With 65 of 300 total votes Twangville readers picked Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit‘s “Here We Rest” as their favorite album of 2011. Rounding out the top five were albums from Matthew Ryan, The Decemberists, Ryan Adams, and Gillian Welch. Congratulations to all the nominees which were based on our monthly Readers’ Pick poll. [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: AUGUST 2011 Twangville readers picked Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns by the John Hiatt as their favorite album of July 2011. Two things ring true about John Hiatt’s 20th solo album, Dirty Jeans And Mudslide Hymns… 1) he makes a less than perfect world lovable and 2) he’s still a badass – no [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: JULY 2011 Twangville readers picked Indigo Dreams by the BoDeans as their favorite album of July 2011. If you’ve never heard the 90s hit wonder “Closer To Free” you must be living on Mars or a country awfully close to the red planet. Featured as the theme song to Fox’s hit show “Party [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: JUNE 2011 Twangville readers picked Gillian Welch‘s The Harrow & The Harvest as their favorite album of June 2011. A harrow is a heavy, machine-size rake that drags over plowed land to remove weeds and break up lumps of earth and clay. There’s no doubt careful thought was put into the title of [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: MAY 2011 Twangville readers picked My Morning Jacket‘s Circuital as their favorite album of May 2011. If there’s anyone out there redefining classic rock it’s Jim James and My Morning Jacket. Circuital the band’s sixth LP takes me back to 70′s era Pink Floyd where sound was used to paint vivid pictures of [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: APRIL 2011 Twangville readers picked Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit‘s Here We Rest as their favorite album of April 2011. His third album since parting ways with the Drive-by Truckers and second with band The 400 Unit. The album title, Here We Rest, takes it’s name from the original Alabama state motto [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: MARCH 2011 Twangville readers recently picked Lucinda Williams Blessed as their favorite album of March 2011. It seems like each time Williams releases a new album critics call it the best since Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. I guess that’s the consequence of having a Grammy-winning album. While comparisons will forever be [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: FEBRUARY 2011 Twangville readers recently picked The Wailin’ Jennys Bright Morning Stars as their favorite album of February 2011. Jazz vocalist Heather Masse joins Ruth Moody and Nicky Meht as the third Jenny in their first studio album in 5 years. Each contributed 4 songs each for a total of 12 original songs [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: JANUARY 2011 Twangville readers recently picked The Decemberists‘ The King is Dead as their favorite album of January 2011. To record album number six The Decemberists shacked up in a remote barn outside of their Portland, OR base. For this release, the band shied away from their common concept album format to do [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

READERS PICK: DECEMBER 2010 Twangville readers recognized Scott Miller’s “Christmas Gift” as their favorite holiday album of 2010 which also makes it our Readers’ pick for the month of December. When Miller was asked about it he plainly said “Why a Christmas record? Because I like Christmas, that’s why.” That seems like a good enough [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

Twangville readers rallied to give Paul Thorn‘s ‘Pimps and Preachers’ an overwhelming victory for album of the year. An interesting fact about the album is that Thorn himself painted the album cover. He painted the preacher to be his father and the pimp to be his uncle. You don’t have to look much further to [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

Your picks are in! There were some surprises and several picks that you’ll see repeated among the Twangville Editors’ Picks of 2009. The votes started diminishing after the Top 10 so we’ve capped it at that. Well, technically 11 due to a tie at number 10. The initial list of candidates was chosen from our [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

All these records came out this year and have been piling up on my digital nightstand.  They’re all good too.  Enjoy the downloads, graciously provided by the artists/labels involved. Zach Seibert & the Red Wagon An Americana dream of atmospheric folk and country inspired rock and roll, Learning to Drown is Zach Seibert’s first real [...] more »

by Eli Petersen

Twangville readers picked ’1372 Overton Park’ by Lucero as their favorite release for week of October 7, 2009. There’s one thing that makes ’1372 Overton Park’, the latest from Memphis-based Lucero, a little more special than their previous 5 studio albums. Horns… horns are what take this their major label debut to new heights. Not [...] more »

by Tom Osborne

Twangville readers picked ‘I and Love and You’ by The Avett Brothers as their favorite release for week of September 29, 2009. After five full-length albums and two EPs on Ramseur Records the Avett Brothers have decided to go BIG with their latest release ‘I and Love and You’. What do you do when you [...] more »

by Tom Osborne