The name Gina Villalobos and the words “Best-of-List” will likely be placed together fairly often, once the end of 2009 begins to roll into 2010. This impending pairing is due to the release of Villalobos” beautiful 4th studio album, Days on Their Side (Face West Records). Hailing from California, her geographical roots are prominent as […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009, a Video Companion
We kick the June video companion off with selections from this month’s spotlight artists: Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka and Athens, Georgia’s Patterson Hood. From there we get a bevy of performances from Rhett Miller, Amy Speace, Crooked Fingers, A Camp, Andrew Ripp, The Roadside Graves, Pete Yorn and Matthew Grimm (covering Billy Bragg). We finish […]
Bonnaroo- Part 3
After the Todd Snider experience, I swung over to the Solar Stage for what was billed as an acoustic performance/interview with Grace Potter. Instead, I was presently surprised and got the full on Grace Potter and the Nocturnals treatment. I first caught the Nocturnals at the 2006 Bonnaroo. I had never heard of the band […]
Son Volt – American Central Dust
With the latest release from Son Volt, American Central Dust, I’m reminded why frontman Jay Farrar split with Wilco lead Jeff Tweedy over creative difference in Uncle Tupelo. While Wilco continues to explore new musical directions, sometimes to good affect and sometimes not so much, Son Volt hews closer to the original vision circa 1990. […]
Owen Temple – Dollars and Dimes
Dollars and Dimes (El Paisano Records), the new disc from Texan Owen Temple is an artful shot of reality, as told through the memory and perspective of a traveler with perhaps more questions than answers. Drawing on the current socio-economical climate, Temple has crafted an album that will remind many that story-telling can be relevant […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs), by Patterson Hood Patterson Hood’s last solo release was a somber acoustic affair. This one ain’t. In fact, this collection of songs from Hood’s archives is not dissimilar from a Drive-By Truckers release. Sure, I miss Cooley’s guitar and the Truckers triple guitar interplay. But […]
Phil Pritchett – The Bullfighter Returns
Phil Pritchett, hailing from Ft. Worth, Texas is an artist who is just plain…fun. That label may lack the dynamism one would expect from a performer who is as dynamic as Pritchett is, but watch one of his videos or catch one of his video blogs, even. Once you do that, you’ll more fully appreciate […]
Bonnaroo 2009- Part 1
My 2009 Bonnaroo adventure began over 5 years ago. My cousin, 22 at the time, was diagnosed with a rare lung condition called Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histioctosis. Connie would struggle with both the disease and obtaining insurance in the ensuing 4 years. In June of last year, she received a double lung transplant. The transplant […]
Sarah Jarosz – Song Up In Her Head
Five years ago a skinny 13-year-old in black high tops took the stage at Old Settler’s Music Fest in Austin and proceeded to leave me, and most of the crowd, slack-jawed at her mandolin skills and innate stage presence. Fast forward to today and Sarah Jarosz has performed with some of the biggest names in […]
Advice for Father’s Day
Father’s Day will soon be upon us and with it comes the sophomore release from Nashville’s Daddy. Daddy For a Second Time was reared by Tommy Womack and the mighty Will Kimbrough and is chock full of Southern-tinged acoustic rock, not to mention their trademark wit. Womack’s “Early to Bed, Early to Rise” offers up […]