The Holmes Brothers

The next time you hear someone mention "the NPR set" and the Holmes Brothers in the same breath, reach for your piece — or just reach for the band's latest album, State of Grace. Drawing from songwriters such as Hank Williams, Nick Lowe and Lyle Lovett, Sherman and Wendell Holmes, along with drummer Popsy Dixon, refract impeccable songs through their own personal vision of gospel and blues. Part street-corner serenade, part elegiac Americana, the NYC trio's sound is unshielded and revelatory, their harmonies more righteous than right, their rhythms funkier than the gasoline drawers they sing about. So if the Grammy-buying classes are digging Wendell's skronked-out lead guitar and Popsy's cracking falsetto, that just means more soul power to 'em.