Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

Mayer’s Playlist for Mar/April 2011, Part 2

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ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Wander Away, by Mike Errico I can think of less than a handful of times where I have seen an artist silence a room with a song. One of the most impressive was watching Errico, armed with just his guitar, silence a rowdy New York audience with just a single song. […]

Old Settler’s Music Festival 2011 Review

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Every year at this time, a couple of weeks after all the glitterati have left South By, one of the best music festivals in the country kicks off 20 minutes outside of Austin: the Old Settler’s Music Festival.  It’s a great mix of old and new talent, with enough people to get a good vibe […]

The Band Of Heathens – Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son

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I’m beginning to think The Band of Heathens are a little bit like Benjamin Button.  Many well-known bands start with critically acclaimed albums, move to spending more time on the road, then abandon studio releases all together to milk their live performances.  The Heathens started as a live-only phenomena and now, with their third release, […]

SXSW 2011: The Video Companion

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I got a bit carried away with the videos, compiling 26 great videos captured live at SXSW. Not surprisingly, we kick things off with the performance that introduced me to Maxim Ludwig & the Santa Fe Seven. From there, a three-fer from Alejandro Escovedo’s special Sunday night gig at the legendary Continental Club. We’ve got […]

SXSW 2011: The Sounds, Part 2

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Kasey Anderson & the Honkies Music is often about improvisation. In this case, however, it wasn’t the type of improvisation that one would expect. When the bass drum kept slipping across the cement floor, the band grabbed a keg to hold it in place. When that didn’t work, Anderson took a seat on the keg […]

SXSW 2011: The Sounds, Part 1

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Maxim Ludwig & the Santa Fe Seven If I were to highlight only one band from SXSW, this would be this one. To say that Ludwig is high energy simply doesn’t do him justice. He exudes enthusiasm with a confidence and maturity that belies his age. His songs have a familiar quality to them, a […]

My Jerusalem: #1 of John’s ‘Fantastic Four of SXSW 2011’

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My Jerusalem, the band that I would leave SXSW 2011 proclaiming to everyone willing to listen as having been the best new band I saw all week, and the one that I knew would present me with the tallest order in terms of doing them justice with mere words, was a band that I hadn’t […]

John’s SXSW Roundup, Starring Alejandro Escovedo, Jesse Malin, and the ‘Fantastic Four of SXSW 2011’

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Given that friends and colleagues always ask upon my return from Austin who were my absolute favorites of the new bands I saw at SXSW each year, I’m going to focus my attentions entirely on the new-to-me bands that I left Austin wishing most fervently that I could see play again right now. As it […]

Brian Wright’s on Fire

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Now, I’ll be honest: I still haven’t made my way completely through Brian Wright’s new Sugar Hill album, House on Fire. It’ll be released next week, but what I’ve heard thus far, I really like. See for yourself with these two videos. One shows the softer acoustic side, while the one below it displays a […]