We’re gonna go a bit old school this week. Here is Paul Westerberg performing two gems from the Replacements’ catalog: “Achin’ to Be” and “Skyway.” As Westerberg says in his introduction, “I’m gonna play some tunes for you that I know pretty good and some old ones that I’ve forgotten completely.” more »

by Mayer Danzig

Tommy Stinson made his reputation and makes his living as a bass player, with the Replacements and Guns and Roses, respectively. Put a guitar in his hands, however, and you get some brilliant rock songs. Here are two live performances featuring songs from One Man Mutiny, his latest release. more »

by Mayer Danzig

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Old Mad Joy, by The Gourds The Gourds latest is a bit deceiving. The band has built a reputation as a bluegrass and backporch country band, but things aren’t always what they seem. The album open as one would expect. “I Want You So Bad” is built around an accordion and [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

Twangville is pleased to launch a new periodic series that we call “You Pick It.” Here’s how it works. We’ll serve up videos of multiple artists covering a single song and ask you to pick the definitive version. We’ll kick things off with one of my all-time favorites, The Replacements “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Replacements singer-songwriter [...] more »

by Mayer Danzig

I don’t think it would be overstating the case too much to say that when the news of Alex Chilton’s death broke on the first day of SXSW, so too did the collective heart of a sizable percentage of SXSW attendees break. I got the news via text message during the second showcase of the [...] more »

by John Anderson

Friday night followed my unintentional afternoon trend of mixing old favorites with new sounds. My preference at South-by is to see almost entirely new-to-me bands, especially during official showcases, but there were just too many favorites to stick to my guns on a day like this. Sue me. In that respect, Friday night truly provided [...] more »

by John Anderson

SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Night Highlight: The Playing Favorites My third showcase of the night on Wednesday was when I struck gold for the first time “officially” this year, and I knew it almost as soon as the Playing Favorites began their set. The Playing Favorites are a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of [...] more »

by John Anderson