When a critic hears about a new act in music, a relative unknown, often the excitement at discovery is tempered by trepidation at the disappointment. Still, as music writers we attempt to somehow divide our time between trusted acts, the possibility of a new discovery that no one else has heard. With these same ambivalent […]
The Bottle Rockets – Lean Forward
Hailing from the St. Louis area, The Bottle Rockets show some of the same influences that inspired Uncle Tupelo and their progeny. In Lean Forward , their tenth release, the Rockets have a record that’s a rich bouquet of rock and roll, but nonetheless retaining some twangy alt country aromas. What distinguishes many of the […]
John Moreland/Rob’s House Demos
John Moreland and the Black Gold Band’s website states the following:  We’re from Okalahoma. We’re loud as hell. We don’t give two shits.  That may sum up the band when in full force, and it may sum up their 2008 album Endless Okalahoma Sky, but it doesn’t really capture the feeling of Rob’s […]
Andy Friedman & the Other Failures- Weary Things
Art country? Country noir? I’m not sure how to define Andy Friedman’s new record Weary Things, his first with the spectacularly successful The Other Failures. The record is restrained letting Friedman’s conversational lyrics play across an eerie sounding background that falls closest to Mr. Dylan circa Time Out of Mind. Friedman’s acoustic guitar is often […]
Danny Schmidt- Instead the Forest Rose to Sing
I first heard of Texas singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt awhile back. A frequent recommendation of a good friend of mine (whose taste and breadth of knowledge about Americana music vastly exceeds my own), Danny Schmidt is just another in a long string of artists I dismissed upon first listen only to latter realize that they are […]
Leeroy Stagger- Everything Is Real
We last heard from Leeroy Stagger on his 2006 disc Depression River, a modern day country rock masterpiece. Stagger synthesized Steve Earle, Ryan Adams, and Neil Young into his own unique take on the alternative country genre teeming with sprawling electric guitars, twang, and heart. Since then, he’s joined the folk super group Easton, Stagger, […]
Listen Up: Gretel’s “The Dregs”
I suspect that every songwriter dreams of writing a song like “Car Bomb Times.†It’s a triumph of songwriting that matches provocative lyrics with a hypnotic melody. What begins as a quiet folk song built around singer-songwriter Reva Williams banjo and hushed vocals builds into a rich tapestry of harmonies. It is these types of […]
Damon Fowler – Sugar Shack
A few months back, along with a couple of other CD’s I was reviewing, I received a copy of Damon Fowler’s Sugar Shack . I put it on at the time, it was OK, I didn’t think too much about it. I realized this weekend that I keep coming back to this disc. I know […]
Slaid Cleaves / Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
I got a copy of the new Slaid Cleaves for review and the first thing I said to myself was, “Self, you’ve heard of Slaid Cleaves but I don’t think you’ve ever listened to him. Or if you have, you didn’t know it was him at the time.” I have deep thoughts like that sometimes. […]
Twangville Best So Far ’09: The Songs
Sometimes it is the song that really matters, as illustrated by these Twangville pick songs so far in 2009. Mayer’s Pick: “Good” by Jason Isbell (from the Lightning Rod Records release Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit) It’s hard to escape the onslaught of guitars in this furious rocker. They are the musical equivalent of […]