In the middle of April, a few weeks after the madness of SXSW, one of the more under appreciated events on the Austin music scene happens about 30 miles southwest of town; The Old Settler’s Music Festival.  Here are some of the highlights from this year’s festivities. Who Was That Band? Festivals like this always [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

My first listen to the latest release from Sons Of Fathers, Burning Days, and I was tempted to just label it sophomore slump and be done with it.  I so liked their first release, though, that I had to go back and listen again and I realized it was my pre-conceived notions at fault and [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

What is it in the current music industry that allows undeserving bands to become icons? Why is it that so many other bands that deserve to be icons do not get the notoriety they deserve? Why aren’t the Stone Foxes playing in large arenas in front of Lighter flames and screaming fans? They should be! [...] more »

by Chip Frazier

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH In the Dusk of Everything, by Matthew Ryan There are many artists who are ambitious. Some pursue the thrill of live performances, others strive for financial success. While I can’t say that Matthew Ryan doesn’t harbor some of those motivations, he possesses a more powerful quality – ambition for his music. [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

Sometimes gaining momentum is better than a sprint. Greg Summerlin has passionately pursued his craft for years. As a solo artist his songs have been used in numerous TV shows. He has even owned his own record label. His new band, La Resistance, is an ambitious undertaking evocative of bands like Joy Division and Echo [...] more »

by Chip Frazier

“You can’t judge a book by its cover” is such a well known saying that it’s become cliche.  But I was reminded of it listening to the lastest release from Jim Hanft, entitled Weddings Or Funerals.  The album starts off with Kerosene, that with it’s guitar and soft snare sound immediately made me think of [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

North Carolina’s American Aquarium has certainly made the most of their tenacious touring and effective self-promotion over the past few years. With their last two studio albums, Dances for the Lonely and Small Town Hymns possessing an irresistibly comfortable blend of country and rock, and the band’s live shows having gained a reputation for being [...] more »

by Kelly Dearmore

There’s something unexplainably exhilarating about a rapid and dramatic change in temperature.  In Russia and Scandinavia they go from a hot sauna to a leap into freezing cold water.  Where I grew up in the Midwest, we’d go from a hot, sweaty mosh pit in a club with ear-ringing decibels to the subzero outdoor environs [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

Craig Finn has always had a reputation as an accomplished lyricist. In fact, he is as much of a poet as he is a Rock and Roll musician. His lyrics invoke an emotional connection that is evident as the crowd sings along at Hold Steady gigs. After all, this is the man who weaved the [...] more »

by Chip Frazier

I posted a best songs list for the first half of 2011 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this the addendum — the best songs from the second half of the year. When My Time Comes, Barnstar! (from the self-released C’Mon!) I somehow missed this song [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

  Mason Jennings’ latest effort, Minnesota, is a lyrical romp with Jennings’ characteristic musical hooks that teeter on the edge of sappy but that work for him.  Every song on Minnesota is worth the listen.  The multi-instrumental Jennings opens with the subdued piano-based ballad “Bitter Heart” followed immediately with “Raindrops on the Kitchen Floor,” a [...] more »

by Bill Wilcox

Chicago-based four-piece Maps & Atlases aren’t a math-rock band. O.K., good, we’ve got that out of the way now. Sure, there are some rather math-y elements to the band’s indie-folk informed sound, but not to the extent where those intricacies define their overall sonic contributions in the way that many would have one believe. While [...] more »

by Kelly Dearmore

By now, surely it’s no secret that country and punk go together about as good as peanut butter and chocolate. And typically, when these two classic American forms of music are welded together, the result seems to resemble a harder, thrashing product. Of course, the overall ethos attached to artists that practice either style in [...] more »

by Kelly Dearmore

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

As the old Monty Python line goes, “and now for something completely different.”  A few weeks ago I happened to catch Suzanna Choffel at Old Settlers Music Festival.  She was playing to an Austin crowd that knew her and my notes say something to the effect of “country meets jazz”.  Fast forward to last week [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood