Critics' Pick

Andy Friedman, the founder of the City Salvage Records label is also an accomplished folk interpreter in the style of Dave Van Ronk and Ry Cooder, albeit with a twist. His latest book, Future Blues, is a collection of off-the-cuff musings and Polaroids in which he reshapes lyrics from well-known American folk songs to serve as captions for the photographs. Live, Friedman offers eccentric commentary in front of projections of his visuals, and his "visual take on the blues" is garnering a good deal of critical acclaim.

--William Tyler