When a German-born songwriter in his sixties filters his life’s rear-view mirror through authentic American roots music, you get The Cumberland River Project and the profoundly human new EP, "Meet Me In The Rain". Frank Renfordt acts as the absolute sole architect here. He is singing, writing, producing, and physically wrapping his hands around the acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, bass, mandolin, keys, and drum...

Listening to Cat Cork’s "Simple Song" is a funny thing; the title is a clever piece of misdirection, a plain brown wrapper on a package containing an entire life. This isn't some breezy, three-chord singalong for a lazy afternoon. It’s the sonic equivalent of discovering a shipwright’s meticulously drafted blueprint, detailing the construction of a human spirit from the first plank of childhood to...