Saturday morning brought some heartbreaking news: Todd Snider, the East Nashville icon and beloved storyteller, had passed away. The initial reaction seemed hesitant, as if all were in collective disbelief. But very quickly, an overwhelming outpouring of grief and remembrance flooded social media, filled with moving and often humorous stories about how Snider had touched […]
Monday Morning Video – Otis Redding
Music fans have spent decades arguing over which British Invasion band reigns supreme—The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. But leave it to Otis Redding to reframe the question entirely: he simply took songs from both bands and made them his own. Redding had a particular genius for hearing the soul buried inside rock and roll […]
Monday Morning Video – Jim Croce
How about we start the week with a pair of songs from one of music’s great storytellers. Jim Croce was taken from us in a tragic plane crash when he was just 30 years old but left behind a tremendous musical legacy. This 1974 television performance showcases his two artistic sides – reflective poet and […]
Monday Morning Video – Toad the Wet Sprocket
The Ryman Auditorium has heard more than its share of songs about the passage of time. Earlier this year, Toad the Wet Sprocket added one of their own to that legacy with an acoustic rendering of “Rings.” Stripped of studio polish, the song’s imagery — rings of rain and summers, dry spells and brushfire — […]
Monday Morning Video – Karl Wallinger and World Party
This week we’ll celebrate the late Karl Wallinger, who would have turned 68 yesterday. As the creative force behind World Party, Wallinger had a gift for writing songs that were simple and sublime yet deeply moving. “She’s the One” is a perfect example: a love song that builds into something transcendent, carried by his distinctive […]
Twangville Turns 20: Anniversary Shows in Dallas and NYC
We started Twangville twenty years ago to champion the artists creating songs with craft and conviction—the kind that deserve your attention. This month, we’re marking two decades with three shows that capture everything we’ve been about from day one. Dallas gets two this weekend, New York City gets one on the 24th. Here’s the lineup. […]
Monday Morning Video – John Prine “Pretty Good”
Any week that starts with some John Prine feels a little more bearable, doesn’t it? Prine, who would have turned 79 last week, left behind a catalog full of songs that notice what the rest of us miss—the loneliness in a mundane conversation, the dignity in just getting by, the whole emotional landscape hidden in […]
Video Premiere: Brennen Leigh’s “Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love”
I caught Brennen Leigh and pedal steel genius Kevin Skrla for a day set at Americanafest a few weeks back and it did not disappoint. Classic Hank-era country with Brennen’s sharp playing and playful croon. What she does best is showcased in “Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love”, the title track from her new […]
Monday Morning Video – Adeem the Artist
A favorite song from a few years back, courtesy of Adeem the Artist: “Books and Records” from White Trash Revelry. It’s humble and heartbreaking in equal measure.
Chestnut Vibes on a Saturday Night – A Boston Playlist
Promised Land, Ward Hayden and the Outliers (from the Faster Horses Recordings release Little By Little) On Little By Little, Ward Hayden and the Outliers take on Bruce Springsteen’s songs with both respect and imagination, reshaping them in their distinctive country style. Hayden’s expressive vocals and the band’s warm, rootsy sound give these classics new […]