Earlier this year former Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s frontman Richard Edwards released the sublime Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset. Whereas the album itself was immaculately crafted with minimalist pop orchestrations, the solo acoustic versions of the songs from this live performance are hauntingly beautiful. As if to reinforce the understated nature of his […]
Masontown – In This Time
One of the endearing things about bluegrass and folk music is the tradition of doing versions of songs that have been in the collective consciousness of the musical community since the 19th century, or even longer. Â No one remembers, or perhaps ever even knew, who wrote them. Â But groups take them, make them their own, […]
Sweetwater String Band – At Night
From the first notes of the bow bouncing on the strings of the cello, you can tell this is going to be a different take on what you probably thought of as a string band. Â The instruments Sweetwater String Band uses are 3/4 of a traditional quartet; guitar, mandolin, bass. Â But instead of the fiddle, […]
Americana 2017: Mayer’s Picks (Part 2)
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 four 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 […]
Americana 2017: Mayer’s Picks (Part 1)
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 four 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 […]
Billy Strings – Turmoil & Tinfoil
There’s a saying most of you are familiar with, “like catching lightning in a bottle.” Â In the music business it’s not unusual to hear that applied to the idea of catching a band’s live performance energy & style in the studio. Â Hence the reason most jam bands, and many others frankly, never have much of […]
Monday Morning Video – Colin Hay
It takes a lot – talent and then some – to sustain a nearly 40 year career in the music industry. In a recent performance, Colin Hay illustrated why he is on that list. In fact, I’d argue that he has gotten better. Sure, his classic Men at Work hits are deservedly ubiquitous. Hay didn’t […]
Deer Tick – Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
It takes a bit of bravado to release two albums simultaneously. Most bands work hard to put 10 – 12 well-crafted songs together every few years. It is not uncommon to see “B-side†albums come out shortly after a release, but for the most part they are only collections of songs and not a cohesive […]
Three Diamonds In the Rough
A few weeks ago I wrote about a movie that explores the issues around how streaming has changed the economics of the music business.  The result of that plus nearly free compute power, is it’s now cheap enough to make a record that musicians can choose to make an album in support of other projects and priorities.  Here […]
Well You Heard About The Boston… Playlist, Part 1
Ex-Girlfriends Cost Less Money Than Ex-Wives, Greg Klyma (from the self-released Never Knew Caroline) There are some artists who are tireless students of music, constantly exploring the historical corners of country, blues and folk to better understand the anatomy of song. Greg Klyma is one of them. In fact, for several years he has brought […]