I’ve heard several musicians state they don’t know what they would have done if they weren’t musicians. It’s all they’ve ever been any good at, or even really known how to do. I have no idea how Hayes Carll feels about that notion, but I’m pretty sure he could have been a standout comedian or […]
Nate Currin on Taking a BBQ Tour and Grinding It Out in the Music Business
Singer-songwriter Nate Currin talks about becoming more “domesticated” and the enduring meaning of an early composition.
Wild Mountain Mystics – Fire & Honey
I was reading the other day about the Horseshoe Theory, which suggests that the extreme right and extreme left have surprisingly similar points of view on many things. I won’t comment on the political validity of that, but I discovered a musical version of the idea. Imagine combining the DIY aesthetic of punk rock and […]
Nate Currin Song Premiere – The Tamiami Trail
There’s a subset of musicians commonly known as road dogs. They’re out there doing 100 shows a year, sometimes for decades. Between the tour van/RV and sympathetic fans, their home is defined by the bed underneath them tonight. Nate Currin is one of those guys. He may claim a place in Florida, or some remote […]
Maria Muldaur – One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey
Sometimes music can act as a time machine, delivering us back to some previous time or place. Maria Muldaur’s latest tribute to Victoria Spivey takes her listeners back to the “Roaring Twenties,” a time when Spivey’s saucy lyrics and jaunty rhythms played a big part of the counter-culture of the day. Born in Houston in […]
The Twangville 2025 Album Preview-Side B
Here are some albums that we’re looking forward to hearing in the back half of 2025… Americana Radio by J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed (11 July) Evans and the Boss Tweed make a raucous entrance with their debut album. Evans pairs his booming voice with his fierce guitar for ten tracks of what […]
Joshua Ray Walker on Rehearsing at a Dallas Music School and the Importance of Networking
Joshua Ray Walker talks about how he got his first gig playing his own songs, his favorite non-music day job, and giving himself a raise.
Monday Morning Video – Mark Erelli
Here’s Mark Erelli performing “Her Town Now”, a fave from his 2020 gem Blindsided. Long time readers know that I love a good kiss-off song. Sure, this one doesn’t go full scorched-earth like those on my kiss-off playlist, but this sly, sarcastic verse more than makes up for it.: A little bad TVWould’ve helped me […]
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2025 (So Far), the Songs
Wrong End & Black Snake, Mojave Blues, Balto (from the self-released No Hard Feeling) These two songs represent the scope of Balto’s musical power – the unbridled rock and roll fury of “Black Snake, Mojave Blues” and the powerful emotion of “Wrong End”, the band’s seeming farewell to music: I don’t believe in songs no moreIn the long dead horse […]
BettySoo – If You Never Go Away
As far as I can tell, every musician has a bunch of sad songs in their catalog. If songwriting is cathartic, that makes complete sense because it’s the difficult things in life that need to be worked out, not the happy moments. Austinite BettySoo professes to be the queen of sad songs, going so far […]