It already seems as though they've been around for eternity, but the self-titled debut album of Greensboro indie-boppers Jonas Sees in Color (www.myspace.com/jonasseesincolor) hits shelves on Sept.

Things get really interesting with "Friends & Lovers," a faintly countryfolk-inflected track driven by Schwartz's longing falsetto that stands out as one of the strongest songs on the album and the shadowy contrast found there is carried forward by the hard bass walk of "Annie Oakley."

They might come from rather rag-tag, humble musical beginnings, but the Midtown Dickens (www.myspace.com/midtowndickens) have traipsed along to turn out a uniquely personable hybrid of old-time, anti-folk and naturalismo that is built upon their charismatic exploration of the everyday and ordinary.

The 2007 additions of Chris Frame (Son Volt) on guitar and Jen Gunderman (the Jayhawks) on keyboards was a boon to Nashville alt-rockers the Coal Men (www.thecoalmen.

The only allusion to Nichols' battle against alcohol abuse is the album's somber finale "An Old Friend of Mine," which is also the album's only vaguely likeable piece. "Today I did something I never thought I'd do," Nichols says as he remembers fondly the substance that sent him to rehab in the first place.

With every new release, Possum Jenkins has further entrenched themselves as one of the more diverse Americana acts around. Can they do sad songs? Of course. How about happy ones? Check. Can they all sing and play multiple instruments? Yes to that also.

With a heavy dose of reverb and an affinity for schmaltzy greaser and trailer-punk folklore, the Tremors (www.myspace.com/thetremors) newest release Demon Boogie Fever is about as true to form as one could hope from a nuts-and-bolts rockabilly cut.

They've dropped the mandolin that helped to define their sound for the initial years of their existence in exchange for a more amplified presence, but their penchant for vehement picking runs remains. It's the gospel-laden, mid-tempo cuts where Looks Like Snow.

The one thing that separates North Elementary (www. northelemntary.com) from the others in the upper-echelon of contemporary Chapel Hill pop is their predilection towards lyricism of the more abstract variety; their verbiage is so charmingly circuitous that interpretation depends largely on extenuating factors on the part of the listener, i.

While it seems like it has all the makings of a supergroup on paper, the final result iss a rather inconsistent mishmash of jam-scene clich%u9CE0and complacent noodling glossed over with pretty, but distracting, imagery Most of the songs show potential...

Ever just want to hit the reset button on your life and go off the grid? Grant Peeples (www.grantpeeples.com) did just that when he dropped everything and moved to a remote island off the coast of Nicaragua in 1995. Needless to say, things had changed stateside when he returned 10 years later and his new album Pawnshop.

One might gloss over the name Terry Eckard Band (www. theterryeckardband.com) and assume it to be just another beer-soaked cover band riding the weekend bar circuit, but that couldnt be further from the truth. Steeped in the kind of Southern roots-boogie that was presumed to be lost with the end of the Molly Hatchet and .

Being planted on a barstool in a coffee house corner is no longer a mandate for laidback folk singer John Adams, better known as Goose (www.myspace.com/johngoose); hes gone electric with the addition of a four-piece backing band and the first album with his new cohort can often be described as just that.

With their second album, Wilmingtons Woodwork Roadshow (www. woodworkroadshow.com) stakes its claim to be the summer soundtrack of many a frat house, barbecue and beach trip. With its mix of old country and newgrass arrangements, In Bricks, In Bones is two parts Railroad Earth and one part Of a Revolution with a splash of Under the Table and Dreaming.

Longtime sideman Jimmy Herring has always seemed perfectly content to stand unceremoniously in the background of whatever phenomenal band for which hes manned lead guitar.

After years heading up the Patrick Rock Band, the first solo effort from Greensboro songwriter Patrick Rock (www.myspace.com/ patrickrockmusic) arrives with a few provisions. For the first time in his career, hes relinquished total creative control for When All Else Fails.

If this music thing doesnt work out, then Chapel Hills Nathan White can always fall back on the degree in dentistry hell have shortly. Then again, as soon as he gets tired of yanking teeth and scrubbing plaque, he can carry on making thoughtful, diverse records as leader of the rotating collective known as Nathan Oliver (www.

Its just as much the interesting characters as it is the locale that gives a town its personality, but it oftentimes takes a folk singer to break them loose from casual anonymity. Greensboro singer and poet Bruce Piephoff (www.brucepiephoff.com) does just that for the cast of his new album Clockwork,.

Theres a time-tested song formula in pop-country than begins with a cool, collected everyman laying down the troubles of the day and how theyve led him into any number of self-destructive habits.

Theres a very fine line to walk as a musician of the altcountry variety. In a sense, the goal is to espouse the same values and themes that the great musicians from the time before the term alt-country was a necessary differentiator did with their music.