You’ve got to love a year where this list is made up of so many young and emerging artists. Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorites from 2012. BARCHORDS, BAHAMAS Canadian singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen unleashes a pop album that is simply sublime. The production has a textured feel anchored by the nuanced […]
Monday Morning Video: Whiskeytown
Ah Ryan, such a great songwriter and always so, um, soft-spoken. Here’s a gem from 1997.
The Nighthawks – Damn Good Time!
In their appropriately titled Damn Good Time!, veteran DC-based blues rockers the Nighthawks prove that after decades on the road, they can still serve up a toe-tapping set to satisfy their blues-roots following and make a few new friends in the process. Damn Good Time! follows up their Blues Music Award-winning Last Train to Bluesville (Acoustic Album […]
John Fullbright/From the Ground Up
About a year ago, (or longer…time escapes me) I had the pleasure of catching John Fullbright play a show with Sam Baker and Natalia Zukerman at a local club here in Columbia, South Carolina. I’d never heard of Fullbright, but I enjoyed his songs as much or more than Baker’s, the reason I’d came to […]
Mindy Smith
Mindy Smith’s new self-titled album finds her moving back to her roots. She delivers the music in a way that is truly her own. It is a rare quality to be able to exude this kind of passion so overtly. However it is natural for Smith, the emotions of each song rise up from inside […]
Monday Morning Video: Dave Alvin, Flaco Jimenez & Los Lobos
Last week I posted a video featuring Alejandro Escovedo joining Los Lobos at an LA performance earlier this year. Apparently Alejandro wasn’t the only guest that evening for what must have been an incredible evening of music. Here’s Dave Alvin and Flaco Jimenez joining Los Lobos for Alvin’s classic — and seasonal — song “Fourth […]
Barnstar on Tour at Club Passim
The idea of bluegrass supergroup may seem foreign to some, hell even most music fans. But the band Barnstar! didn’t listen to that. They threw caution to the wind and pulled together some of the most respected indie musicians and bluegrass players in the Boston area. And between their other obligations, they have managed to […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2012
THE PLAYLIST That Wasn’t Me, Brandi Carlile (from the Columbia Records release Bear Creek) Any Carlile discussion begins and ends with her voice, an instrument of power and beauty. While her latest is more relaxed than her earlier efforts, it retains the inspirational tone that is a hallmark of her songwriting. Many of the songs […]
Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires at the Wadsworth
When I heard about a one-off Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires show, three hours of driving on a Friday night didn’t seem that bad. There’s something different about a rock artist who slows down to let the songs shine through. Isbell has done the rock gig with the Drive-by Truckers, the solo gig, and the […]
Monday Morning Video: Alejandro Escovedo with Los Lobos
Wow, this is a find. Here are two clips showing Alejandro Escovedo performing with Los Lobos earlier this year. The first shows the musicians rehearsing Escovedo’s “Rosalie” in a Los Angeles studio; the second shows them performing it the next night at LA’s Greek Theater.