There’s always a few late releases or ones that seem to pass me by every year. Here’s a few to file in the “better late than never” category: GARRETT J. BROWN, Priorities [★★★★/3.875] CASEY DONAHEW BAND, Double-Wide Dream [★★★★/3.600] These guys fill all voids that Reckless Kelly leave between records. This is Texas country the […]
Photos that ROCK! Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings The Music Hall, Portsmouth NH: December 2011 Post by Suzanne D. McMahon (Suzanne Davis Photography) It’s hard for me to begin trying to describe in words what this experience was like for me. I have been listening to Gill & Dave’s music for a long time and it has brought […]
Jerry Douglas – Traveler
Some albums infect you slowly, like some kind of happy virus, where you finally just wake up one morning and realize you got the fever. Â Others, like the latest release from Jerry Douglas, Traveler, are more like your kid brother hitting you up side the head with a baseball bat and then standing over you […]
Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
I’ve seen it on his first two albums and after the first tune on “There’s No Leaving Now,” I thought maybe I’d heard the last of the Tallest Man and his guitar. “To Just Grow Away” is a subtle song with percussion and even some keys. But I only had to wait until the […]
Mayer’s Picks: The Best of 2012, So Far (The Albums)
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]