Taylor Scott is a relatively new artist who has already done some remarkable things. He, along with Warren Haynes, laid down guitar licks on Otis Taylor’s groundbreaking Hey Joe Opus: Red Meat, which wired a web of varying music pieces into a symphonic whole. That experience placed Denver-based Scott in good company. Perhaps a blues player […]
Todd Snider/Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3
The third installment of Snider’s Cash Cabin Sessions, entitled Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3, leaves out Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Wait, what? Well, according to the liner notes included with this new release Snider had a demo recording session and a couple of sessions with Hard Working Americans already at the Cash Cabin, so […]
Melissa Ruth – Meteor
Starting a few miles north of the Golden Gate and lasting all the way to Canada, the coastal redwoods make their way to the very edge of the ocean. Â The climate that supports them cycles from the omnipresent fog in the summer to the waves of rain that blur the distinction between sea and land […]
Colin Linden & Luther Dickinson with the Tennessee Valentines – Amour
Once in awhile there’s a collaboration that turns the music word on its head. Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto was such a pairing when, in 1963, they popularized bossa nova jazz in the United States. Jan and Dean did much the same for surf music, and Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry paired up for a […]
Mayer’s Playlist for January/February 2019, Part 1
Full Moon Goodbye, Michael McDermott (from the Pauper Sky Records release Orphans) Orphans is notable in that it is made up of songs that were written for but didn’t make the cut for McDermott’s recent albums. Orphans they may be, outcasts they are not. This collection of songs more than hold their own in the […]
Yola – Walk Through Fire
Yola Carter is well known in her native U.K., and soon she will be just as well known on this side of the big pond. While she has received some recognition stateside, her new album “Walk Through Fire†will no doubt put her front and center of the Americana scene. The album was produced by […]
Ted Russell Kamp – Walkin’ Shoes
With a resume that includes bass player, lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, Ted Russell Kamp could be a contestant on The Most Interesting Man In the World. Â Most of those talents are on display on his latest record, Walkin’ Shoes. The first cut, Home Away From Home, sets the pace properly with a walking, […]
Jonah Tolchin Video Premiere – Drift Away
Although he’s originally from New Jersey, Jonah Tolchin put out a scorching southern rock road song a couple of years ago that, in the live version, seems just on the brink of launching into Radar Love, perhaps the best road song ever. Â The title cut of that album, Thousand Mile Night, was a good proxy […]
Todd’s Tops of 2018
1. Damien Jurado/The Horizon Just Laughed – After the Maraqopa trilogy with Richard Swift, Jurado self-produces the personal The Horizon Just Laughed. It’s vintage Jurado with biting lyrics and observations that leave plenty open to interpretation. 2. Michael Flynn/Pretend Like – A beautifully done album with strings-a-plenty and gorgeous images. 3. BRMC/Wrong Creatures – They […]
Chip’s Top 10 of 2018
1) Brent Cobb – “Providence Canyon” There are a number of young artists carrying the Amercana torch into the future but Cobb is one of the best. 2) Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore – “Downey to Lubbock” This collaboration was at least a decade overdue. These two old friends finally got together and gave […]