Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Night Highlight: The Playing Favorites

By

SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Night Highlight: The Playing Favorites My third showcase of the night on Wednesday was when I struck gold for the first time “officially” this year, and I knew it almost as soon as the Playing Favorites began their set. The Playing Favorites are a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of […]

Jackie Greene + More, Releases 4/1/08

By

JACKIE GREENE, Giving Up The Ghost (429) Official Site | MySpace | eCard ‘Giving Up The Ghost’, the fourth release from San Francisco based Jackie Greene shows a steady maturation of one of the biggest up and comers in American music. Reminiscent of Dylan, the Stones, and to a lesser extent Springsteen, Greene is keeping […]

Matthew Ryan Vs the Silver State

By

Singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan has built a career delving the depths of human emotion. Whether tackling the state of American society (“American Dirt”) or probing his personal relationships (“I Only Want to Be the Man You Want”) his emotional honesty is striking among contemporary songwriters. Ryan’s new album Matthew Ryan Vs the Silver State is scheduled […]

Kathleen Edwards + More, Releases 3/4/08

By

You could be doing any number of things this week. For instance, you could be playing superdelegate ping pong in your mind while you watch the latest news coming out of Ohio and Texas regarding who’s hot right now, be it Barack or Hillary (or John). You might also be joining us in mourning the […]

Tift Merritt + More, Releases 2/26/08

By

TIFT MERRITT, Another Country (Fantasy) Official Site | MySpace | Stream | MP3 While we all sit back and sigh a brief moment of relief to know that Jamie Lynn passed her GED this week. Its good to know that there’s a bunch of new music we can send her as a graduation gift. After […]

Mayer’s Playlist for January 2008

By

ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Lurch, by Mike Viola Whether recording under his own name or his Candy Butchers moniker, Viola is a master musical alchemist, building each song around varied instruments pulled from his bag of musical sounds. From the Fisher Price piano that kicks off “Maybe, Maybe Not” to the fuzzy bass of “It […]

Ray Davies + More, Releases 2/19/08

By

RAY DAVIES, Working Man’s Cafe (Ammal/New West) Official Site | MySpace With his second solo album, former Kink and Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Ray Davies brings us ‘Working Man’s Cafe’. The album features 12 new songs penned by Davies who co-produced the album with Grammy Award winning producer Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve […]

Death to Anders/The Hollyfelds

By

I’ve recently received Submissions from a couple of upstart bands I think are worth a look. They are Death to Anders and The Hollyfelds. Death to Anders has just released a new album Fictitious Business. Their sound has it’s basis in the L.A. Indie Rock scene but it is also heavily influenced early 90’s Sonic […]

Widespread Panic + More, Releases 2/12/08

By

WIDESPREAD PANIC, Free Somehow Official Site | MySpace | Stream | MP3* | MP3** It seems like Athens-based Widespread Panic has been playing music forever (if you consider 20 years as being close to ‘forever’). Averaging a new record every two years, 2008 brings us their tenth studio album titled ‘Free Somehow’. This is another […]