Back in September, Benyaro released their latest album, One Step Ahead Of Your Past. Â As the musical vehicle for Jackson Hole’s Ben Musser and Leif Routman, Benyaro excels in the rougher, funkier edges of Americana. Â One Step Ahead Of Your Past exemplifies that with some cowpunk, some post-Seattle grunge, and even what I’d call “front […]
Fall Music Clean Up
Here it is the end of the year and I was going back through all the great music I’ve heard this year and found 3 CDs that never worked their way up to a full review, but for one reason or another they hung around in my playlist. Â So as you sit there turkey-drunk and […]
True North – Open Road, Broken Heart
Kris Kristofferson famously wrote that “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Â Kristen Grainger, lead singer & songwriter for True North, writes a corollary, “you call it leaving, but she calls it freedom”, on One Way Ticket, the opening track on their latest album. Â While Me And Bobby McGee was about the journey […]
The Coffis Brothers & the Mountain Men – Roll With It
Somewhere a little to the west of the early Beatles and a little east of Tom Petty is a sweet spot of rock and roll that pleases just about anyone with a soul. Â It has catchy melodies and familiar guitar chords that’s generally upbeat, even if the subject matter isn’t particularly light. Â I’m not going […]
The Coffis Brothers & the Mountain Men – Nothing Like Your Love Video Premiere
While we here on the Twangville staff spend a lot of time listening to music with banjos and fiddles, we’re all suckers for a really good power pop song.  A little jangly guitar, a sing-along chorus and great harmonies, and a driving bass and drum beat.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  Coming out of […]
Mark Olson and Ingunn Ringvold – Spokeswoman of the Bright Sun
Success, as pretty much everyone has realized, gives one some freedom that can’t otherwise be earned. Â Some use that freedom to advance an agenda, whereas others look to self-improvement and creativity as the opportunity. Â Mark Olson, founder of pioneering Americana group The Jayhawks, chose the latter path along with his wife and musical partner Ingunn […]
The Lil Smokies – Changing Shades
One of the things I’ve observed over the years is how the best musicians put so much more into a song than just the words and notes. Â A poignant pause, a percussive tap, a note played just off the beat, they contribute to a texture and ambiance that are nearly impossible to describe. Â You just […]
Trout Steak Revival – Spirit To The Sea
I’m generally a big fan of songs that tell a story. Probably because I’m a writer, a good tale put to music is something I appreciate. Sometimes I hear music that does a wonderful job of creating a mood or describing a point in time. But sometimes I realize I need to let go of […]
Ragged Union – Time Captain
One of the fondest memories of a misspent youth was hearing John Hartford live for the first time at a county fair in southern Missouri.  It was a beautiful sunny day and in that too short set I gained a new level of appreciation for bluegrass.  Hartford’s incredible musicianship and wry sense of humor were being applied […]
Matt Patershuk – Same As I Ever Have Been
There’s a gritty, dirty style of music that owes much of it’s heritage to the central swath of America, whether it’s the dirt-under-the-fingernails blues from the cotton fields of Mississippi or the the soot-stained rock and roll that came out of the factories in Detroit and Cleveland.  The ranches and oil fields of the plains of western […]