Devil in Me, Anderson East (from the Low Country Sound/Elektra Records release Delilah) There’s something special about that old-school soul sound. It’s all the more impressive when it is created by a young whippersnapper like Anderson East. The Nashville by way of Alabama singer-songwriter serves up an exhilarating debut album that is steeped in Muscle […]
Peace, Love and Twang at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Philadelphia Folk Festival, which has been around for 54 years, isn’t your grandfather’s folk festival. While there is still a smattering of venerable acoustic solo folksingers on its program like Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Cockburn and Tom Paxton, the festival has become a great platform for Americana artists of all flavors as well as for […]
Mea Culpa! A Special Summer Playlist, Part 1
Mea culpa! So last year I made a commitment to myself to write a monthly playlist and publish it within the month for which it was named. I gave myself a hearty pat on the back when I met that goal. Thankfully, I didn’t set the same goal this year as I would have failed […]
Ana Egge – Bright Shadow
In New York, Chicago, San Francisco, you can still find dimly lit, low-ceiling basement clubs, surprisingly full even on a weeknight, where you can get a stiff drink and a soberingly good jazz band.  You can’t smoke in them anymore, but that smoky sound still comes from a singer whose voice seems earned from whisky and cigarettes […]
Tweed River Talk – A Few Words with Jonas Parmelee of the Silks
Our latest interview is with Jonas Parmelee, bassist with the Providence, RI-based rock trio the Silks. Last American Band, the band’s 2013 debut was produced by Paul Westerberg and recalls the best qualities of 1970’s rock-and-roll — filled with songs as raucous as they are melodic. Parmelee talked with us about the psychedelic side of […]
Elephant Revival – Sands Of Now
To listen to Elephant Revival is to hear everything you’ve ever heard in acoustic music and yet nothing you’ve ever heard in acoustic music. The Colorado-based quintet will bring you to the edge of your chair in a pristine listening room, trying to capture every nuance. Â They will force you back in your lawn chair […]
FY5 – Eat the Moon
An hour north of Denver in a bend of the St. Vrain river sits a beautiful amphitheater and campground, home to Rockygrass and the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, among other events. Â The far bank of the river is a cliff of Colorado red rock that positively glows in the afternoon sun. Â The river itself has […]
Tweed River Talk – A Few Words with Christopher Paul Stelling
You have to appreciate an artist who invites himself to a festival (see below for the full story). Of course, in this case, the festival organizers welcomed him with open, arguably ecstatic, arms. And why shouldn’t they? Christopher Paul Stelling is a compelling live performer who will undoubtedly captivate the Tweed River Music Festival crowd. […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2015 (So Far), the Albums
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite releases from the first half of 2015. COMPLICATED GAME by JAMES MCMURTRY As he celebrates the release of his first album in six years, there’s a part of me that wishes that McMurtry was more prolific. Then I remember that it takes time to craft […]
Monday Morning Video – Greg Trooper’s Tribute to the Weekend
Sure, it’s Monday but let’s have Greg Trooper bring us back to the weekend with this pair of classics, “Another Shitty Saturday Night” and “These Sunday Nights.” Hopefully your weekend was better than those of the characters that inhabit these songs. Trooper has just released a new album, Live at the Rock Room. Captured at […]