The path someone chooses to make music their career can be fascinating. For Frankfurt, Germany, resident (with previous stints in Boston and Nashville) Maryanna Devlin, it started with her brother’s death. He was a musician and as part of processing the grief she dove into music and discovered not only how cathartic it could be, […]
Laura Benitez and the Heartache – California Centuries
Saturday night in rural America. Just saying that, you can practically hear the pickup tires on the gravel road. Whether it’s the Grange Hall in California’s Central Valley, the dance hall in Texas Hill Country, or the Legion Post in eastern Tennessee, the scene is similar. The same loud-but-ineffective air conditioner, plenty of ice cold […]
Brittany Collins – Things I Tell My Therapist
While out hiking in the woods in her native Pacific Northwest, Brittany Collins started composing a tune telling someone how she was coming to terms with a childhood best left behind. She was determined to forge her own path and not be defined by her family. On further reflection it became obvious that little ditty […]
Three Summer Gems
A lot of good music is coming out this summer. A number of the releases are shorter records or EPs. That sometimes makes it hard to write a full-length review. In no way does that mean you shouldn’t check them out. Three of my favorites are Nick Pagliari, The Early Mays, and Juliana Nash. Nick […]
Forrest McCurren – Oh Me, Oh My
Pick any small town in America and there’s a cast of characters you can generally recognize. The former high school football star; the good kid always in the wrong place at the wrong time; the family matriarch who’s the real power behind half the successful people in the county; the favorite cousin that just can’t […]
Dustin Brown Song Premiere – Words
Some people know their calling in life at an early age and are able to hone it as they mature. Others need to get pummeled about with several trips around the sun before the outer shell gets knocked off and the white hot passion inside comes to light. Such is the case with Texas born […]
The Sadies – Colder Streams
If you read our blog, chances are you’re a fan of The Sadies. And so you know Dallas Good, who along with brother Travis was a guiding light of the band, passed away suddenly in February. I’ve gushed about the band before, and was saddened that one of the more talented musicians around, and quirkiest […]
The Brothers Comatose – When It All Falls Apart Video Premiere
San Francisco-based band The Brothers Comatose was formed in 2009 by brothers Alex (banjo, vocals) and Ben (guitar, vocals) Morrison and fiddler Philip Brezina. They added Steve Height on bass and Greg Fleischut on mandolin, and started taking the northern California acoustic music world by storm. Walking the line between jam band and progressive bluegrass […]
Rusty Tinder – Alchemy Road
The cover of L.A.-based, keyboardist Rusty Tinder’s soon-to-be-released sophomore album, Alchemy Road, is a depiction of a musician dragging his piano through floods and past wildfires, to the accompaniment of a fiddling horseman of the apocalypse. You could also say it’s a musical theme throughout the record. Tinder’s resume includes everything from church choirs and […]
We Banjo 3 – Open the Road
I went on line to look up the antonym of stage fright. I got a bunch of words like calm, cool, and collected. If you’ve ever seen Galway, Ireland-based We Banjo 3 live, you know two things. First, their behavior on stage is diametrically opposed to stage fright. Second, it is not calm, cool, and […]