Austin-based singer-songwriter David Ramirez passed through Boston last week as part of his “Bootleg Tour,” for which every audience members gets a digital recording of the show). Standing alone on stage (save a coffee table with a lamp and a framed Bill Murray promo picture from the movie “Stripes”), Ramirez mesmerized the crowd with a […]
Monday Morning Video – Jason Isbell “Something More Than Free”
Here’s one of my favorites – and the title track – from Jason Isbell’s most recent release. This solo acoustic version was recorded in Austin, Texas last June. You see a hammer finds a nail And a freight train needs the rails And I’m doin’ what I’m on this earth to do
Americana 2016: Say What?!
One of my favorite things about attending music conferences and festivals are the crazy comments that you hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections from this year’s Americana Festival. Your career has come full circle. Interviewer Yes, back to obscurity. Robbie Fulks I could have kept going, but that would have been […]
Win Big – Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” (with a bonus live album)!
Here’s your chance to win a copy of the Steve Earle Guitar Town 30th Anniversary Collection. Read on for details! There are few artists whose careers can be described as a musical journey. Steve Earle is one of them. Over his more than 30 year – and nearly 20 album – career he has taken […]
Monday Morning Video: Justin Currie
Glasgow artist Justin Currie has long been one of my favorite songwriters. It’s a crime that he’s not more widely known. His songs bristle with intelligence, whether he’s crooning a moving love song or spitting out a scathing tale of love gone wrong. Hopefully there’s some new music on the horizon, but in the meantime […]
Americana 2016: The Sounds, Part 2
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. SHANNON MCNALLY It’s become something of an annual tradition to close […]
Americana 2016: The Sounds, Part 1
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. SHANE NICHOLSON I caught Australian singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson three times over […]
“The Favors You Ask,” A Premiere from Zach Schmidt
The best country songs tell great stories. Well, singer-songwriter Zach Schmidt has got a bunch of ’em. All the better, they are drawn from his own life experiences. The now Nashville-based Schmidt has lived a life of wanderlust, having bicycled across the US and worked on a Texas cattle ranch. No surprise to anyone, Schmidt […]
Monday Morning Video – Fred Eaglesmith “Freight Train”
Fred Eaglesmith is a songwriter’s songwriter, a talent whose commercial success has never matched the esteem in which his peers hold him. Here’s a song that I’ve heard countless other artists cover over the years. In his introduction, Eaglesmith talks about the Alan Jackson version and why he tours in an old converted school bus.
Monday Morning Video – Loretta Lynn
This week we’re going to pay a Monday Morning Video tribute to an true legend of country music, Miss Loretta Lynn. Lynn has released nearly 50 albums over her six decade career, the most recent being this year’s Full Circle. The album is her first in more than ten years. This video takes us back […]