Check out the great in-depth Guitar World magazine feature on Parlor Greens’ Jimmy James, where he talks about Parlor Greens’ new studio album “Emeralds,” his love of guitarist Steve Cropper, the guitars and amps he uses, as well as his late mother’s great influence on him as a person and musician.

Blues-rock unusualist Troy Mercy just released his new debut studio album “Let The Night Begin” and critics have been unanimously singing its praises! Here are but of few of the positive press quotes in thus far…

“While the minimal instrumentation stays raw and focused, Mercy writes sharp songs with changes and hooks that slither around bluesy and indie rock, but stay tethered to his rootsy inclinations. Mercy also boasts a strong, soulful voice, bringing further fearlessness to music that connects on first listen.” – Hal Horowitz, ROCK & BLUES MUSE

“A Place of Our Own” is a proper slice of effortlessly cool throwback rock that finds Mercy adding elements of blues, soul, and glam like a chef adding ingredients to make his own signature dish. Mercy’s vocals seem to levitate over his groovy guitar work, creating a sound that feels simultaneously psychedelic and ready for the late-night club. You can hear plenty of influences from acts like Booker T. Jones and Sly and the Family Stone, as well as revivalist contemporaries like the Black Keys, GA-20, and Patrick Sweany.” – Neil Ferguson, GLIDE MAGAZINE

“This is not polished Americana designed for coffeehouse playlists. It’s late-night rock & roll with grease under its fingernails and amplifier hum still ringing in the walls after closing time. Mercy sounds less interested in preserving tradition than in proving it can still hit hard in 2026. Let The Night Begin doesn’t ask permission to enter the conversation. The album’s 10 songs kick the door open and turn the amps up.” – Preston Frazier, SLANG OF AGES

“While he’s a certified six-string master, the Massachusetts-based musician puts sharp songwriting first. Troy Mercy’s debut full-length, Let The Night Begin, is a fuzz-soaked jolt of raw, vintage-toned rock ‘n’ roll in a loose blues jacket. – ADD TO WANTLIST

“A fuzz-soaked jolt of freedom—‘Traveling Light’ sounds like a lifetime of blues muscle finally cutting loose. Harrison Foti’s drums drive the whole thing forward like a runaway engine, while Mercy’s guitar tone stays gloriously blown-out and unapologetic. There’s no narrative gimmick here—just performance, attitude, and the kind of reckless joy that made rock & roll feel dangerous in the first place.” – THE FIRE NOTE

“The blues-rock landscape is shifting, and Troy Mercy is the one holding the compass. His solo work reveals a songwriter of surprising depth.” – Richard Bolwell, MNPR MAGAZINE

“Think the scrappy edge of The White Stripes or The Black Keys, but with a deeper blues backbone running through it. Let the Night Begin, produced by Tim Carman, leans hard into that mix of rawness built around guitar with enough focus on songwriting to keep it from drifting into empty shredding.” – Klemen Breznikar, IT’S PSYCHEDELIC BABY MAGAZINE

“Built around gritty guitar work and tongue-in-cheek spy film imagery, ‘Compromised Blues (A Spy Goodbye)’ blends blues rock swagger with cinematic tension.” – Pete Francis, BLUES ROCK REVIEW

★★★★ “Let The Night Begin smashes into the mind and lays the foundations for the listener to feel the blessing of favourable mischief, of understanding that the night is not about darkness, it is the absolution that illumination reveals, that the shadows don’t matter if they can be filled with brilliance and the cool wind of radiance.” – Ian D. Hall, LIVERPOOL SOUND & VISION

Flea’s isn’t the only project challenging jazz’s boundaries. On the other end of the spectrum are Parlor Greens, the powerhouse organ trio of guitarist Jimmy James, drummer Tim Carman and Hammond ace Adam Scone. While informed by their soul-jazz ancestors, their sophomore offering, ‘Emeralds,’ is never nostalgic, instead divining new possibilities in a time-honored sound with tight pocket work and heavy melodies.
https://relix.com/news/detail/relix-staff-picks-march-27-flea-courtney-barnett-irreversible-entanglements-parlor-greens-paul-mccartney-and-more/

Thee Sinseers’ bandleader and frontman Joey Quiñones’ new single “Driftin” is featured in Rolling Stone’s Songs You Need To Know! This track is from Joey’s new debut solo album “Inna Soul Steady Situation” out via Colemine Records.

If you were to ask Joey Quiñones where he found inspiration for his music, you wouldn’t have to look far from where the East L.A. son grew up. Listen to his work, and you’re transported to a two-block radius of his neighborhood—from the liquor store to Sign of Music record store on Whittier Boulevard and back to a homie’s house. In those two blocks, you hear cumbia blaring from the stores, punk rehearsals from a garage, oldies drifting from a neighbor’s yard—a sensory overload that follows you home, all those genres singing in your head at once.

This isn’t a revelation to longtime fans of Quiñones’ music. He has established himself as a premier interpreter of his generation, dedicating his career to offering his unique perspective on the Chicano soul songbook. But before Thee Sinseers, before the lush orchestrations and pitch-perfect harmonies that became his signature, Quiñones cut his teeth leading various backing bands for visiting Jamaican ska and dancehall acts touring Southern California. He describes those years as reggae college, getting yelled at by every Jamaican artist who had a record out. Those years of apprenticeship in rocksteady and roots reggae would inform everything that followed—and on his new solo record “Inna Soul Steady Situation,” Quiñones finally showcases those influences front and center.

Say hello to Pat Faherty’s new power trio Canyon Lights.  By Jim Beaugez

“If I could ever even get close to the feel or touch of that performance, I could die a happy man”: He’s inspired by Buddy Guy, played EVH in a Van Halen tribute band and made his name in GA-20 – say hello to Canyon Lights’ Pat Faherty.

Canyon Lights gives Faherty the opportunity to draw from all corners of his musical vocabulary but ask him what he wants as a player and he’ll tell you it’s all about Buddy Guy, 1970, and that touch and feel…

For Pat Faherty of Canyon Lights, starting at the source is the only way forward. When the former GA-20 frontman listens to the blues, more often than not it’s going to be originators like Hound Dog Taylor or T-Bone Walker.

And when he reaches for inspiration to create the riffs behind his new band’s rolling early ’70s rumble, he’s coming from the same place as guys like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

“All of those guitar players who started the concept of the guitar riff, they were learning comping before the style even existed,” Faherty says. “They were learning to back up the melody, not take over the melody with their guitar playing. I think what helps me for Canyon Lights is that the riffs come from the comping style of playing rhythm guitar.”

Faherty and drummer Tim Carman, his bandmate in GA-20 – a band that, incidentally, recorded an entire album of blues covers, 2021’s Try It… You Might Like It: GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor – formed Canyon Lights after jamming on riffs and song ideas that didn’t fit the more conventional blues of their previous band.

Modeled in the mold of power trios like the James Gang – whose Walk Away they covered and released earlier this year – and Cream, Canyon Lights paints with a much broader brush.

Breathe Easy, their debut album’s title cut, is rooted in a bluesy shuffle and accented with slide licks, but Faherty’s approach to vocals and harmonies carries the song deep into the disco decade. And the single-note picking in the intro to Song Behind Those Tears rings like a long-lost Byrds tune before he lays down the stomping main groove.

Faherty’s ability to move seamlessly from chunky riffing to slinky funk to ripping slide reveals his virtuosity. After all, he’s schooled in jazz and once took on the role of Eddie in a Van Halen cover band; he even posted YouTube tutorials on how to play some of the late guitar legend’s solos during Covid days.
https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/pat-faherty-canyon-lights-breathe-easy