I’ve heard several musicians state they don’t know what they would have done if they weren’t musicians. It’s all they’ve ever been any good at, or even really known how to do. I have no idea how Hayes Carll feels about that notion, but I’m pretty sure he could have been a standout comedian or […]
Nate Currin Song Premiere – The Tamiami Trail
There’s a subset of musicians commonly known as road dogs. They’re out there doing 100 shows a year, sometimes for decades. Between the tour van/RV and sympathetic fans, their home is defined by the bed underneath them tonight. Nate Currin is one of those guys. He may claim a place in Florida, or some remote […]
The Twangville 2025 Album Preview-Side B
Here are some albums that we’re looking forward to hearing in the back half of 2025… Americana Radio by J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed (11 July) Evans and the Boss Tweed make a raucous entrance with their debut album. Evans pairs his booming voice with his fierce guitar for ten tracks of what […]
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2025 (So Far), the Songs
Wrong End & Black Snake, Mojave Blues, Balto (from the self-released No Hard Feeling) These two songs represent the scope of Balto’s musical power – the unbridled rock and roll fury of “Black Snake, Mojave Blues” and the powerful emotion of “Wrong End”, the band’s seeming farewell to music: I don’t believe in songs no moreIn the long dead horse […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2025 (So Far), the Albums
No Hard Feeling by Balto Released quietly in late December 2024, Balto’s surprise album opened 2025 on an incredibly powerful note—impassioned, defiant, and beautifully crafted. From the slow-burning heartbreak of “Big City” to the searing catharsis of “Black Snake, Mojave Blues,” the band channels their frustrations and fading faith in music into a collection that’s […]
Kai Crowe-Getty – The Wreckage
At some point in everyone’s life you learn to measure your hopes and desires against the reality of your situation. You have to still keep them separate in order to function daily, but each can inform the other. I think that heightened sense of self-awareness is the common thread in the songs from Virginian Kai […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Spring 2025, Part 1
The Van Pelt Parties, Patterson Hood (from the ATO Records release Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams) Patterson Hood has long been a master of Southern storytelling, and on his latest album, he delivers a collection of tales—some real, some imagined—that reflect the complexities of life in the Deep South, particularly his native Alabama. These aren’t […]
Shelby Means – Shelby Means
I sometimes get surprised when a musician releases a debut album. Their industry stature and experience just led me to assume that along with all their other projects they’d somewhere along the line done a solo record. Such is the case with Charleston’s Shelby Means. With groundbreaking and Grammy-winning stints in Della Mae, and Molly […]
Monday Morning Video – Radney Foster
With Father’s Day coming up this Sunday, it feels like the perfect time to share this song. One of the standout moments from last year’s AmericanaFest was seeing Radney Foster perform it during a songwriter round hosted by Sunny Sweeney. As the event was winding down, Sweeney asked Jack Ingram to close it out. Ingram […]
The Shootouts – Switchback
Some people collect old vinyl records. Some people collect autographs. As far as I can tell, Ryan Humbert and his bandmates in The Shootouts collect guest stars. They just released their 4th album, Switchback, and it includes appearances from Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, and Sam Bush, among others. Their previous records have featured Chuck Mead, […]