★★★★★
reaffirms Rodney Crowell's position as one of the most literate of contemporary songwriters. At the same time, it exhibits his unusual savvy as a musician and bandleader as he collects a core quintet to skillfully elicit both the intelligence and emotion of his original material. In its prolonged gestation before and after other projects- (Vanguard, 2012) his collaboration with novelist Mary Karr and his reunion with Emmylou Harris (Nonesuch, 2013)?Crowell's fourteenth album features him and...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2014-06-07
★★★★★
Tweet Nothing New, but Nothing to Pass Up Rodney Crowell is a name any country music fan undoubtedly knows. When you're discussing an artist as prolific as Crowell, there are a few things you can expect before pressing play: the songwriting is going to be meaningful and carry its own merit; the recording is going to sound pristine; and overall you can expect the album to be, at the very least, good. Tarpaper Sky certainly does not skip over any of these...
- www.mxdwn.com
2014-04-18
★★★★★
In the pantheon of esteemed singer-songwriters, Rodney Crowell certainly takes a place front and center. Having written certified classics like, "I Ain't Living Long Like This", "Leavin' Louisiana in the Broad Daylight", and "Till I Gain Control Again" entitles him a bit of royalty status, and the immense commercial success of 1988's career-defining Diamonds & Dirt album ensured that Crowell's name would always be a viable one when it came to the attention of the Music Row tastemakers...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-04-18
★★★★★
While Rodney Crowell has had his fair share of chart-topping singles, and a gold album with 1988's Diamonds & Dirt, this Grammy-winning musical poet is more of a critical favorite than a commercial powerhouse. His lyrics are overflowing with imagery and meaning--both weighty and witty--and his voice is laden with texture. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Rodney isn't exposing a new side of his creativity with the release of his latest album, Tarpaper Sky...
- www.countryweekly.com
2014-04-17
★★★★★
Rodney Crowell's newest record was four years in the making: after recording half a dozen songs in 2010, he got distracted by two stellar side projects: Kin , a collection of songs written with noted author Mary Karr, and last year's Grammy-winning Old Yellow Moon , a duets record with Emmylou Harris. But Tarpaper Sky , the best solo album Crowell has made in more than a decade, is worth the wait...
- www.engine145.com
2014-05-28
★★★★★
With a few exceptions, the country music establishment doesn't have a lot of reverence for the old guard, and yesterday's hit-maker is, well, yesterday's hit-maker. Rodney Crowell spent his share of time in the upper reaches of the country charts in the 1970s and '80s, on his own and with songs other artists recorded, including Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings and then-wife Rosanne Cash...
- www.pastemagazine.com
2014-04-16
★★★★★
RODNEY CROWELL -- Tarpaper Sky
Album:
Tarpaper Sky
Artist: Rodney Crowell
Label: New West
Release Date: April 15, 2014
www.newwestrecords.com
BY LEE ZIMMERMAN
A remarkably rapid follow-up to Old Yellow Moon, his award-winning, much lauded collaboration with Emmylou Harris, Tarpaper Sky finds Crowell yet again emphasizing the superior songwriting skills that have been...
- blurtonline.com
2014-04-16
★★★★★
Following his 2012 Kin collaboration with poet and memoirist Mary Karr and last year's Old Yellow Moon with Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell offers his first proper solo release since 2008?s Sex & Gasoline, and the breather clearly did him some good. Tarpaper Sky, with its emotionally direct songwriting and singing and intimate, ruminative sound, is arguably his best since the 2003 Fate's Right Hand...
- www.wonderingsound.com
2014-04-16