Twangville was in the house when the Punch Brothers played a short set at CMT Studios during the Americana Music Conference this past September. A pretty darned impressive performance. more »

by Mayer Danzig

As we wrap up our 2012 AMA coverage, here is a playlist highlighting some of the official showcases. We kick things off with a special treat — Richard Thompson telling an amusing story about Robert Plant. We move quickly into the tunes with Hayes Carll, Jason Isbell and Patterson Hood paying tribute to Levon Helm [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

One of my favorite things about attending music conferences and festivals is the crazy comments that you hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. I’m always impressed, and so is my accountant, when someone is able to translate my music. Richard Thompson on other artists covering his songs. He wrote a song [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

As part of our re-cap of the 2012 Americana Music Conference and Festival, here are some highlights from the Americana Awards show. We bookend our collection with the all-star version of “The Weight,” a tribute to Levon Helm. We open with Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Richard Thompson, Brittany Howard and others rehearsing “The Weight” for [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members and artists together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. Songs of Big Star As soon as Richard Thompson finished his official showcase, [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members and artists together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. Richard Thompson Any AMA report has to start and end with Richard Thompson. [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members and artists together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. The Americana Music Awards Any discussion of the AMA Conference has to start [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

In addition to the awards ceremony, the AMA puts on a pretty hot music festival for the 3 days following the ceremony.  It’s a great chance to see some old favorites and hear some up & coming artists.  Grouped by the “how” I heard them versus the “where” or “when” here are some of the [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

The yearly AMA awards kicked off with a bang in the delightful Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last week.  The house band, Buddy Miller, Don Was, Larry Campbell, Brady Blade and Rami Jaffe, was joined by Booker T. Jones, who later took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for instrumentalist, on organ and Richard Thompson, Darrell Scott, [...] more »

by Shawn Underwood

One of my favorite things about attending music conferences and festivals is the crazy things that you hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. I know that it is time to get back on the road when I run out of those little shampoos. Road Manager Phil Kaufman I don’t get Twitter. [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

MUSCLE SHOALS TRIBUTE SHOW Detroit may have by Motown and the Funk Brothers, but Alabama had Muscle Shoals. Side-stepping which was the better musical factory, it is impossible to ignore the impact that Muscle Shoals has had on American music. This performance provided irrefutable evidence to the greatness of this legacy. The set was loose [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

The hands-down highlight of the Conference was the annual Americana Music Awards. In this instance, the words for such a magical evening are hard to come by. Set aside any the speeches and performances, the event was held in the legendary Ryman Auditorium. Originally built for religious revivalist meetings, it achieved great fame as the [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

This year, Twangville made it’s first trek to Nashville for the annual Americana Music Conference and the 10th Annual Americana Music Awards. Over the next week I’ll be highlighting some the moments, musical and otherwise, from this year’s event. WHAT’S IN A NAME? The running joke all week was how to define Americana. The context [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig