There’s a very California sound you get by taking the twangy guitar and rock solid rhythm line associated with Bakersfield and overlaying it with the acoustic guitar and multi-part harmonies that sprang from the hills and canyons northwest of LA in the 60’s. You could probably argue Graham Parsons first touched that nerve with Sweetheart […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best of 2020, the Albums
What a year it has been! Thankfully there’s been some great music to help sustain us. Here are my picks for the best albums of 2020. 11. Consider the Speed by Terra Lightfoot Another rock and roll tour de force from Terra Lightfoot. Consider the Speed is brimming with fervent guitars and musical bravado, not […]
Band Premiere – The Great Outdoors
The pandemic has been hard on bands. How’s that for an understatement? With touring shut down, and even gathering in the studio a challenge, many musicians have had to focus on more essential elements of life. In no way, though, has that diminished the passion that made them eschew a normal day job in the […]
Monday Morning Video – Devil’s Sooty Brother
Dallas musicians Joshua Ray Walker and Nathan Mongol Wells – aka Devil’s Sooty Brother – sure do like to perform. The two originally joined forces as part of Ottoman Turks, a loud and rowdy quartet. When that wasn’t enough, they started a monthly residency as Devil’s Sooty Brother, mixing originals into sets filled with classic […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 5
The Contractor, John Calvin Abney (from the Black Mesa Records release Familiar Ground) Familiar Ground, like John Calvin Abney’s previous albums, possesses a beautiful spirituality that is comforting and uplifting. Case in point – he opens this latest release with the heartening “When This Blows Over”, a song that serves as a quiet anthem for the […]
Dave Alvin on Keeping a Low Overhead and Going Where the Love Is
Dave Alvin talks about working as a fry cook and the most important night of his life.
Ben Roberts of Carolina Story on Gifted Guitar Strings and the Long, Hard Road of Music
Ben Roberts of duo Carolina Story talks about performing at his 13th birthday party, working at a private school, and following in Johnny Cash’s footsteps.
“The Somerville Lights” – A Twangville Premiere from Dan Blakeslee
Christmasland Jubilee is a dream fulfilled for Dan Blakeslee. As he tells it, he started recording Christmas songs on his meager home recording gear in 2006 to share with his family as gifts. Those humble beginnings sparked his desire to record a full Christmas album with his band the Calabash Club. That process began in 2019 […]
Chris Smither on “Real Work” and What Makes Him Happy
Singer-songwriter Chris Smither talks about his cozy and comfy home rehearsal space, early gigs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and the first song that he wrote (and that he still occasionally plays)
Monday Morning Video – Allen Toussaint
Legendary New Orleans club Tipitina’s recently hosted a live stream to raise funds to help the venue survive the Covid pandemic. It was, of course, a tremendous celebration of an institution whose reputation stretches around the world. Among many highlights was footage of the late Allen Toussaint. It was a welcome reminder of Toussaint’s greatness […]