As a music fan, I have always felt that recorded music and the live show are the yin and yang of an artist. You simply can’t have one without the other (okay I’ll give you the Beatles & Nick Drake, but they are the exception). But with a true music artist, both parts of the […]
Tallest Man on Earth – Live at the Black Cat
What a difference a year makes. When I saw Tallest Man last year at the 9:30 Club in DC, he was opening for John Van Der Slice and the audience seemed a bit confused by the man. Only about a third of them (150 or so) were there when he played and maybe half of […]
Marah in the Treehouse
When you walk into a concert venue and you happen to find the band shmoozing in front of the chicken coop, you know the show is a bit different than the usual. I’ve seen Marah in two other small venues, but the fact is that I’ve never quite experienced the intimacy of the inaugural show […]
Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
While you may wonder why a folky Swede deserves to be recognized on a decidedly more twangy website, one listen should do the trick. In that one song you’d probably never know that Tallest Man on Earth wasn’t raised in the mountains of North Carolina. Perhaps that’s because as well as Bob Dylan, Kristian Matsson […]
Memphis 59 – Ragged But Right
With a name like Memphis 59, and an album cover like a rusty truck you may think that the “Ragged” moniker would ring true. But instead of a rough edged, dirty sound, Memphis 59 come off as clean as a whistle. Grammy-winner John Jennings has cleaned up their sound to a fault. It’s squeaky clean. […]
The Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do
At Twangville, the Drive-By Truckers carry a lot of weight. In fact, in the post-modern, post-alt-country (whatever) era of Indie rock, they are like superstars to some. Not like in the “Oh my god, what is Britney wearing†kind of way but rather in the anticipation that comes for some in a new record. It […]
JT Earle & Joe Pug at the Birchmere
In American society’s current musical climate (without a lot of love of Americana music), you wouldn’t think that a “classic” sound would show up out of nowhere. Not only is JT Earle’s indie-darling status progressively more established, but the newbie Joe Pug ain’t no lightweight either. Earle had nothin’ but love for Pug and it […]
Chris Bell – I Am the Cosmos (Deluxe Edition)
One of the most criminally overlooked, even by the clichéd standards, the band Big Star truly defined the tragic indie band’s aura. After three albums (the first two of which Bell was a driving force behind), Bell disappears and winds up passing away tragically in a car accident after grappling with depression. Bell’s influence can […]
Old Crow Medicine Show – Live at the Orange Peel & Tennessee Theater
When I think of a live show, bluegrass can really take it to another level: the tenacious rhythm, the fiddle, high harmony and that relentless bass. Although I’ve never seen bluegrass back in the day, I imagine the hootenanny to feel something like an Old Crow concert. Songs about drug addiction, infidelity and them good […]
Little Country Giants – Fists of Foam & Fury
If you listen hard enough, you may hear some “en vogue†or trendy nature in bringing back Hank Williams’ country style. I mean hell JT Earle’s is in GQ’s next issue with top as one of the top 25 most stylish in the world! While the giants begin with a straight out of the opry […]