Ben Balmer plays with a lot of folks around the Austin area and last fall he released an album, Honky Tonk Macbeth, that featured many of them. He has a new record coming out soon under the moniker of Ben Balmer & Friends, so we can assume that it will likewise feature a number of […]
John Fullbright – The Liar
It’s been 8 years since John Fullbright last released an album. For a Grammy-nominated artist headlining festivals, that’s an eternity. He has a new record coming out later this month, called The Liar, and it’s clear he put all that time to good use. He embraced a new band in the studio and developed a […]
Triggers & Slips – What Do You Feed Your Darkness?
You’ve undoubtedly heard the line that country music is three chords and the truth. It goes deeper than that, though. It’s not just the truth, but more often than not it’s self-truth. Opening up about one’s own foibles and self-doubts adds an integrity to the twang that you just don’t get observing from a distance. […]
Sunny Sweeney – Married Alone
Popular culture is littered with references to the drifter, the rambling man, the loner. Soul tormented by assorted demons, both real and imaginary, they never get attached to anyone and deal with their insecurity by show of bravado. These characters are nearly always men. Sunny Sweeney takes exception to that on her latest album, Married […]
Jonathan Terrell – A Couple 2, 3
There are a thousand examples of country music artists who didn’t grow up anywhere near anything “country”. That doesn’t make them any less good at their craft. Occasionally though, you hear someone whose weary optimism reflects a lifetime of making do in rural America. That’s the case with Austinite Jonathan Terrell on his upcoming EP, […]
Maryanna Devlin Video Premiere – Gary, Indiana
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 […]