Singer-songwriter Parker MillLsap will be releasing his new album “Be Here Instead†via his own Okrahoma Records and Thirty Tigers on Friday. It was produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Waxahatchee), who deserves a lot of credit for helping deliver an album that is highlighted by a more diverse range of songs than […]
Rylan Brooks – If Wishes Were Horses
Most of us have done a cross country road trip at least once, and you don’t forget it. Especially if it included a long stretch between the Rockies and the Mississippi, where time and distance create a kind of elasticity to your plan. Doing those trips over and over and over became the rehearsal space […]
Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno
Three years ago in a cramped hotel room during Folk Alliance, at the advice of friends, I first heard a barely-out-of-high-school songstress, Vivian Leva, and her musical partner, Riley Calcagno. Leva had just released her debut album of Appalachian style folk and country songs. Belying her tender age, Leva’s soulful vocal delivery laid bare the […]
Lydia Luce – Dark River
Let me just start by saying that if you’re in the mood for something twangy, the new record from Nashville’s Lydia Luce is not going to scratch that itch. Luce is an in-demand studio musician around Nashville for her ability on a variety of stringed instruments, so she knows twang. But Dark River draws mostly […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Jan/Feb 2021
Far Away In Another Town, Steve Earle & the Dukes (from the New West Records Release J.T.) Chances are you might already be aware of the story behind J.T., Steve Earle’s tribute to his late son Justin Townes Earle. The younger Earle tragically passed away from a drug overdose in August of 2020, leaving behind […]
Brazos in My Bones – a Premiere from Stefan Prigmore
There’s something special about a Texas songwriter. The stories that they share are richly colorful, filled with characters who live life by their own rules. The more outrageous the tale, the more likely that they contain some kernels of truth. Fort Worth’s Stefan Prigmore continues this tradition with pride, spinning yarns as dusty as the […]
Folk Alliance Int’l – Folk Unlocked Preview
For most of the last several years I’ve flown back east for what I consider to be the most under-appreciated music festival in the country; the annual Folk Alliance International conference. FAI does a tremendous amount of good for musicians, and the conference itself has many seminars targeted to beginners, long-time musicians and industry professionals. […]
In Memoriam – Chick Corea
When John Prine passed last spring, a lot of praise and admiration came out of tweets and web sites and publications that would never consider covering Americana, or folk, or whatever you want to call John’s music. His talent was so immense it surpassed a single genre and came to be a gold standard for […]
These Fine Moments – Season 10
Ten years ago producer Mark Hallman sent a new singer-songwriter duo out of his Congress House studio in Austin with a finished EP, their first recording. A decade on Hilary Kaufmann and Robert Watts as their nom de plume, These Fine Moments, have another record, this time full length and also produced by Hallman. In […]
Selwyn Birchwood – Living in a Burning House
I caught Selwyn Birchwood’s act a few years ago at the Philly Folk Festival (remember when we could go to festivals?), and I was immediately won over by the barefoot bluesman. Already an award winning guitarist, Living in a Burning House cements his credentials as one of the leading younger lights in the blues world. […]