The human psyche is programmed to take comfort from things that are familiar. That plays out in the new record from Sarah Borges, Together Alone. She, and long-time collaborator Eric (Roscoe) Ambel, took the chaos of the pandemic, stitched together an impossible-to-repeat remote recording routine, and produced a record that’s just the Sarah Borges music […]
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – Nightroamer
One of my musical discoveries during the lockdown was Sarah Shook & the Disarmers. Their brand of pounding country punk was the perfect soundtrack with which to give fate the middle finger. And underneath the attitude, there were a lot of good songs. So I was looking forward (deservedly so, it turns out) to their […]
Hank Erwin Video Premiere – Sally
Last fall I wrote about the new album from Hank Erwin, Copper. Generally speaking, the record is full of Southern rock ballads and outlaw country tales, many of them at least partially autobiographical. If you’re going to just sample a couple of songs, you can’t go wrong with Altana or Hell Or Harlan, both with […]
Greensky Bluegrass – Stress Dreams
Greensky Bluegrass will be releasing their new album “Stress Dreams” Friday January 21. It is a vibrant high charged album that almost ignores the fact that we have been in a pandemic. Not that they are in denial, and in fact some lyrics address separation and loneliness. However, the arrangements emanate positive vibes as is […]
Jamestown Revival – Young Man
You can just picture Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, also known as Jamestown Revival, sitting in rockers on the porch of a ranch in the blistering midday sun of southeast Texas. They’re strumming acoustic guitars, working on some songs and complaining about “them damn kids nowadays.” At the end of the day they have a […]
David Jameson Video Premiere – Gone Like the Wind
From placing second in a Mandarin language singing contest, to doing engineering consulting work across Southeast Asia, to getting inspired at Houston Rodeo. Aside from the latter, that’s not really the life arc of a typical country music singer. It worked its magic for David Jameson, however. His debut album, Tall Dark Pines, is due […]
Bill’s (Belated) Blues-based Best of 2021
Well, here it is again … my inexpert, incomplete review of the best blues albums of 2021. Better late than never. 1. Selwyn Birchwood – Living in a Burning House. A mature masterwork of a young(ish) musician carrying the torch for the next generation of blues greats. 2. Eric Bibb – Dear America. Bibb takes […]
Todd’s Tops of 2021
1. James McMurtry/The Horses and theHounds2. Jose Gonzalez/Local Valley 3. Isla, Josh Rouse/The Mediterranean Gardner4. The War on Drugs/I Don’t Live Here Anymore5. Charley Crockett/10 For Slim6. Todd Snider/First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder7. The Hold Steady/Open Door Policy 8. Neil Young and Crazy Horse/Barn9. The Felice Brothers/From Dreams to Dust10. Nell Smith, The […]
Twangville’s 2021 Favorites are…
The Horses and the Hounds by James McMurtry The Twangville pick for Best New Album of 2021 is The Horses and the Hounds by Austin-based singer-songwriter, James McMurtry. This list combines best of year picks from our Twangville critics plus the Readers’ Picks which you helped us create from our polls throughout the year. Congrats […]
Shawn’s Picks – 2021 Favorite Albums
For the second time in a row we’ve finished a year like no other. On the plus side, all that time at home seems to have upped everyone’s songwriting skills. I can’t remember the last time my first pass at the annual favorites list was so long. The first couple of picks were relatively easy. […]