On Thursday night, Gregory Alan Isakov performed a well-attended show at the Old Rock House. Behind him stood a projected, sepia-tinged, photo depicting a rural youth listening intently to a large, conical, medieval-looking, horn-shaped hearing device.

Anders Osborne has reinvented himself many times before, but given the way his life and career are going these days, he'd rather keep things just way they are for a while.

St. Louis music fans showed true dedication last night as heavy rain, hail, lightning and damaging winds couldn't keep a solid crowd away from the Old Rock House to see legendary Texas-based singer and songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Part John Prine, part Dylan, part lonely cowboy swilling whiskey out on a moonlit prairie, Jeffrey Foucault has a chameleonic sound. This quality enhances the troubadour's grace and emboldens the emotional power of the music.

There are a million tired clichés that can be used to describe singer-songwriters. Tuesday evening at the Old Rock House Dar Williams put on a performance that was neither tired nor clichéd.

Hot off his newest release "The Ones Who Wait," Denison Witmer brings introspective, acoustic indie-folk to St. Louis' the Firebird on Saturday, March 31 in support of William Fitzsimmons.

When one of the best country songwriters around invites you to his house to hang out on the back porch and listen to a new song, you don't refuse.

The appellation "legend" tends to be more of a marketing term than a description of an artist's importance. Often, it serves only to mark someone who's been lucky enough to get old without succumbing to too many vices and pitfalls along the way, and doesn't necessarily reflect the scope of their contribution to their art form.

Picking favorite tunes by Guy Clark is more an exercise in what to leave out, rather than what to include. The songwriting legend is entering his seventh decade, still at the top of his game.

Cory Chisel warmed up the packed Off Broadway with a set of seven songs that conjured the lonely American countryside.

High on both the CMJ and Americana charts is "Voyageur," the latest release from singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards. This from-the-heart batch of songs is her most developed work yet.

Ingrid Michaelson
"Human Again"
Mom+Pop

With her lilting voice and nerdy, girl-next-door looks, Ingrid Michaelson has charmed an audience and built a career around her good-girl appeal.

Possessing a humor that draws fans in, singer-songwriter Todd Snider often covers topics that run much deeper.

Mike Viola, a songwriter known for the Oscar-nominated song "That Thing You Do!" and his work with the Candy Butchers, opened the night with a set of acoustic tunes that got the crowd shimmying around the light-wrapped support poles of the Duck Room.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter are preoccupied with the intangibles of existence. As such, their music is as ambiguous and mercurial as the layered worlds of their fancy.

The Old Rock House played host to a pair of musicians saturday night who drew a very interesting crowd comprised of what appeared to be ten-year-olds to seniors.

Ryan Adams
"Ashes & Fire"
PAX-AM / Capitol

The first track on the new Ryan Adams record opens quietly as Adams sings, "Last time I was here it was raining/It ain't raining anymore."

Stealing your heart -- and a few beers from the fridge -- Lydia Loveless is like the girlfriend who jacks your El Camino and leaves you in the dust. Then, for some reason you still love her for it.

Howie Day performed his captivating solo act at one of St. Louis' most intimate venues - the small, dark, Duck Room.

Many artists mine the multi-layered bedrock of American music -- country, blues and jazz -- but few return with so many personal riches like Jolie Holland.

There are no easy labels for Darrell Scott. In his career he's been a first-call session musician in Nashville, a songwriter, performer, collaborator and producer -- and he recently toured with Robert Plant as part of his Band of Joy.

St. Vincent graced the Old Rock House stage and took over the sold out room with booming bass and killer guitar lines.

Welcome back, Richard Buckner. Fans of enigmatic, incandescent songwriting have missed you.

For a Monday night, there was a good crowd gathered at the Old Rock House. Rosi Golan, who opened for Jason Reeves, kicked things off and played songs primarily from her new album "Lead Balloon."