The Americana Music Association Conference and Awards made a welcome return from the virtual world this year. The annual event showcased several hundred artists who collectively illustrate the breadth of the Americana umbrella. Here are some of my highlights from Americana 2022. CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM Ingram is now in the category of “when you can […]
The Brothers Comatose – When It All Falls Apart Video Premiere
San Francisco-based band The Brothers Comatose was formed in 2009 by brothers Alex (banjo, vocals) and Ben (guitar, vocals) Morrison and fiddler Philip Brezina. They added Steve Height on bass and Greg Fleischut on mandolin, and started taking the northern California acoustic music world by storm. Walking the line between jam band and progressive bluegrass […]
We Banjo 3 on Their On-Stage Ninja and Touring Folk Festivals
Irish Quartet We Banjo 3 talk about their pre-band day jobs and how they fuel their collective creative brain.
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2022 (So Far), the Songs
Meant to Be, BER & Charlie Oriain (from the self-released And I’m Still Thinking About That) A wonderful discovery at this year’s SXSW… and one of my favorite songs so far this year. But I think you’re the one for someone else And that shit’s hard to say It’s okay, you feel the same and I can […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2022 (So Far), the Albums
Twilights by Jesper Lindell Sweden’s Lindell makes true Americana that channels the spirit of the Band, a point he emphasizes with a great cover of that group’s “Twilight”. It’s Lindell’s own compositions and the arrangements that bring the songs to life, however, that make Twilights such a memorable experience. How Long Will It Take Them […]
We Banjo 3 – Open the Road
I went on line to look up the antonym of stage fright. I got a bunch of words like calm, cool, and collected. If you’ve ever seen Galway, Ireland-based We Banjo 3 live, you know two things. First, their behavior on stage is diametrically opposed to stage fright. Second, it is not calm, cool, and […]
Everett Wren – Porchlight
Surfing the satellite TV currents the other day I briefly landed on a food show about making the Mexican treasure, mole sauce. About the only thing in common the virtually infinite versions have is they all use a boatload of different spices that come together forming a flavor unique to every family. I realized mole […]
Old Settler’s Music Festival – 2022 Edition
Just outside Lockhart, the BBQ capital of Texas, lays a 150 acre spread that’s home to Old Settler’s Music Festival, which wrapped up this past Sunday. I had the pleasure of being there for almost all of the four-day event (five, if you count the open mic event on Wednesday night in the campground). They […]
Old Settler’s Music Festival – Preview
Every year about now I make a pilgrimage to Austin for a few days of listening to music. It’s not for SXSW. Instead I head out to Tilmon, about an hour southeast of town, for Old Settler’s Music Festival. It’s just the right size to where it’s easy to navigate, but there’s still enough of […]
Joshua Rilko on His Collapsible Kettle and the Inspiration for an Early Song He Wrote
Nashville-based Joshua Rilko talks about touring in a shuttle bus that ran on straight veggie oil and winning his high school talent show.