Every once in awhile, there is an artist whose album is so anticipated by the Twangville Posse that a number of us pile on for a team review. Put Session Americana’s Pack Up the Circus in that category. SHAWN’S TAKE Pack Up the Circus, the latest album from Session Americana, seems a nearly perfect name […]
Monday Morning Video – Alejandro Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham
Austin legends Escovedo and Graham revisit their True Believers days with the classic “The Rain Won’t Help You When It’s Over.”
Taarka – Making Tracks Home
You could probably argue that all music, regardless of genre, falls into two categories.  There’s music celebrating (or bemoaning) the here and now, and there are songs that take you back to a time or place.  The latest release from Colorado-based Taarka, Making Tracks Home, does a superb job of exploring both of those buckets in […]
Kiss Off — A Special Twangville Playlist, Part 6
A few years back I put together a series of special playlists featuring my favorite kiss off songs. Despite what some may think, I’m really not that cynical. Rather, I just appreciate how some songwriters can tackle the topic with humor and bite. It’s kind of like a genre unto itself. Over the past year […]
Monday Morning Video – Mike Farris
A week ago Sunday Mike Farris was walking on stage in sunny Los Angeles to accept a Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album. Three days later he braved the cold and snow to play a small club in Boston. To say that he wowed the crowd would be an understatement. For more than two hours […]
Hazy Shade of Winter — A Special Boston Playlist
Here is the latest installment in our periodic series highlighting Boston and New England artists. (View the complete series here.) FEATURED ALBUMS Barnstar! (from the Signature Sounds Records release Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!) I don’t think that it is possible to listen to Barnstar and not crack a smile. Every performance, even the […]
Monday Morning Video – Dietrich Strause Serenades Some Ducks
Famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow last week, signaling six more weeks of winter. Sure enough, Boston is in the midst of a three day snowstorm. Perhaps Phil would have acted differently if singer-songwriter Dietrich Strause serenaded him instead of these two ducks. The song is called “Sling and Stone” from his 2013 release […]
Kristin Andreassen Takes on a Grateful Dead Classic
Even if you don’t buy into the culture that emerged around the Grateful Dead, it’s hard not to appreciate the songs that they created. Kristin Andreassen responded to a fan request and turned out this exquisite version of the Dead’s “Brokedown Palace.†“I might not have had the courage to tackle this epic Grateful Dead […]
Wood & Wire – The Coast
A few years ago some members of a couple of different Austin-based bluegrass bands got together for some late night jamming and out of it came one of my favorite bluegrass albums of 2013, the self-titled Wood & Wire. Â The boys are now releasing their follow-up album, The Coast. There’s an occasionally recurring theme that […]
The Sweet Lowdown – Chasing the Sun
There have been a small handful of times over the last 30 years of seeing perhaps 100 bands/year where the vocals made such a powerful impression on me that I had a visceral reaction, stopping me in my tracks or sending a shiver down my spine. Â One of those was the first time seeing The […]