I dunno, can we really have too much Dolly here at Twangville? And what better way to start the week than with “9 to 5.” Here’s Parton at the Grand Ole Opry in 2019.
Now & Then: Kaitlin Butts’s Hello, Honky Tonk and the reach of Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’
Country music has spent decades documenting what happens when men go drinking. Kaitlin Butts gives the women more say in how the evening unfolds. On Hello, Honky Tonk, a good time can mean freedom, though heartache still gets through the door. An illuminating predecessor is Loretta Lynn’s Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind): country music with a woman firmly in charge of the conversation.
Readers’ Pick: Kaitlin Butts – Hello, Honky Tonk
You picked Kaitlin Butts – Hello, Honky Tonk as your favorite new release for the week of October 30, 2026.
Marc Silver – The Dark Of Our Hymn
After 20+ years of writing about music, I thought I’d heard everything with respect to the theme and inspiration for a new album. But when I got the write-up for Philadelphian Marc Silver’s 9th album, The Dark Of Our Hymn, and the lede was his exploration of mortality, that got my curiosity up. Turns out […]
Brand New Heartache on Wavy Gravy and Their “Parental Escape Pod”
Eleese and Matthew Meschery of Brand New Heartache talk about the show posters hanging in their rehearsal space and the animal puppets that ride alongside guitar cables in their minivan. They also reveal why they strategically play shows near family and friends.
Monday Morning Video: Our Fall Finale at Groove NYC
We’re closing out the 2026 Twangville Fall Showcase Series on Saturday, November 14th in NYC with a high-proof dose of grit, melody, and conviction. Matt Woods, Mic Harrison, and Carissa Johnson — solo, no chaser. Two of them come out of East Tennessee, and the third came up in Boston’s punk scene. None of them […]
Now & Then: Josh Rouse’s Museums and Women and the reach of Paul Simon
Josh Rouse has long understood how much a conversational voice can carry. His songs make room for complicated feelings without demanding a dramatic delivery. On Museums and Women, this approach suits a collection concerned with passing encounters and the search for connection. A useful predecessor is Paul Simon’s self-titled 1972 album, where intimate songwriting became more rhythmically adventurous without losing its everyday scale. The connection is a shared approach, rather than a claim of direct influence.
Readers’ Pick: Josh Rouse – Museums and Women
You picked Josh Rouse – Museums and Women as your favorite new release for the week of October 23, 2026.
Miko Marks – Hell Or High Water
Life is a journey, without a doubt. For Flint, Michigan, born-and-raised Miko Marks, the musical part of her journey started as a child. Raised by her mother and grandmother in a community evolved out of the migration of Black farmworkers from the south to the factory jobs in the north, Marks listened and was a […]
Pug Johnson – From A Beaumont Bar
There comes a point in most of our lives, definitely beyond our twenties, when something causes us to take stock of life-to-date. For some of us, past failures are the motivation to do better. For others, those failures are just an omen of things to come. For the remainder, hindsight is just an observation of […]