Every year about now I make a pilgrimage to Austin for a few days of listening to music. It’s not for SXSW. Instead I head out to Tilmon, about an hour southeast of town, for Old Settler’s Music Festival. It’s just the right size to where it’s easy to navigate, but there’s still enough of […]
Derek Vanderhorst – Wildflower
Come for the headline, stay for the story. That old saying couldn’t be truer as it relates to the new album from Derek Vanderhorst. The headline is that the go-to sound designer and mixer for hundreds of films, including The Eyes of Tammy Faye and No Country For Old Men, was diagnosed with stage 4 […]
Drew Cooper Song Premiere – Whiskey And Smoke
There’s a transparency that comes with growing up in a town in the Midwest. First of all, everyone knows you. Or your mama. Second, you have to have a certain amount of self-awareness and honesty about yourself. When a simple trip to the mailbox in winter can be death-defying, miscalculations can carry a heavy price. […]
Readers’ Pick: Jeremy Ivey – Invisible Pictures
You picked Jeremy Ivey – Invisible Pictures as your favorite new release for the week of March 11, 2022. Poll Results New Releases Readers’ Tops Winter & Spring 2022 David Gideon – Lonesome Desert Strum (75 votes) Sarah Borges – Together Alone (44) Jackie Bristow – Outsider (27) The Rave-Ups – Tomorrow (19) Sarah Shook […]
Cactus Blossoms – One Day
They call it blood harmony. It is that special coherent blend that siblings can attain when they harmonize. In the case of The Cactus Blossoms, comparisons are abundant to the Everly Brothers. However, sometimes the obvious is the most apropos. The blend of their vocals seems effortless and gives each song a comfortable, smooth vibe […]
Erika Lewis Song Premiere – Unsatisfied
Guy Clark said that money won’t buy you love or homegrown tomatoes. He could have added seeing Tuba Skinny live to that list. In case you’ve missed it, Tuba Skinny is a musician collective known for their live performances busking in the streets of New Orleans. Drummer and vocalist Erika Lewis is part of the […]
Birds Of Play – Murmations, Volume 2
Musical inspiration comes from many sources, but life experience surely has to rank at the top. You’d be hard-pressed to find lives lived to the degree of friends Alex Paul, Eric Shedd, and Jack Tolan. So when they decided to trade-in their outdoor, world-traveling, adventurous lifestyle for equally lucrative careers as musicians, they had some […]
Joshua Rilko – Lost Soul/Rock & Roll
All that time with no gigs to play has resulted in some really good music being written. The latest example of that comes from Joshua Rilko, founding member of Lindsey Lou and the Flatbellies, and mandolin-about-town for the likes of Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings, and others. He came up with 11 new songs, about half […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Feb/Mar 2022, Part 1
The Ballad of Sissy & Porter, The Whitmore Sisters (from the Red House Records release Ghost Stories) There’s a throwback quality to the Whitmore Sisters’ Ghost Stories. Sure, sisters Eleanor and Bonnie have magical familial harmonies that recall The Everly Brothers. It’s the songs and arrangements, however, that hearken back to a bygone era when […]
VanWyck Video Premiere – Maybe, Maybe Not
Singer-songwriter VanWyck started taking notice of all the people adrift, washing up on the steps and benches of her native Amsterdam. Realizing the gap between their demons and the ones we all fight is narrow, she started writing a story, a landscape, an alternate reality where everyone has a safe space, a place to recover […]