Somewhere in the exurbs of farming country sits the rural version of a night club. It’s a big, corrugated tin building with a puddle-filled gravel lot, nearly indistinguishable from the welding shop next door. Live music on the weekends is courtesy of a local band playing honky-tonk rock, the thematic choice for drinkin’, flirtin’, fightin’, […]
Now & Then: The Deslondes’ Holy Cross Blues and the shadow of Music From Big Pink
Some albums arrive like a fresh coat of paint. Others show up like somebody finding an old Polaroid in a jacket pocket and realizing: oh right, this is who we were. Holy Cross Blues is that second kind. It doesn’t feel “new” in the trendy sense. It feels newly revealed.
Todd’s Tops of 2025
At the end of each year the contributors here at Twangville vote on our favorite 25 releases and tally up the results on a magic spreadsheet. Everyone’s vote counts the same, although Mayer’s should probably count double since he consumes more music than anyone I know. On the other hand, my taste is better. I […]
Now & Then: Jason Isbell’s Foxes in the Snow and the shadow of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska
Jason Isbell has made a career out of writing songs that feel like they come with fingerprints still on them. Even when the 400 Unit is roaring behind him, you can usually hear the quiet draft underneath.
Jeff’s Picks – Best Album of 2025
“I want to go out and play these songs by myself and it sound as close to this as possible,” Jason Isbell explains to Gena Johnson, co-producer, in Well Welch’s documentary about the recording of “Foxes in the Snow.” Documenting the Isbell’s process making of the album, the above-mentioned film is called “Feel Real Good” […]
Shawn’s Album Favorites: 25 From 25
1) Silverada – Texas 42. A love letter to the Lone Star State, from the title track to the drinking song to the closer with the armadillo. With some slight changes of lyrics it’s also a requiem for living just about anywhere in southern and/or western rural America. 2) I’m With Her – Wild And […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best Songs of 2025, Part 2
I posted my list of favorite from the first half of 2025 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this a continuation — the best songs from the second half of 2025. Permission, Alex Wong featuring MILCK (from the Shamus Records release Permission) “Permission” is a defiant sing-along anthem that […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best Albums of 2025, Boston/Dallas Edition
I live in NYC these days but am fortunate to be connected to the music scenes of two cities in which I previously lived – Boston and Dallas. Artists from both metropolitan areas have released some exceptional music this year. Here are a few favorites. Love it local. LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER (BOSTON YOU’RE MY […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best of 2025, the Albums
HONORARY 2025 PICK: No Hard Feeling by Balto Released on December 20, 2024—too late for my 2024 list, but technically not a 2025 album—Balto’s surprise farewell record lives in an in-between space that mirrors the band’s own bittersweet moment. Songs like the epic “Big City” and the blistering “Black Snake, Mojave Blues” build from restraint […]
Tommy Womack – Live a Little
Tommy Womack has never been interested in polish for its own sake. Across decades of records, he’s built a reputation on candor, dry humor, and a songwriter’s instinct for finding grace in the wreckage of ordinary life. Live a Little, his new album, feels like a distilled version of that ethos. At its core, it […]