On their third studio full-length, New York City’s Hem offer up a thoughtful selection of secular hymns to the lost and broken-hearted. There is a fragile beauty in the delicate arrangements of Hem’s songs, and an often comfortably familiar tone, by turns evoking the melodies and moods of Bruce Springsteen (“Old Adam”), Tom Waits (“The […]
Twangville Live in the OC
Twangville Presents a live and local show Sat. Feb. 17 featuring Mike Stinson, Gina Villalobos and Haymaker at the Blue Cafe in Huntington Beach, CA. Three great LA-area artists bring Twangville live to this local club. Twangville Live presents Americana/Alt-Country once a month at the Blue Cafe.
I Must Have Poor Taste in Music
In the coming days I’ll be posting a top 10 list of my favorite albums of 2006. Before I do so, I wanted to comment on something I found to be odd. I’m a subscriber of No Depression magazine, perhaps the top print magazine dedicated to Americana related music. Every issue is chock full of […]
Happy Holidays
LA band Shurman offer up this original holiday gem, “Santa You Can Skip Me This Year.”
Best of Winter 2006, a Playlist
The bar has been set high! I’m astounded by the number of great albums that have already surfaced this year. Will Hoge shunned traditional record promotions by leaning heavily on juggernauts MySpace and Purevolume all the way to offering up a free download from the album once every week. Josh Rouse travelled to Spain offering […]
Let the Music Play: The 2006 SXSW Recap
Another SXSW has come and gone. This year’s event brought over 1,000 bands to Austin for five days of music, cheap beer and great barbeque. Sounds pretty good to me. Although this year’s event was light on new discoveries, it was filled with old favorites. And now for the highlights: The New Orleans Social Club: […]
Tom’s Pick of the Week, Bruce Robison
There are several interesting releases this week. I’m intrigued by releases from just about all these artists. Though, the only one that I’ve been able to preview that I feel comfortable recommending is Texas-based, Americana singer-songwriter, Bruce Robison’s Eleven Stories. Check out track #2 “Virginia”: [audio:http://www.sustainrecords.com/audio/Bruce%20Robison%20-%20Virginia.mp3] Notable releases for week of April 4, 2006 from: […]
The Dylan/Cash Sessions
Two unbelievable artists working together is always a good thing. People finding that work after a number of years and making it available on the Internet is even better. Here are Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash performing “Ring of Fire.” [audio:http://www.ezarchive.com/satisfied75/AlbumSpace/6Q5XOQVM0P/10+-+Track10.mp3] If you want more (as you doubtlessly will), head over here, to An Aquarium […]
Tom’s Pick of the Week, Josh Rouse
I just returned from vacation and I didn’t want to let the week pass without mentioning new releases from Ben Harper and Josh Rouse. Though Harper’s 2-disc release Both Sides of the Gun simply cannot be ignored, I like Rouse’s Subtitulo. He departs slightly from last year’s smash Nashville by adding some Spanish influences which […]
Mayer’s Playlist for February & March 2006
Sure, I know that March is nearly over. Between my day job and my preparations for SXSW, however, time got away from me. Stay tuned for the complete SXSW recap… Feb. 14, Drive-By Truckers (from the forthcoming A Blessing and a Curse) A fine preview that proves the band’s legendary triple guitar attack remains intact. […]