The Top Albums, Songs and Performances by Kansas City Musicians in 2019

Favorite Albums and EPs by Kansas City Artists
1. The Sextet- Among Friends
2. Samantha Fish- Kill Or Be Kind
3. Matt Villinger- All Day
4. Heather Newman- Rise From the Flames
5. Making Movies- Ameri’kana
6. Adam Larson- Listen With Your Eyes
7. Rich the Factor- The Tonite Show
8. Jay McShann- Live in Tokyo
9. Keaton Conrad- Nova
10. Drugs and Attics- Clean Their Room

11. Dylan Pyles- Popular Songs for the Heart
12. Hmph!- Hmph!
13. The Get Up Kids- Problems
14. Wing Walker Orchestra- Hazel
15. Joyce DiDonato- Songplay
16. Norman Brown- The Highest Act of Love
17. Jan Kraybill- The Orchestral Organ
18. Kevin Morby- Oh My God
19. The Greeting Committee- I’m Afraid I’m Not Angry
20. Julian Vaughn- Supreme

21. Merlin- The Mortal
22. A’Sean- One Big Happy Family
23. The Kansas City Chorale- Artifacts: The Music of Michael McGlynn
24. Le Grand- Plastic Jazz
25. Calvin Arsenia- LA Sessions


Favorite Songs by Kansas City Artists
Spotify playlist
1. Keaton Conrad- “What Am I Supposed to Do?”
2. Drugs and Attics- “Dad Party”
3. Samantha Fish- “Love Letters”
4. The Sextet- “To Be Determined”
5. Heather Newman- “Rise From the Flames”
6. Pat Metheny- “America Undefined”
7. Reggie B and the Popper- “Not Funky”
8. Sara Morgan- “Church in a Bar”
9. Tech N9ne- “Like I Ain’t”
10. The Sluts- “Break Their Heart”

11. Ubi- “Gameshow”
12. Norman Brown- “Free”
13. The Get Up Kids- “The Problem Is Me”
14. Stik Figa- “More or Less”
15. The Freedom Affair- “Rise Up”
16. Matt Villinger- “Shot Roulette”
17. Godemis- “Eye Zkreem”
18. Making Movies- “Accidente”
19. Puddle of Mudd- “Uh Oh”
20. Brody Buster’s One Man Band- “Week Long”

21. JL and Joey Cool- “That’s Him”
22. Drop Dead XX- “Betty Ford”
23. The Creepy Jingles- “Atom & Evolution”
24. Nick Schnebelen- “Crazy All By Myself”
25. Other Americans- “Neon Sunrise”


Favorite Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Logan Richardson’s Blues People- Capsule
2. The Greeting Committee- West Bottoms (Boulevardia)
3. The Sextet- RecordBar
4. Ensemble Ibérica- MTH Theater
5. My Brothers & Sisters- The Brick (Crossroads Music Fest)
6. Bobby Watson & Horizon- White Recital Hall
7. Jerry Hahn and Danny Embrey- Recital Hall at the Carlsen Center
8. Making Movies- KC Live
9. Heather Newman- Legacy Park Amphitheater
10. Doubledrag- Riot Room

11. Matt Otto Quartet- Black Dolphin
12. The Kansas City Symphony- Helzberg Hall
13. Una Walkenhorst- Songbird Cafe (Middle of the Map Fest)
14. Ben Tervort’s Classically Trained- Westport Coffee House
15. Rod Fleeman and Gerald Spaits- Green Lady Lounge
16. Brian Scarborough Quintet- RecordBar
17. Tech N9ne- KC Live (StrangeFest)
18. Soul Revival- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
19. Peter Schlamb Trio- Capsule
20. Guitar Elation- Green Lady Lounge

21. Midwest Chamber Ensemble- Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
22. ARQuesta Del SolSoul- RecordBar
23. Katy Guillen’s Womanish Girl- The Brick (Middle of the Map Fest)
24. Black Creatures- West Bottoms (Boulevardia)
25. Jason Vivone & the Billy Bats- PorchFestKC

(Original image of the Matt Otto Quartet at Black Dolphin by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Mike and the Moonpies- Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold

I’ve long thought of Mike and the Moonpies as a likeable Texas honky tonk band that’s coated in the same red dirt as dozens of interchangeable ensembles.  The group’s new album Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold elevates Mike and Moonpies from the slag heap to the showroom. 

As someone who was raised on countrypolitan albums by the likes of Charlie Rich, the woozy songs of three-named Texas outlaws like Jerry Jeff Walker and cheesy country radio hits by cornballs including Conway Twitty, listening to Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold feels like going home.

The accents provided by the London Symphony Orchestra are likely to elicit comparisons to the occasionally ornate work of Sturgill Simpson, but the 31-minute Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold moves me in ways that Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music never did.

While they engage in country clichés, songs like “If You Want a Fool Around” and “You Look Good in Neon” transcend the genre.  And the opening lines of the title track- “I think I'll buy us all a round/We can toast the cheapest silver/That high and lonesome sound/The nights we don't remember” buckle my bum knee.


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My audio feature about the Kansas City blues artist Heather Newman aired on KCUR this morning.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)