Okay, I admit that I’m a little late to the Justin Currie/Del Amitri band wagon. Okay, a lot late. Maybe it’s slowed a bit in this decade. I should have known that the Scottish and their hundreds of lochs, brutal weather and amazing accents are really like the U.S. Pacific Northwest for irresistible rock-pop. Glasgow […]
Listen Up & Win Big: Matthew Ryan
As good as last year’s electric Dear Lover was, this year’s acoustic companion is even better. The sparse arrangements showcase the tenderness and vulnerability of Ryan’s lyrics without losing any of the intensity. The hushed whisper of “The World Is†illuminates the songs frailty, making Ryan’s quiet optimism that much more evocative. “The world is […]
Heading Home: Family, Friends, Beer, and MUSIC
I recently spent three weeks back home in South Carolina. The weeks were filled with family, friends, beer, and some righteous rock and roll music. The first show I caught was Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses w/Guilt Ridden Troubadour at the Pour House in Charleston. It was the single most packed show I’ve been […]
Shippin’ Up to Boston: A Special Playlist
I’m fortunate to live in a city that appreciates and supports great music. Here are a few of my current favorites. Banks of the Mississippi, Jenee Hastead (from the self-released Hollow Bones) “Baby, if we could go to the banks of the Mississippi, watch out I’ll float your body out to sea,” sings Halstead in […]
Shinyribs – Well After Awhile
“I’m a little bit crazy, but I ain’t no fool.” Â Although that’s the chorus for Country Cool, off the Shinyribs debut, Well After Awhile, one suspects it’s a little bit of an autobiographical statement by the driving force of the Shinyribs, Kevin Russell. Â Russell is more known as the front man for The Gourds, one […]
Susan Cowsill – Lighthouse
From the beginning track “Dragonfly,” Susan Cowsill recalls days when she was a kid and youth was full of hope. This uptempo rock song sets a positive mood for the album. Cowsill seems to have recaptures the innocence of youth on lighthouse. The irony of all of this, is the fact her life has recently […]
Editors’ Pick: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
They’re last album finished in the top ten of 2007. Will the latest Grace Potter and the Nocturnals album make the cut in 2010? Here’s what the Twangville editors think of their new self-titled album: Tom says: The album begins with the melodic scream “Ah yeah!” a fitting way to begin their third release on […]
Angie Mattson – Skeleton Arm
The latest effort from Angie Mattson, an EP entitled Skeleton Arm, starts with the sound of insects and jungle drums. Â That first song, Bravery, equates the sacrifices needed for love with bravery and sets a kind of “always hunting” mentality that exists throughout the project. Â At the same time, there’s an undercurrent of the caged […]
Whiskey & Co.- Rust Colors
If Uncle Tupelo had taken themselves less seriously they would have been Whiskey and Co. Oh yeah, and Jay Farrar would had to have been a woman. Some bands are just fun. They express their joy in their music and it’s a beautiful thing. Whiskey and Co. is one of those bands. Their latest effort, […]
Riley Baugus and Tim Eriksen/Winston-Salem, NC/May 22, 2010
I stumbled upon a great show the other night in Winston-Salem, and by stumble, I mean I had to be there to play myself. My band was playing the late show at the Garage, and the early show was a couple of banjo/fiddle players that had composed the soundtrack for the film Cold Mountain. I […]