you rite.
MARVA WRIGHT - Three Times [BORN WITH THE BLUES/Virgin France]
	Mighty blues, R&B and gospel singer from New Orleans, with
	her band The BMWs.
SON HOUSE - Government Fleet Blues [DELTA BLUES/Biograph]
	Smokin' stuff, much of which was recorded in the field (you can
	year trains passing in the background)
WEAVER & BEASLEY - Soft Steel Piston [BEFORE THE BLUES: EARLY AMERICAN
	BLACK MUSIC, VOL. 1/Yazoo]
	Superb 3-volume collection of the ragtime, folk tunes, breakdowns,
	ballads, modal and religious songs from the early 1800s to the
	1920s that were the basis for the blues.  Weaver was a bottleneck
	slide guitar player, and delivers a ragtime number here.

PETER OSTROUSHKO - B-O-R-S-C-H-T [DOWN THE STREETS OF MY OLD NEIGHBORHOOD/
	Rounder]
	Listen to the lyrics of this nifty song, and you can learn 
	to make a killer pot of Ukrainian borscht.
RICKY SKAGGS & KENTUCKY THUNDER - If I Lose [BLUEGRASS RULES/Rounder]
	One of the very best bluegrass releases of 1997.
DANA COOPER - Soul Hesitation [MIRACLE MILE/Compass]
	Latest from this excellent folk singer/songwriter -- one of the
	singer-songwriter types that I really like.
BAP KENNEDY - Dirty Old Town [DOMESTIC BLUES/E Squared]
	The secret "hidden" track at the end of Kennedy's debut, featuring
	co-producer Steve Earle on vocals on this Ewan MacColl classic.
	Kennedy's from Belfast, and formerly headed up a rock band called
	Energy Orchard, but is now on this side of the pond doing the
	American roots thing, and pulls it off nicely.

JESSE FULLER - The Monkey and the Engineer [THE LONE CAT/Fantasy]
	Leadin' up into "Sarcastic Deadhead" and "The Grateful Dead Hour"...