One of my favorite things about SXSW (well, after the music) are the crazy comments that you hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections from SXSW 2022. I’m not gonna say it’s good to be back. We know that shit. John Doe We got booked for SXSW and we were so excited. […]
SXSW 2022 – The Sounds, Part 2
ALLISON RUSSELL Seeing Allison Russell was a transcendental experience. Her songs and performance were glorious in their intensity and emotion. While she brought out the clarinet and banjo for a few songs, she mostly relied on the talented trio of musicians to support her on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and cello. Simply magical. BER One […]
SXSW 2022 – The Sounds, Part 1
DOLLY PARTON What can be said about seeing Dolly Parton for the first time? The hits, the stories, the people weeping with joy around me – it was spectacular. And playing “9 to 5” twice – the second time so the audience could sing it – was tremendous. LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES […]
SXSW 2022 – The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for SXSW. With upwards of 1,000 artists and more than 20,000 attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music conference. Even […]
Monday Morning Video – Eli Paperboy Reed
R&B master Eli Paperboy Reed and his band cram themselves onto a small stage and set fire to the folk gospel classic “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”.
Monday Morning Video – World Party Put the Message in the Box
Karl Wallinger shares a timeless message in this pop classic. The world saysGive a little bitGive a little bit of your love to me‘Cause I’m waiting right here with my open arms
Mayer’s Playlist for Feb/Mar 2022, Part 2
Not Ready Yet, Jamie McDell (from the ABC Music release Jamie McDell) I’ve been not so patiently awaiting the latest release from New Zealand’s Jamie McDell. Her 2019 EP was a tremendous introduction to her songwriting talent, especially the pull no punches “Botox” and the raw emotion of “Worst Crime”. Both songs are featured, alongside […]
Monday Morning Video – The Load-Out with Jackson Browne
Let’s start the week with a classic – Jackson Browne’s “The Load-Out” with a segue into Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs’ wonderful 1960 chart-topper “Stay”. People you’ve got the power over what we doYou can sit there and waitOr you can pull us throughCome along, sing the song
Mickelson’s “A Murder of Crows – A Twangville Premiere
I first connected with Bay Area artist and producer Mickelson in 2019 when he produced Blanket the Homeless, a wonderful benefit album to support programs for the homeless in San Francisco. He followed that project with a solo album Drowning in an Inflatable Pool, a one of my favorite releases of that year. And now […]
Monday Morning Video – Keepsake House “From Story to Song”
A chance encounter at the Americana Conference in Nashville last September led to me to the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in NYC in October. The occasion was an event called “From Story to Song“, produced by NYC-based Keepsake House. The premise of the event was to pair a storyteller with a musical artist and […]