I’m from northern California where “layering” your clothing is a mantra more than a conscious thought. Sure came in handy this year for Old Settler’s Music Festival in Driftwood (Austin), Texas, where there was driving rain, freezing cold (at least it felt that way), and warm, late-spring sunshine. Oh, and lots of good music, which [...] more »

Wed, Apr 23, 2008 | 1 Comment

It was only weeks ago that I added Sean Costello to my ‘Best of Winter ‘08′ playlist. His blues-rock record ‘We Can Get Together’ (released in February of this year) is remarkable and truly sits near (if not at) the top of the list in its genre so far this year. Today we learned the [...] more »

Wed, Apr 16, 2008 | 1 Comment

WIDESPREAD PANIC, Free Somehow Official Site | MySpace | Stream | MP3* | MP3** It seems like Athens-based Widespread Panic has been playing music forever (if you consider 20 years as being close to ‘forever’). Averaging a new record every two years, 2008 brings us their tenth studio album titled ‘Free Somehow’. This is another [...] more »

Mon, Feb 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: The Scene of the Crime, by Bettye Lavette Detroit’s Bettye LaVette wastes no time in making a statement on her latest release. “I’ve been this way too long to change now,” she declares with a voice that leaves no room for negotiation, “you’re going to have to take me like I [...] more »

Sun, Dec 30, 2007 | 0 Comments

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: The Cake Sale, by The Cake Sale When Brian Crosby and Paul Noonan of Ireland’s Bell X1 were inspired to create a benefit album for Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign, they formed the collective known as The Cake Sale. Friends ranging from Nick Seymour (Crowded House) and Nina Persson (The Cardigans) [...] more »

Fri, Dec 28, 2007 | 0 Comments

Roman Carter, “Never Slow Down (Full CD) [MySpace] In a year that graced us with a new album from Bettye Lavette, now we get Roman Carter of the famed Carter Brothers (Albert, Jerry, Roman) bringing us some funked up blues. The album is a collaboration with LA producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith, R.L. Burnside). [...] more »

Tue, Nov 06, 2007 | 0 Comments

I had forgotten how good George Thorogood and the Destroyers are. The commercial success of the song “Bad to the Bone” and several of the songs on the album of the same name numbed my perspective of their talent. We’ve heard songs like “Bad to the Bone”, “Nobody But Me” and “No Particular Place [...] more »

Tue, Aug 14, 2007 | 0 Comments

“Stop the bus and turn the radio up high!” wails Grace Potter on the second track of the band’s third full length album titled This is Somewhere. This is exactly what you’ll want to do when you hear this song playing in whatever your version of a bus is. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals hail [...] more »

Thu, Jul 26, 2007 | 0 Comments

I recently took advantage of a chance to see Grace Potter & The Nocturnals on tour in the DC area (5/19/07). I’ve mentioned before that they were one of my favorite shows at SXSW back in March. As expected they put on an amazing show. Here’s some photos I took with my new Nikon digital [...] more »

Sun, Jun 03, 2007 | 0 Comments

One of the perks of being involved with Twangville is that some really great artists send me music to sample. The unfortunate thing is that more often than not, much of what is sent to me never sees the light of day. I’ve been burdening myself with the idea that I have to do an [...] more »

Mon, Apr 23, 2007 | 1 Comment

The Wood Brothers released their first official album recently. Until now all that had been available were bootlegs of live shows that were only attainable through generous friends. Their new album is titled “Ways Not To Lose” and was released by Blue Note records, the same label that has claim over bassist Chris [...] more »

Mon, Mar 27, 2006 | 4 Comments

I’ve been waiting for Jackie Greene’s next release since I first heard Verve’s re-release of Sweet Somewhere Bound. I’m happy to say American Myth is here and it is fantastic. This is the fourth album for Sacramento-based Greene. Many early critics labeled him a blues artist after seeing some of his live acts. He pleases those [...] more »

Tue, Mar 14, 2006 | 2 Comments

I started picking through some of the posted songs for the upcoming SXSW festival. As always (or at least since Mayer introduced me to the festival), I start with some of the smaller genres like Blues and Bluegrass and then make my way over to Alt Country, Singer-songwriters and Rock. Last year my Blues pick [...] more »

Fri, Feb 24, 2006 | 1 Comment

With another year behind us, we at Twangville poured through our cd players and iPods to pick our favorites of 2005. Over the next week I’ll be highlighting my favorite albums and songs from 2005, culminating with a preview of some highly anticipated 2006 releases. 14. Den of Thieves , The Trews [...] more »

Tue, Jan 03, 2006 | 7 Comments

Don’t miss this opportunity to see the best of John Mayer’s new band. Listen to archived version of the 11/23/05 Bowery Ballroom performance. — Source: AOL Music Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a stream of the full concert, but you can listen to it song by song (and of course experience the advertising overkill). more »

Mon, Nov 28, 2005 | 0 Comments