Canadian roots music master Steve Dawson’s Rattlesnake Cage showcases Dawson’s astonishing guitar skills as they should be – intimate and acoustic. Dawson, whose passion for roots music prompted him to found the Black Hen Music label in 1995, has been a force in the Canadian music scene and now, having relocated to Nashville, his star […]
Readers’ Pick: PARKER MILLSAP, Parker Millsap
You picked Parker Millsap’s self-titled album as your favorite for the week of February 4, 2014. Readers’ Top 10 (last 4 weeks) ROSANNE CASH, The River & The Thread (17) BLACKIE & THE RODEO KINGS, South (12) DAMIEN JURADO, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son (11) PARKER MILLSAP, Parker Millsap (9) DAVID CROSBY, Croz […]
Mark T. Small – Smokin’ Blues
New Englander Mark T. Small’s lightning fast guitar picking skills are on display on the all-acoustic Smokin’ Blues. Small, whose background includes a stint in the 1980s with the Indiana-based “newgrass” band called The Brown County Band and a dozen years as leader of Chicago-style electric blues band The Lonesome Strangers, has managed to fuse the extraordinary dexterity required […]
Damon Fowler – Sounds of Home
Damon Fowler’s music captures his Southern roots as well as any up-and-coming artist today. A native of Brandon, Florida, Fowler’s sound encompasses swampy soul, blues, country and a measure of rockabilly. For his sixth and latest solo album, Sounds of Home, Fowler enlisted prominent Louisiana blues-rocker Tab Benoit to help produce a tasty helping of […]
Readers’ Pick: DAMIEN JURADO, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
You picked Seattle-based Damien Jurado’s “Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son†as your favorite album for the week of January 21, 2014. Readers’ Top 10 (last 4 weeks) ROSANNE CASH, The River & The Thread (17) BLACKIE & THE RODEO KINGS, South (12) DAMIEN JURADO, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son (11) BRUCE […]
Eli’s Favorite Records of 2013
2013 was a pretty crazy year for me. Personally, professionally, and music listening habit-wise, it was all over the map. At different points during the year, I obsessed over the back catalogs of The Clash, Emmylou Harris (again), Tom Waits, Kevin Gordon, Superchunk (again), Kanye West (weirdly), Paul Westerberg solo records (again), and finally The Bottle Rockets. […]
Chase Gassaway – Certain Circles
Certain Circles, the latest release from Austin musician Chase Gassaway, should be listed as a treatment for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Â Although he writes about typical songwriter topics like love and angst, he manages to put an optimistic sound to them. Â And then add to that a few of his songs are just unabashedly happy […]
The Twangville 2014 Release Preview, Boston Edition
This is shaping up to be a great year of music in Boston. All the albums below will be unleashed to the world in January and February. Here’s hoping the following ten months are just as fruitful. RADIO SWEETHEART by SARAH BORGES If there’s such a thing as a rock star quality then Sarah Borges […]
David Wax Museum at the Sinclair
When one thing ends, another begins. Suz Slezak had her baby 6 weeks ago and suddenly she was back on tour in the limelight. She talked about how relaxing her life as a pregnant woman was compared to hotel rooms and tour buses. I suppose that coming back to Boston (where they started and Wax […]
Tom’s Picks: Best of 2013
Album of the Year: Jason Isbell – Southeastern Jason Isbell is quickly establishing himself as one of the greatest singer/songwriters alive today. He’s cleaned up, remarried, and recording without the 400 Unit (his backing band from the last few years). Southeastern is one of those albums I imagine we’ll look back on some day as […]