I often get a few local bands on my radar spinning around the Columbia area and beyond. Here are a few I think you should check out. The Water Kickers – With beautiful melodies and interesting arrangements the Water Kickers feature husband and wife duo Kelley and Brody fronting the band. They are strong enough […]
The Twangville 2025 Album Preview-Side B
Here are some albums that we’re looking forward to hearing in the back half of 2025… Americana Radio by J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed (11 July) Evans and the Boss Tweed make a raucous entrance with their debut album. Evans pairs his booming voice with his fierce guitar for ten tracks of what […]
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2025 (So Far), the Songs
Wrong End & Black Snake, Mojave Blues, Balto (from the self-released No Hard Feeling) These two songs represent the scope of Balto’s musical power – the unbridled rock and roll fury of “Black Snake, Mojave Blues” and the powerful emotion of “Wrong End”, the band’s seeming farewell to music: I don’t believe in songs no moreIn the long dead horse […]
BettySoo – If You Never Go Away
As far as I can tell, every musician has a bunch of sad songs in their catalog. If songwriting is cathartic, that makes complete sense because it’s the difficult things in life that need to be worked out, not the happy moments. Austinite BettySoo professes to be the queen of sad songs, going so far […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2025 (So Far), the Albums
No Hard Feeling by Balto Released quietly in late December 2024, Balto’s surprise album opened 2025 on an incredibly powerful note—impassioned, defiant, and beautifully crafted. From the slow-burning heartbreak of “Big City” to the searing catharsis of “Black Snake, Mojave Blues,” the band channels their frustrations and fading faith in music into a collection that’s […]
D.K. Harrell – Talkin’ Heavy
Young D.K. Harrell is good. Really good. With a polished guitar sound and soulful vocals, his sound is reminiscent of a Harrell’s idol B.B. King or a young Robert Cray. Born D’Kieran Harrell in Ruston, Louisiana, Harrell says he first heard King when he was a toddler and immediately started singing along. He grew up […]
Kai Crowe-Getty – The Wreckage
At some point in everyone’s life you learn to measure your hopes and desires against the reality of your situation. You have to still keep them separate in order to function daily, but each can inform the other. I think that heightened sense of self-awareness is the common thread in the songs from Virginian Kai […]
“We Are, We Are” – A Video Premiere from Willie Nile
Fresh off the release of his latest album, Willie Nile keeps the momentum rolling with the premiere of a new video for “We Are, We Are”—a full-throttle rock anthem that channels his signature mix of grit, heart, and unshakeable optimism. The song is classic Nile: a defiant, uplifting anthem built for raised fists and open […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Spring 2025, Part 2
True Believer, Jason Isbell (from the Southeastern Records release Foxes in the Snow) Foxes in the Snow finds Jason Isbell in a raw, reflective space, drawing from the emotional wreckage of heartbreak and the cautious hope of starting over. These songs live in the aftermath—where pain lingers, memories echo, and new love emerges slowly, shaped […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Spring 2025, Part 1
The Van Pelt Parties, Patterson Hood (from the ATO Records release Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams) Patterson Hood has long been a master of Southern storytelling, and on his latest album, he delivers a collection of tales—some real, some imagined—that reflect the complexities of life in the Deep South, particularly his native Alabama. These aren’t […]