and launched his first group, the International Submarine Band, in NYC in the late 60s. Transplanted to L.A., he joined the Byrds, shaping their landmark album Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, and made further musical history with the Flying Burrito Brothers. After discovering Emmylou Harris playing in a D.C. bar, he went on to record two now-legendary solo LPs, GP and Grievous Angel, that spotlight the peerless harmony of their divergent voices, hers angelic and pure, his ragged and scorched by his demons. Rhino s historic set presents those two soulful albums remastered and expanded, plus a third disc of precious alternate takes from those recordings.  (less)

truths that bind us all together. It's always worth the wait. Now, nearly nine years since the release of his Grammy-nominated Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings, the iconic American writer has put the finishing touches on his latest offering, appropriately titled, Fair & Square. It was just time, says Prine in his always understated way. I had a bunch of songs. I'd started recording them, and it turns out, I liked them pretty well. So, now, I get to get them all just the way I like them - and then I get to let them go out to meet the world. With the occasional wheezing accordion, curlicue electric guitar parts, quick-wristed mandolins, billowing B-3 pads and puddles of pedal steel guitar, the rough-voiced singer/songwriter's first self-produced record is a homey affair that draws generously from the palette of traditional American music -- be it folk, bluegrass, shuffles, vintage rock & roll, torch, country -- for an amalgamation that would be at home on any Wurlitzer in a whiskey-soaked tavern with beer signs flickering from age and the walls stained deeper than sepia from the years of constant smoke. With bluegrass queen Alison Krauss on the ode to his Irish refuge My Darlin' Hometown , the street corner desolation of The Moon Is Down and alt-country princess Mindy Smith bringing allure and tartness to Morning Train, Long Monday and the melted neon ponder of Taking A Walk, Fair & Square is the work of a man at ease with his life, secure with his place in the world and willing to share the things that he sees. It's been a while, so I'm pretty excited, Prine admits with that Oh Boy grin. And that's a really good place to be.  (less)

whom veteran music writer Chet Flippo recently called one of the most overlooked and underrated in country music history. Bare was a singer capable of sophisticated hits like Detroit City or How I Got To Memphis and the subversive humor of Drop Kick Me Jesus. He befriended and championed the finest songwriters to ever shake up Nashville, including Kris Kristofferson and Tom T. Hall. He was among the first Nashville country artists to embrace Bob Dylan. And he pioneered ideas like the concept album, dodging the Nashville rules to bring a whole record of Shel Silverstein songs to life in the classics Lullabys, Legends & Lies. Often tagged an outlaw in the Waylon and Willie camp, Bare's discography actually transcends categories with a boldly eclectic embrace of American music.  (less)