ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Vic Chesnutt, the folk-rocker whose sometimes dark reflections on life were influenced in part by a car wreck that left him paralyzed, has died. He was 45.

Family friend Christina Stuckey, who answered the phone at Chesnutt's home, confirmed the death to The Associated Press. Chesnutt's record label, Constellation Records, said in a statement on its Web site that Chesnutt died on Christmas

The first in a new series compiling and celebrating the work of Bill Frisell is an easy thing to review. Two words will sum up anything the exemplary guitarist has turned his hand to: 'very good'. But when it comes to his explorations in Americana as on this collection, it's very very good. If you don't already own most of these tracks, beware. Because when you do hear them you'll have to go out and buy all the parent albums that they're culled

As the CD compilation market grows tinier and more fractured, the annual collection that accompanies the annual BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards becomes more indispensable. Like the Rough Trade Counter Culture CD which brings together the best in indie, this 24-track gathering of all the nominees is the one-stop shop for the folk uninitiated and a perfect round-up for the aficionado.

Compiled by the show's Executive Producer, John Leonard,

A revered singer/songwriter for over four decades, James Taylor has certainly earned the right to try his hand at a whole album of other peoples' songs. The most surprising thing about Covers is how familiar most of the material is. And while not all of it is obviously – ahem – tailored to this artist, or really needs (re)covering, Taylor's singing and the accompaniment are top notch.

His Band Of Legends are slick without

On March 24th, Capitol Records will release The Decemberists' The Hazards Of Love, the follow-up to the group's 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife, which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year.

With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album

NEW YORK (AP) — She's got a friend. James Taylor said he will give a California woman a brand new music player loaded with his songs to replace the one she said she had to give up to a taxi driver when her credit card was declined after a trip to the airport last month.

Natalie Lenhart, 20, said officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport made her give the $140 iPod nano to the driver as payment for the $49 ride from Manhattan on Dec. 8. The driver said he'd return

Coming from a lineage of 'icy' (read: an easy label for any female voice that's both pure and hails from somewhere near the Arctic Circle) singers such as Sidsel Endreson or Stina Nordenstam, Norwegian Susanna Wallumrod's timbre and range are naturally given to investing anything she sings with pathos and aching longing. Flower Of Evil, a collection of cover versions (with two originals) has this in spades.

As with her Magical Orchestra's