Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

Old Settler’s Music Fest – 2014 Edition

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Every spring, a couple of weeks after the madhouse of SXSW, the music festival season kicks off with Old Settler’s Music Festival, about a half hour outside of Austin.  Started as a bluegrass festival, Old Settler’s now embraces a broad spectrum of Americana.  Organizer Jean Spivey has a magic touch for consistently mixing old with […]

Lost & Nameless, Cody Jasper

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Empty Spaces, the latest EP from Lost & Nameless opens with a title track that is perhaps best described as an Americana tango.  So right from the get-go you know this is going to be an interesting listen.  The remainder of the record does not disappoint.  Lost & Nameless is an Austin-based group composed of […]

Katie Glassman & Snapshot – Dream A Little Dream

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When I first ran across Katie Glassman a couple of years ago (review here), I noted her album was exploring a lot of genres.  Her latest release, Dream A Little Dream, hit the streets earlier this week featuring her now-permanent band, Snapshot.  She’s taken a significant step forward as a recording artist with this project. […]

Mayer’s Playlist for January 2014, Part 1

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ALBUMS OF THE MONTH Hard Working Americans, by Hard Working Americans ‘Ya gotta love this album on principle. A veritable super-group of Americana and jam-band artists* get together for, well a jam-session. They forgo writing their own songs and instead champion some of their (and my) favorite songwriters. Like I said, how can you not […]

The Twangville 2014 Release Preview

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If the releases below are any indication, 2014 is shaping up to be a musical embarrassment of riches. What releases, whether on this list or not, are you most excited to hear? HARD WORKING AMERICANS by HARD WORKING AMERICANS(21 January on Melvin Records/Thirty Tigers Records) What happens when a group of musicians — Todd Snider, […]

Monday Morning Video: a Double Dose of Robbie Fulks

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Here’s the affable Robbie Fulks performing a longtime favorite, the title track from his 1998 release Let’s Kill Saturday Night. I’m not sure why the video title reads “Sometimes the Grass Is Really Greener,” a track from last year’s Gone Away Backward. In honor of the mistake, however, here is Fulks performing that song in […]

Mayer’s Picks: Best Songs of 2013

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I posted a best songs list for the first half of 2013 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this the continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year. Closed Hand, Full of Friends, Foy Vance (from the Glassnote Records release Joy of […]

Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2013, Part 2

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ALBUMS OF THE SEASON The Death of the Self-Preservation Society, by Two Cow Garage Two Cow Garage have a well-earned reputation as road warriors who put on ferocious live performances. Their shows are always intense, sweaty and raucous, the way rock is meant to be enjoyed. What sets these guys apart, however, is the strength […]

Scott Law – Black Mountain

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I don’t really recall when I first heard bluegrass music, but I’m certain it didn’t make much of an impression on me until the first time I saw a live show (John Hartford and The Dillards, for what it’s worth).  At that moment, the speed/death/punk/heavy metal-head in me realized that intensity and unbounded energy in […]