There’s a very California sound you get by taking the twangy guitar and rock solid rhythm line associated with Bakersfield and overlaying it with the acoustic guitar and multi-part harmonies that sprang from the hills and canyons northwest of LA in the 60’s. You could probably argue Graham Parsons first touched that nerve with Sweetheart […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best of 2020, the Albums
What a year it has been! Thankfully there’s been some great music to help sustain us. Here are my picks for the best albums of 2020. 11. Consider the Speed by Terra Lightfoot Another rock and roll tour de force from Terra Lightfoot. Consider the Speed is brimming with fervent guitars and musical bravado, not […]
A Holiday Video from Emily Zuzik and Ted Russell Kamp – The Christmas Star
If you have read much of what I have written this ear you know that I have been high on Emily Zuzik’s album “Torch and Troubleâ€. (certain to appear in my year end Top 10.) The producer of that album was Ted Russell Kamp, a linchpin in the West Coast Americana scene. In the sprit […]
Band Premiere – The Great Outdoors
The pandemic has been hard on bands. How’s that for an understatement? With touring shut down, and even gathering in the studio a challenge, many musicians have had to focus on more essential elements of life. In no way, though, has that diminished the passion that made them eschew a normal day job in the […]
Readers’ Pick: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades – Miles in Blue
You picked Horseshoes and Hand Grenades – Miles in Blue as your favorite new release for the week of November 27, 2020. New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Summer & Fall 2020 Peter Himmelman […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 5
The Contractor, John Calvin Abney (from the Black Mesa Records release Familiar Ground) Familiar Ground, like John Calvin Abney’s previous albums, possesses a beautiful spirituality that is comforting and uplifting. Case in point – he opens this latest release with the heartening “When This Blows Over”, a song that serves as a quiet anthem for the […]
Nora Jean Wallace – Blueswoman
From her first utterances on Blueswoman, it is clear that Nora Jean Wallace is in charge. Her big Chicago-style vocals dominate this new release reminiscent of post-war leading ladies like Big Mama Thornton and Koko Taylor. Wallace is no stranger to the blues world, having broken out in 2004 (as Nora Jean Bruso) with the […]
Song Premiere – Brian Callihan
Back in the 60’s and 70’s it wasn’t uncommon for a musician to take a job in Nashville writing songs for other people while they polished their performance skills. A couple of guys you might have heard of, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, started their careers that way. As the industry evolved, the pendulum swung […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 4
Called Out Your Name, Terra Lightfoot (from the Sonic Unyon Records release Consider the Speed) If you’re anything like me – especially in a year like this one – sometimes you just want a healthy dose of electrifying rock and roll. Thankfully Terra Lightfoot is back to fulfill that desire and, perhaps, melt a few faces […]
Video Premiere – Drew Aron
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Drew Aron’s debut release, Familiar Faces. It’s a mostly auto-biographical story about a musician finding himself in a city flooded with artists finding themselves. There are some lighter moments to be sure, but there is a lot of material to fuel a lot of songs (which is […]