You have to be pre-disposed to like any album that starts out with a paean to Lawnchair Larry. Â Maybe it’s just a song about a couple of fella’s similarly tempted, but Weather Ballon, the opening cut on the debut album from Austin-based Sons Of Fathers, is an apt metaphor for how quickly this record soars […]
Glossary- Long Live All Of Us
Glossary is a band that I have always defined by their (relatively) more mainstream friends. Lucero, Two Cow Garage, The Hold Steady, the Drive-By Truckers, and Conor Oberst have all praised the band effusively. Despite these endorsements, Glossary has never really broken through to the kind of indie rock-stardom that those friends and mentors have […]
Mason Jennings – Minnesota
Mason Jennings’ latest effort, Minnesota, is a lyrical romp with Jennings’ characteristic musical hooks that teeter on the edge of sappy but that work for him. Every song on Minnesota is worth the listen. The multi-instrumental Jennings opens with the subdued piano-based ballad “Bitter Heart” followed immediately with “Raindrops on the Kitchen Floor,” a retro […]
Photos that ROCK! Hoots & Hellmouth
Hoots & Hellmouth Tree House Concerts in Takoma Park, MD: November 2010 Post by Suzanne D. McMahon (Suzanne Davis Photography) The Tree House is a pretty special place. Pete, Anne, Matt, and Janet host music junkies at their home to experience incredibly intimate nights of folk or rock. It’s not every day that you get […]
Americana 2011: The Sounds
MUSCLE SHOALS TRIBUTE SHOW Detroit may have by Motown and the Funk Brothers, but Alabama had Muscle Shoals. Side-stepping which was the better musical factory, it is impossible to ignore the impact that Muscle Shoals has had on American music. This performance provided irrefutable evidence to the greatness of this legacy. The set was loose […]
David Bromberg and Ry Cooder
The release of new albums by two masters of roots music this summer flew pretty much under the radar. Both David Bromberg and Ry Cooder have churned out album after album of Americana spanning folk to R&B since the early 1970s. Bromberg’s career has been the oddest, with long periods of withdrawal from public performance […]
The Alabama Shakes- The Alabama Shakes [EP]
So a couple weeks ago I had this odd dream that Al Green had gotten My Morning Jacket to back him on a classic 1970’s record. It turns out it wasn’t a dream, only Al Green was a woman, My Morning Jacket were the Alabama Shakes, and the record was recorded in 2011. Formerly known […]
Americana 2011: The Awards
The hands-down highlight of the Conference was the annual Americana Music Awards. In this instance, the words for such a magical evening are hard to come by. Set aside any the speeches and performances, the event was held in the legendary Ryman Auditorium. Originally built for religious revivalist meetings, it achieved great fame as the […]
Americana 2011: The Scene
This year, Twangville made it’s first trek to Nashville for the annual Americana Music Conference and the 10th Annual Americana Music Awards. Over the next week I’ll be highlighting some the moments, musical and otherwise, from this year’s event. WHAT’S IN A NAME? The running joke all week was how to define Americana. The context […]
Laurie Lewis – Skippin’ and Flyin’
Timeless. Â That’s the single word that best describes the latest release from Berkeley, CA-based songstress and multi-instrumentalist Laurie Lewis. Â Skippin’ and Flyin’ is a sort of tribute album to Bill Monroe. Â The tribute is an abstract though, that includes Monroe songs, songs from others that were inspired by Monroe, and even songs that just evoke […]