First up is the debut record from North Carolina couple Emma & Tyler Millard, who go under the band name The Ghosts Of Liberty. My favorite song on the 3-tune EP is Roanoke River. It’s a tension-filled, country-pop story about society’s biases and love’s ability to overcome them. With Tyler’s rootsy edge on guitar providing […]
The Mastersons’ “Sensitive Souls” – a Twangville Video Premiere
If you’re reading this then you’re likely aware of the many ways that Covid has devastated musicians, not to mention the music venues that have long sustained them. The Mastersons, singer-songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore, had just embarked on a tour to support No Time For Love Songs, their latest album, when the live music business […]
Taylor Kingman of TK & the Holy Know-Nothings on Hard-Boiled Eggs and Beautiful Chaos
Taylor Kingman of Portland, Oregon group TK & the Holy Know-Nothings talks about the reliable vehicle stage of life and “keepin’ one gig ahead of a day job”.
Bonus Monday Video – Celebrating Tom Petty
The late Tom Petty would have celebrated his 70th birthday last week. Nashville-based musician Dylan Sevey decided to mark the occasion by inviting a few friends to share some of their favorite Petty songs. I guess things got a little carried away – just look at the list of participating artists below, more than 100 […]
The Bodarks – Side Effects
The English language has some very captivating words. A friend of mine likes “shenanigans”. I’ve always been partial to “gobsmacked”. Then there’s “hootenanny”. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s sort of like open mic night at the square dance. Think string bands and dancing; raw, fast-paced, and open to anyone. That’s the spirit […]
New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers – Vol. 1
There are jam sessions, and then there are JAM SESSIONs. When you get blues masters Charlie Musselwhite and Alvin Youngblood Hart together with former Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, North Mississippi Allstars brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and their father Jim, you’re gonna have a JAM SESSION. That’s what happened in the fall of 2007, […]
The Sea The Sea on Hard Won Lessons and Touring with a Blender
Mira Stanley and Chuck E. Costa of The Sea The Sea talk about why they can’t tour with a harmonica and recall the first songs that they wrote.
Kelley Swindall on Mailing Lists and Alternate Side Parking
NYC-based artist Kelley Swindall talks about the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, tour breakdowns, and ordering salads in the South.
Non Duo – In Your Eyes
I’ve been writing reviews for over a decade, and I listen to a bunch of things I never write about. Plus, stints on the radio and owning too many records. In all that time, I’ve never heard an album start and end with the same song, only in English and Russian. I have now. Better […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 2
Fine, Bonnie Whitmore (from the Aviatrix Records release Last Will & Testament) Bonnie Whitmore lulls you in with a chorus of harmonies on the opening track to her latest album. But before one can settle into the lushness, a fuzzy bass, quickly joined by ominous strings and a resonating electric guitar, interrupts to create a […]