Joan Shelley Emerging Artist Interview When I first heard Joan Shelley’s 2015 album “Over and Even” I was stunned. In a year where I came through a broken leg with an infant at home, it took me a while to warm up to the power of music again. Maybe it seemed like family and people […]
Monday Morning Video – A Newport Folk Festival Trifecta
One of the coolest things about the Newport Folk Festival are the frequent impromptu collaborations that occur, making the festival an artists’ affair in the truest sense of the word. Here is a trifecta of highlights from this year’s event. And in honor of the Olympics currently underway, we’re going to make it a pass […]
Newport Folk Festival 2016- Sunday
Newport Folk Festival 2016- Sunday After a scorching first two days at Newport, I was tired. But the lineup on Sunday was definitely the most exciting. From start to finish, the acts on Sunday were incredible. When I arrived to see Joan Shelley at the Harbor Stage, I was already moved by her previous great […]
Newport Folk Festival 2016- Friday
On the first day of the Newport Folk Festival, the breeze was up and the humidity was down. Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island was a beautiful spot for the particularly exciting Friday lineup. At Twangville, we’ve known about the new scene in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and following in the footsteps of the […]
Hittin’ the Road with Marcus Blacke, Update 7
Australian singer-songwriter Marcus Blacke is currently on his first tour of the United States. He’s checking in with us from the road to share some of his adventures on the American road. Read on for the latest update, plus a featured song from his new self-titled album. July 29th (Niagara Falls, NY/Detroit, MI) After Niagara […]
Hittin’ the Road with Marcus Blacke, Update 6
Australian singer-songwriter Marcus Blacke is currently on his first tour of the United States. He’s checking in with us from the road to share some of his adventures on the American road. Read on for the latest update, plus a featured song from his new self-titled album. July 24th (Ithaca, NY/Brooklyn, NY) Jared rejoins the […]
Hittin’ the Road with Marcus Blacke, Update 5
Australian singer-songwriter Marcus Blacke is currently on his first tour of the United States. He’s checking in with us from the road to share some of his adventures on the American road. Read on for the latest update, plus a featured song from his new self-titled album. July 9th-13th Quite unhappily I say farewell to […]
Monday Morning Video – Revisiting Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”
Inspired, or more rather provoked, as a populist response to Irving Berlin’s “America the Beautiful,” Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has become an American institution in its own right. In celebration of Independence Day, here is a video playlist that includes some engaging covers of the Guthrie classic from the likes of the […]
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2016 (So Far), the Songs Part 1
This has already been quite a year for songs. Here are just a few of my favorites from the first half of 2016. Unbroken Hearts and Call the Doctor, Austin Lucas (from the Last Chance Records release Between the Moon and the Midwest) Lucas tells his tale of life in the music business, set to […]
Ralph Stanley Remembered
There’s a quote frequently used to describe how old blues musicians managed to get the sound they did despite having no formal training, “it’s in him, and it got to get out.” Â That came to mind last weekend as I heard of the passing of Dr. Ralph Stanley. Â Anyone who heard Stanley perform O Death, […]