“sing a song for six-pence, wonder what that’d buy/ it probably wouldn’t get you far, since the market took a dive/ mmm, mmm” As we head into this labor day weekend of cook-outs, fantasy football drafts, and the far more important beginning of college football season (Go Cocks!), we here at Twangville wanted to highlight […]
Amanda Shires- Heartbreak, Destruction, and Doves
Amanda Shires- Down Fell the Doves    “Down Fell the Doves” and I have been getting to know each other in my car over the past few weeks. On first pass, it sounds soothing and melodic, with guitar contributions from Shires’ husband Jason Isbell. Lovely music to drive to and daydream. I found myself humming […]
David Bromberg – Only Slightly Mad
Music enthusiasts at the 2013 Philadelphia Folk Festival got to see some great moments. They got to see Fairport Convention folker Richard Thompson rock out as if making a statement that he can shred with the most aggressive electric guitar slingers in the land. They also got to see a young ukelele virtuoso from Hawaii, Jake […]
Mayer’s Playlist for July and August 2013, Part 2
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH Close to the Floor, by Patrick Sweany They say that great art is often the result of pain and adversity. It is a blessing and a curse. A blessing that we get to share in the work that results, a curse that the artist’s suffering lies at the root of the […]
Isbell, Shires & Fletcher at the Sinclair
Even after leaving the Drive-by Truckers, Jason Isbell has continued to wow and amaze. Â His literary songs and rockin” guitar licks accentuate catchy and heartbreaking melodies. I saw Isbell and Shires a year ago in Hartford in an acoustic setting. It fit so perfectly in the at the Wadsworth Atheneum Art Gallery that I wasn”t […]
I See Hawks In L.A. – Mystery Drug
The bright orange celestial flame that starts out in Santa Monica, so clear and defining of Southern California, becomes a dull rust, glaring off the mix of smog and sooty bumpers by the time you get to San Bernardino. Â While the lucky few stroll with the kids and dog through the manicured streets of Pali, […]
Mayer’s Playlist for July and August 2013, Part 1
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH American Ride, by Willie Nile Willie Nile is on a roll. After playing the major label game twice in his nearly 35-year career, Nile quietly self-released 1999’s outstanding Beautiful Wreck of the World. Since then he has delivered three more compelling albums filled with high energy rock songs and touching ballads. […]
Little G Weevil – Moving
Little G Weevil is likely the greatest – and possibly the only – Hungarian blues musician of all time. Born and raised in Budapest as the the former “Eastern Block” nation became more open to outside cultural influences, Weevil became enamored of American blues music. He grew up playing drums but took up the guitar at 17 to […]
Photos that ROCK! David Wax Museum
David Wax Museum @ Outside the Box Music Festival July 2013, Boston MA I was standing in the middle of City Hall Plaza on a sweltering July evening at the Outside the Box music festival. Never having seen David Wax Museum play before, I was unsure of what to expect. Before we left, my husband […]
Ghosts Along the Brazos – When It Rains It Pours
Some songs, and albums, take you to a particular time in your life, junior year in high school maybe, or the first summer of backyard barbecues in your first home. Â Others take you to an era, the 30’s of NY with early Duke Ellington, or Bakersfield in the early 60’s with Buck Owens. Â And some […]