Winter’s just around the corner, so let’s get you in the mood with this one: Wilco at the Snow Job Festival, Marble Mountain Ski Resort in Newfoundland, March 18, 1997 — outdoors, in the dead of winter, surrounded by snowy mountains. None of it slowed the band down. Being There had come out five months […]
Twangville Presents: Joelton Mayfield and Ben de la Cour
In January 1961, a 19-year-old Bob Dylan made his first New York City appearance at Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street. That same year, he turned up in Cambridge at Club 47 — now Club Passim — and talked his way onto the stage between another act’s sets. Both rooms are still standing, still booking songwriters. […]
“Sweet Song” – a Premiere from Leah Tash
From the very first bar, Leah Tash’s “Sweet Song” brings the kind of charm that’s impossible to ignore. A bright, plinky piano sets the backdrop, but it’s the infectious, happy-go-lucky melody that immediately hooks you in. It takes a special talent to balance classic country influences without sounding dated. Tash drew inspiration for her new […]
Twangville x Dial Back Sound: Live in Boston & NYC
While not often discussed, the choice of recording studio has a profound impact on a record. Great music rarely comes from sterile, assembly-line spaces—it comes from studios with character and warmth, filled with vintage gear and musical mojo in the walls. That mindset is at the heart of Dial Back Sound, located in the quiet […]
Monday Morning Video – Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin’s “Top of the World” is a deathbed reckoning — a life examined right at the end, loss and regret laid out plain. Here it’s just her acoustic guitar and voice, with a subtle electric guitar underneath adding to the song’s melancholy and beauty. If anything, the sparse arrangement makes the regret harder to […]
Twangville On The Road: The Fall Showcase Series
We’re taking Twangville on the road this fall — and you’re invited! We’re thrilled to unveil our Fall Showcase Series: seven distinct nights of live music across three states. We’ve put together an exceptional lineup of songwriters, roots revivalists, and road-tested troubadours, from folk to rock ’n’ roll and plenty in between. From a cozy […]
Monday Morning Video – The Northern Belle
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 […]
“Don’t Fence Me In” – a Premiere from Sanford
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
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 […]
Monday Morning Video – Otis Redding
Few performers could captivate a crowd like Otis Redding. It’s been a minute since we paid tribute to one of the masters of the craft, so this week’s Monday Morning Video goes back to a legendary performance from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, captured just months before Redding died in a plane crash. If nothing […]