Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

Now & Then: Lyal Strickland’s Shooter of Truth and the reach of Bruised Orange

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There’s a particular kind of country-folk songwriting that lets embarrassment survive the editing process. The narrator can admit he’s wrong, find something funny in the admission, and still have to live with the consequences. Lyal Strickland’s Shooter of Truth belongs in that tradition. John Prine’s Bruised Orange makes a useful companion: an earlier example of how conversational songwriting can accommodate hard experience without becoming solemn about every minute of it.

Now & Then: Margo Cilker’s Little White Cross and the reach of The Last of the True Believers

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The strongest connection between Margo Cilker and Nanci Griffith is their attention to people whose lives rarely become the subject of a song. Work brings their characters together; circumstances test how long those connections last. On Little White Cross, Cilker approaches that tradition with a particularly sobering view of American life. Griffith’s The Last of the True Believers offers a useful predecessor, showing how country arrangements and closely observed stories can give ordinary lives lasting significance.

Now & Then: The Suitcase Junket’s To Go On and the reach of Bone Machine

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Matt Lorenz’s homemade instruments make The Suitcase Junket easy to recognize. His songwriting gives you a reason to stay. On To Go On, written following the death of his sister and longtime musical collaborator, Kate Lorenz, that distinction matters. Tom Waits’s Bone Machine offers a useful predecessor: a record whose unconventional roots arrangements make room for mortality and tenderness alike. Lorenz’s stated affection for Waits makes the connection more than a critic’s convenient pairing.

Now & Then: Ian Noe’s Canyon Falls Trailer Band and the reach of Grievous Angel

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Country music has always had room for musicians whose ambitions exceed their prospects. Ian Noe gives those musicians a whole album on Canyon Falls Trailer Band, imagining a group taking its shot at a Nashville showcase. Gram Parsons makes a fitting companion: an artist whose attachment to traditional country helped expand what younger songwriters could do with it. The connection becomes especially clear when Noe introduces some interstellar visitors with country music on their minds.

Now & Then: Rhiannon Giddens’s Hope Is the Thing with Feathers and the reach of Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues

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Rhiannon Giddens has spent much of her career expanding the commonly told history of American folk music, particularly the role Black musicians played in shaping it. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers continues that work while emphasizing ensemble performance and songs connected to North Carolina. Odetta’s 1956 debut, Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues, offers a useful earlier reference point. Both records mix interpretation with a strong sense of ownership over the material.