May 1, 2013
“I would give anything if I could sing like George Jones. If we could all sound like we wanted to, we’d sound like George Jones.” -Waylon Jennings Growing up in flyover country in the 70′s George Jones represented what I hated so much about country music, particularly with his wife at the time, Tammy Wynette. [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Apr 26, 2013
Look. It only took me eleven words to drop in my Exile On Main Street reference. Sorry Kurt Marschke, you ain’t never out running that one. The Deadstring Brothers front man and sole surviving member has had his music compared to the golden era of the glimmer twins for so long he probably thinks “Moves [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Apr 18, 2013
Writing this review is difficult for me, and not because my feelings about the album are ambiguous. I almost uniformly adore the record. The difficulty arises in attempting to write about the record. Because, despite my adoration of The Stand-In, I can’t really put my finger on the reason why. Every thought comes across as [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Mar 8, 2013
This was suppose to be an elegant review of the excellent new album from Caitlin Rose. Unfortunately, one of the Twangville posse (me) fell down on the job. So instead you get a video from the artist who caused me to lose all sense of time and place this week. Meet Holly Williams. more »
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Eli Petersen
Mar 5, 2013
Here is another entry in the recurring feature that demolishes the normal review protocol in favor of cheap jokes, extended digressions, and an occasional interesting thought or two. Duck Tape Saves Lives is inspired by long back and forth emails between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen. We only intend [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Feb 12, 2013
“because there’s no such thing as rock stars/ there’s just people who play music/ and some of them are just like us/ and some of them are dicks”- Frank Turner Just who is Frank Turner? This is the question that confronts the audience on a retrospective like Last Minutes and Lost Evenings. As applied [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Jan 2, 2013
1. Langhorne Slim- The Way We Move The #1 record of the year is traditionally an easy pick for me to make. This year was no exception. The Way We Move is Langhorne Slim’s definitive statement. The band rollicks from stumbling soul music to acoustic folk rock anthems and finally captures the insane energy of [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Nov 15, 2012
By: Chip Frazier OK. I am not afraid to admit that I get emotional. I cry like a girl in movies. (I apologize for any politically incorrect sexism. None was intended.) Music can have the same effect on me. Jason Isbell is one of the few musicians who has stopped me in my tracks and [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Nov 15, 2012
Ok Twangville readers, here is another entry in our recurring feature that switches up the normal review protocol. Inspired by frequent long email chains over the years between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen, Duct Tape Saves Live is more of a critical conversation than a formal review. Though to [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Nov 13, 2012
“Lonely as these days are long/ as dark as the night bird’s song/ strange way of living, let my heart cry/ I’m lonesome and too stoned to cry”- Andrew Combs, “Too Stoned to Cry” Every once in awhile a voice comes along that is stunning in its capacity to evoke the spirit of Americana. Andrew [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Oct 26, 2012
Ok Twangville readers, this will hopefully be a recurring feature that switches up our normal review protocol. It was inspired by frequent long email chains over the years between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen. Though to be fair, the conversation below is a bit cleaner and more serious than [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Oct 19, 2012
Mystic Pinball is an awesome name for a record. Just sayin’. Anyway, this is John Hiatt’s third album in as many years following The Open Road (2010) and Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns (2011). But since those records found Hiatt in late career resurgence, it’s not that surprising that the 2012 edition of Mr. Hiatt [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Oct 18, 2012
“you’re a two pack habit with a southern accent/ I’m a pearl snap poet with bad tattoos”- BJ Barham Burn. Flickr. Die. opens up with a gnarly southern blues guitar tone ringing out over a persistent rhythm section. Frontman BJ Barham’s first lines are “I was born in the valley of the Cape Fear River, [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Sep 13, 2012
Leeroy Stagger is a Twangville artist. What makes an musician a Twangville artist you may ask? In my mind, it’s an artist we here at Twangville think (a) is awesome and (b) should be appreciated by a greater number of people. Stagger is perhaps the epitome of such an artist. A Canadian singer songwriter who [...] more »
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Eli Petersen
Aug 28, 2012
The Dreamer may be my favorite Rhett Miller solo record since his solo “debut” The Instigator. Released back in 2002, The Instigator was produced by Jon Brion and received a fair bit of critical acclaim and even some radio play. It’s still one of my favorite records to spin for those uninitiated to the cult [...] more »
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Eli Petersen