Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

Monday Morning Video – The Northern Belle

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It’s been two years since Oslo’s The Northern Belle put out an album — 2024’s Bats in the Attic — and the follow-up, Even Cowgirls Get Sad, arrives August 21. For this latest release, Andreassen brought together some talented friends from across the Norwegian Americana community. The music is easy-going, anchored by the crystalline voice […]

Now & Then: The Jayhawks’ Sanctuary Park and the reach of Buffalo Springfield Again

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The Jayhawks have spent much of their career balancing country songwriting with a rock-band approach, and Sanctuary Park continues that tradition. That makes Buffalo Springfield Again a useful predecessor. The 1967 album mixed country instrumentation, folk-rooted harmonies and electric rock without treating those elements as separate styles. The Jayhawks work from a similar foundation, but with the benefit of decades spent refining their own version of it.

Monte Warden & the Wagoneers – Doghouse Flowers

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Back in the day, before streaming or downloading, many people (most, perhaps) discovered new music by browsing record stores. While fine for artists that were easily categorized, that presented a problem for groups that were mashing together genres and trying to create a new sound. Austin was one epicenter of that creative experimentation, and one […]

Drivin N Cryin: Still Writing the Story

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Several days after speaking with Kevn Kinney, I watched a storm roll across the mesas outside Taos, New Mexico. Purple lightning split the sky, eventually forcing Drivin N Cryin’s scheduled outdoor performance indoors. The band adjusted. Instead of the full-throttle rock show one might expect from a group that has spent nearly four decades making […]

“Don’t Fence Me In” – a Premiere from Sanford

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Brooklyn by way of South Carolina, Jay Sanford follows January’s Big Tent Revival with an old-school two-sided (digital) single. The A-side, “Don’t Fence Me In,” takes a honky-tonk two-step and runs it through a rock engine — same dance-floor bones, more muscle. Sanford lays out the thesis in the chorus: “I do some honky-tonkin’ but […]

Monday Morning Video – Dolly Parton

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Plenty has already been written about Dolly Parton, and the stories and praise will continue to flow. All are glorious tributes to an artist whose impact spanned generations and will continue to do so across those that follow. Twangville Shawn already shared his memories of Dolly. Here’s one of mine — a night at SXSW […]

Now & Then: Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Reel 2 Reel 4 Real and the reach of Naturally

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Ray Wylie Hubbard has long worked in the overlap between country, blues and rock, usually with more interest in feel than polish. Reel 2 Reel 4 Real continues that approach with a rawer, more garage-minded sound. J.J. Cale’s 1971 debut Naturally makes a useful comparison because it established an earlier model for roots music built around groove, restraint and an unmistakable guitar style.