Many great artists produce music that is inspiring without being technically gifted vocalists. Kris Kristofferson and Ryan Bingham have produced two of the year’s best albums while displaying vocals that few would term “smooth”. The largely acoustic solo debut from Curtis Harvey (Myspace), Box of Stones (FatCat), successfully showcsaes the same ability to move the listener by creating a compelling package that doesn’t rely solely on glossy, operatic vocals.

Stones covers familiar lyrical territory of life and love with Harvey’s plain-spoken poetry and avoids sounding stale and tired in the process. There is plenty of roots-y pickin’ on this record. “Oldertoo” and “Borrowed Time” are basically roughly hewn bluegrass tunes, while the banjo in “Words” and “On Top” spring forward with a rawness and vibrancy that draws the listener in quickly. “Bag of Seeds” would’ve fit nicely onto Bingham’s Mescalito album, as it rocks just a tad with a plugged-in vibe that never separates the track from the album’s core sound. This album has Curtis Harvey’s grit to thank for it’s ability to shine.

LISTEN: Curtis Havey – “Oldertoo”

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Kris Kristofferson’s new disc, Closer to the Bone (New West) is as great as his 2006 LP, This Old Road and for the same reasons, basically. Sparse, raw and just plain moving. Kristofferson’s grizzled soul oozes from each note, strum and lyric. Here are a few things I have seen lately regarding this gem…

• Rolling Stone delivered a short, but sweet review…

• The 9513 sure liked it a whole lot…

• Blurt Online (formerly Harp Magazine) also heard what I hear in the album…

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The new album from folk-troubadour Tom Russell, Blood & Candle Smoke, has been getting rave reviews from the blogosphere. I can’t say that I am quite as high on it as others are, but that’s not to say that I am not rather impressed. Russell’s voice is that of a classic, authoritative story-teller. Who needs a simple, catchy hook when you can have such a beautiful yarn spun right before you. Russell shouldn’t have needed this album and the subsequent praise (including a recent, widely viewed Letterman appearance) to elevate his profile, but elevate it, this album has indeed done. Check out the following pieces that tell you why…

• Nine Bullets calls it the likely album of the year in his mind….

• Paste Magazine say this album has “considerable power”

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