Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through several days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. Here are but a few of my favorite performers and performances […]
Monday Morning Video – Tyler Childers
Tyler Childers has been making quite a stir with a voice as lived in as the characters in his songs. His own songs aside, he is equally adept at bringing to life the songs of others. In this case he tackles legendary folk singer Utah Phillips “Rock Salt & Nails.”
Mayer’s Playlist for Summer 2018, Part 2
Immortal Americans, Austin Lucas (from the Cornelius Chapel Records release Immortal Americans) Immortal Americans feels like the album that Austin Lucas was destined to make. The road there certainly wasn’t easy as he overcame a series of challenges, both personal and professional, along the way. It ultimately led him back to his roots in Indiana […]
The Cody Sisters Band – White On the Blue
Bright, sunny day, high of maybe 80, no humidity, with the mountains in the background. Â Such is the definition of a wonderful spring day in the western U.S. Â It’s also evocative of some of the great traditional bluegrass that’s coming out of the latest generation of pickers and fiddlers. Â The latest jewel I’ve heard is […]
Monday Morning Video – John Calvin Abney
I’ve been smitten with this song lately. John Calvin Abney pays homage to his Oklahoma roots in this tale of a traveling troubadour longing for home. Hauntingly beautiful. Plenty more to love on Coyote, his latest release.
Opposites – Dan Johnson, Prairie Wildfire
A couple of CD’s have been sitting atop my pile for a few weeks–demanding attention, but not in my usual review write-up kind-of-way.  I finally realized, like chicken and waffles, they complement each other as sensory bookends. The first is Hemingway, by Texas songwriter and author Dan Johnson.  This is not an album to be handled […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Summer 2018, Part 1
Right On Time, Kevin Gordon (from the Crowville Media release Tilt And Shine) Kevin Gordon has long been one of contemporary music’s most compelling storytellers. He fills his songs with colorful characters and literary tales, all set to music that has more than a few gloriously jagged edges. Tilt And Shine steps beyond the more […]
Bonus Monday Video – Ted Hawkins
I previously wrote about my experience seeing Hawkins when he made a rare visit to Boston’s Faneuil Hall. There was nothing, however, like seeing him on his home turf – entertaining crowds on Venice Beach, California. Here’s a short but wonderful taste of what it was like.
Monday Morning Video – Ted Hawkins
The Ted Hawkins story is among the most unique in American music. The Biloxi Mississippi native spent years as a street busker, most notably serenading passers-by on Venice Beach, CA while perched on a milk crate. He was “discovered” several times but never found significant success. His graveled voice and insistent guitar were his calling […]
Rebekah Rolland – Seed & Silo
Music sometimes does a really good job of building a visual image for the listener. Â On her debut solo album, Seed & Silo, Rebekah Rolland paints a number of vivid pictures inspired in part by her experience as a National Parks Artist-In-Residence. There’s the pioneering homestead from Willa Cather’s Midwest on Hole In the Earth. […]