Terroir. Â It’s a word used in wine tasting to denote a wine that really tastes of its place. Â On her debut album, Time Is Everything, Virginia-native Vivian Leva delivers the musical equivalent of terroir. Â She doesn’t just sing in the style of Appalachia, it oozes from the pores of the songs. The record starts with […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Winter 2018, Part 1
Time Will Be the Healer, Glen Hansard (from the Anti- Records release Between Two Shores) Songwriting is arguably a numbers game. For many artists, the quantity of songs released is a fraction of those that are written. It’s a shame, really, as some quality songs can get left on the shelf gathering dust. For his […]
Monday Morning Video – Folk Alliance 2018 Video Companion
We’ll wrap up our Folk Alliance International coverage with a collection of videos from this year’s conference. Most of these performances are from the official performances that took place in hotel ballrooms but you’ll see a few from the late night hotel room showcases. This video playlist includes Colter Wall, John Gorka, Jaimee Harris, John […]
Readers’ Pick: Crushed Coins by Caleb Caudle
You picked Crushed Coins by folk singer-songwriter, Caleb Caudle, as your favorite new release for the week of February 23, 2018. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter & Spring 2018 CALEB CAUDLE, […]
Folk Alliance 2018 – Shawn’s Picks
With over 3000 showcases in 4 nights, and perhaps an average of 5 gigs/musician, it was of course impossible to see the roughly 600 acts that works out from that math. Â So when I say these were my favorites, it’s from a relatively small sampling. Â Nonetheless, I saw some great music. Â What’s Old Is New […]
Folk Alliance International – The Best Music Festival You’ve Never Heard About
With slightly less than 4000 attendees, the annual gathering of Folk Alliance International is still small enough to be held in a hotel. Â It doesn’t have a stadium-draw headliner, but other than that and lack of a campground, there’s everything else you’d want in a music festival. Â And most of it is done better than […]
Monday Morning Video – Jack Ingram and the Tin Man
I recently saw Jack Ingram perform a special show and he closed the set with this brilliant piece of songwriting. Co-written with Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall, Lambert’s recording of “Tin Man” was deservedly nominated for song of the year by the Country Music Association in 2017.
Readers’ Pick: Fire Dream by J.D. Wilkes
You picked Fire Dream by rockabilly singer-songwriter, J.D. Wilkes, as your favorite new release for the week of February 16, 2018. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter & Spring 2018 J.D. WILKES, […]
Readers’ Pick: Don’t Talk About It by Ruby Boots
You picked Don’t Talk About It by Aussie singer-songwriter, Ruby Boots, as your favorite new release for the week of February 9, 2018. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter & Spring 2018 […]
Waterloo Sunset – AmericanaFest UK 2018
If you’ve ever traveled to another country, you know the quiz well. Border control agent: “So, what brings you to (insert country name here)?†What you may be less familiar with is the variety of quizzical expressions you get from those border control agents when you’re traveling to England and your answer is: “an Americana […]