Stranger’s Voice, William Matheny (from the Hickman Holler/Thirty Tigers release That Grand, Old Feeling) If you’ve ever read any of our artist interviews, you’ve read many of them talk about touring life being 23 hours spent traveling, dealing with the business side of music, or just sitting around venues for the hour or two of […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall/Winter 2023, Part 1
Toothache, Lydia Loveless (from the Bloodshot Records release Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again) Relationships are messy and few songwriters capture that fact better than Lydia Loveless. One need look no further than “Song About You”, the confessional ballad that opens their latest album. Against the backdrop that is mostly a lone electric guitar, […]
Shawn’s Favorite Albums of 2023
2023 was a good year for new records. It seemed like themes and topics were no longer dominated by pandemic-induced experiences, and writers felt free to explore the entirety of their experience again. There was a good mix of new and old, both in terms of songs and artists. There’s the usual caveat that what […]
Readers’ Pick: Best Album of 2023
Congratulations to Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams for landing in the top spot of Twangville’s Readers’ Pick of 2023 poll. We should note that Chrome Dreams was completed in 1977, but not released until 2023 for the sole purpose of competing for the Twangville end-of-year Reader’s Pick poll. Congrats, Neil! It was worth waiting for. Full […]
Readers’ Pick: Best of 2023
It’s the season to ask you, our beloved readers, what your favorite album of 2023 was. To help, we’ve created a poll with over 100 nominations. If you’re wondering where this list comes from, it comes from your contributions to our poll throughout the year. We’ve created this amazing list of the top 25 picks […]
When It’s Twilight in Boston – a Special Twangville Playlist
Bulletproof Man, The Bluest Sky (from the self-released The Bluest Sky) Chuck Melchin first appeared on our radar a number of years ago as the Bean Picker’s Union. Essentially a solo artist surrounding himself with a loose collective of acoustic players, he wrote songs that oozed melancholy and were tied to quiet and captivating melodies. […]
Readers’ Pick: Luther Dickinson – Magic Music for Family Folk
You picked Luther Dickinson – Magic Music for Family Folk as your favorite new release for the week of November 17, 2023. Poll Results New Releases Readers’ Tops Fall 2023 EmiSunshine and the Rain – Sideshow (50 votes) Colin Cutler – Tarwater (30) Robert Finley – Black Bayou (23) The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds […]
Melissa Ruth Song Premiere – Low-Key Christmas
As we head into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we’re bombarded with reinforcements of the typical Western Christmas by pretty much any and every media outlet we come across. You know them all: a bountiful, picture-perfect family dinner, fashionably wrapped gifts under an impeccably decorated tree, snowfall adding a glisten and sparkle […]
Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia – Blood Brothers: Live in Canada
As reviewers, and volunteer reviewers at that, sometimes we miss things. More than a few times I’ve realized that some music I overlooked was actually pretty good, and I wanted to take a “Mulligan” by reviewing something well after its release. When Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia released their collaboration album, Blood Brothers, early this […]
Magic Trick – A Premiere from Speedfossil
One of the things that I’ve long appreciated about the Boston music scene is the sense of community that exists there. It is common to see musicians out supporting one another in the clubs, not to mention performing with one another whenever the opportunity allowed. Which makes it all the more painful when a member […]