Jun 3, 2010
I stumbled upon a great show the other night in Winston-Salem, and by stumble, I mean I had to be there to play myself. My band was playing the late show at the Garage, and the early show was a couple of banjo/fiddle players that had composed the soundtrack for the film Cold Mountain. I [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Apr 22, 2010
He’s been driving around this country for 15 years making this shit up as he goes along and playing it for anyone that will listen. Some people say his stuff is a bit opinionated, and while this may be true, he does not sing anything to try to change your mind, but rather to ease [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Mar 31, 2010
While we here at Twangville mostly focus on the country/alt-country/hillbilly side of things, some of us have a soft spot for metal…gay metal. And there is no better gay metal band than South Carolina’s own Confederate Fagg. This past weekend, the boys got together to play a rally organized by City of Columbia mayoral candidate [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Mar 2, 2010
Let’s flash back to 1996…or 1997. I’m in college at the time, and on this particular night at a small club in Columbia, South Carolina named the Elbow Room checking out the Drag from Myrtle Beach. They put on a pretty good show but weren’t quite as grand as I had hoped. (Not the Southern [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Dec 18, 2009
With the end of another calendar year, comes the “Best Of Lists” galore from everyone from Oprah to Obama encompassing books, food, music, and who knows what else. So, since I have a space here on Twangville, I figured I’d throw my 2 cents worth in on the music side. I’m going second because I [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Dec 3, 2009
I have been trying and trying to listen to some new releases lately, but my 3 year old daughter insists that we listen to Christmas music. About 3 weeks ago I checked out an Ella Jenkins disc of holiday tunes for her from ye ole public library, and that has not left my car speakers [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Nov 19, 2009
Like many from my generation, (I’m guessing) I first learned of the Louvin Brothers after hearing Uncle Tupelo’s cover of “Atomic Power.” It was a great song that immediately caught my attention and made me want to hear the original. So, I tracked it down and found out it was an old-timey tune from the [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Nov 6, 2009
Lissie’s persistant publicist (say that 3 times fast) recently pursued me to check out the artist’s new 5 song EP, which is being released on Fat Possum Records November 10th. After doing so, what I found was a mellow recording bringing to mind possibly something from Tift Merritt or Emmylou. I wasn’t instantly struck by [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Sep 6, 2009
The Fine Print is an unreleased (until now) collection of Drive-By Truckers tunes recorded over the last few years and mostly culled from the Dirty South era. While it is not as strong as that record, or Decoration Day, I’m guessing the die hard Trucker fan will snatch up these “b-sides” and cover tunes. For [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Jul 30, 2009
John Moreland and the Black Gold Band’s website states the following: We’re from Okalahoma. We’re loud as hell. We don’t give two shits. That may sum up the band when in full force, and it may sum up their 2008 album Endless Okalahoma Sky, but it doesn’t really capture the feeling of Rob’s [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Jul 9, 2009
I got a copy of the new Slaid Cleaves for review and the first thing I said to myself was, “Self, you’ve heard of Slaid Cleaves but I don’t think you’ve ever listened to him. Or if you have, you didn’t know it was him at the time.” I have deep thoughts like that sometimes. [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Jun 26, 2009
Pete Yorn/Back & Fourth I’m a pretty big Pete Yorn fan and was stoked when I was browsing around I-Tunes and saw the pre-order of his new album Back & Fourth a month or so ago. I didn’t pre-order, but did buy the album the day it came out, June 16th, burned a copy [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
Jun 5, 2009
My run in with Todd Snider probably happened around the mid-nineties when his comedy tune “Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” lit up radio stations throughout the country. It was a funny song for the times and I just assumed Todd was some kind of Weird Al parody guy that had scored a cute little radio [...] more »
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Todd Mathis
May 26, 2009
I went back and listened to all of my Cracker albums before writing this review. They’re a good band. A fun band. And they definitely put on a good live show. (Well, I actually haven’t seen them in about 10 years, but I saw them 3 or 4 times when I was in college.) Turn [...] more »
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Todd Mathis