Chances are that you’ve never heard folk classic “Sixteen Tons” quite like this. The legendary song paints a grim picture of life working in the coal mines back in the early and mid 20th century. Christopher Paul Stelling takes an already somber song and gives it a haunting edge. Here he pairs it with his […]
Mayer’s Playlist for September 2015
Into the Deep, Galactic (from the Provogue release Into the Deep) There’s a lesson to be learned across the eleven tracks that make up Galactic’s latest release. I can’t recall a record in recent memory that is so musically diverse yet sounds so cohesive. It is a testament to the New Orleans-based quintet’s immense musical […]
The Blackberry Bushes String Band – Three Red Feathers
I love it when music transports you to another time or place. Â Some musicians do it with their stories. Â We wrote about Kevin Gordon last week. Â John Prine and Robert Earl Keen also come to mind. Â Other musicians do it with the music itself. Â The Mavericks always make my short list for that, as does […]
Kevin Gordon – Long Gone Time
While all of the Twangville writers have their favorite artists, there are a few of them that end up on just about all of our lists. Â Kevin Gordon makes that short list, and his latest record caught the imagination of more than one of us. Â So here are a few thoughts on Long Gone Time. […]
Jackie Greene – Back To Birth
I’ve always liked musicians who mix things up in a live show and aren’t afraid to dive into a new genre, comfortable their artistry and talent aren’t confined to a single style. Â Over the years, Joan Osborne has been a poster child for that, doing everything from 90’s pop ballads to covers of Motown classics […]
Peace, Love and Twang at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Philadelphia Folk Festival, which has been around for 54 years, isn’t your grandfather’s folk festival. While there is still a smattering of venerable acoustic solo folksingers on its program like Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Cockburn and Tom Paxton, the festival has become a great platform for Americana artists of all flavors as well as for […]
Mea Culpa! A Special Summer Playlist, Part 1
Mea culpa! So last year I made a commitment to myself to write a monthly playlist and publish it within the month for which it was named. I gave myself a hearty pat on the back when I met that goal. Thankfully, I didn’t set the same goal this year as I would have failed […]
Ana Egge – Bright Shadow
In New York, Chicago, San Francisco, you can still find dimly lit, low-ceiling basement clubs, surprisingly full even on a weeknight, where you can get a stiff drink and a soberingly good jazz band.  You can’t smoke in them anymore, but that smoky sound still comes from a singer whose voice seems earned from whisky and cigarettes […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2015 (So Far), the Albums
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite releases from the first half of 2015. COMPLICATED GAME by JAMES MCMURTRY As he celebrates the release of his first album in six years, there’s a part of me that wishes that McMurtry was more prolific. Then I remember that it takes time to craft […]
Tweed River Talk – A Few Words with Dan Blakeslee
Our latest interview is with Somerville, MA-based folk troubadour Dan Blakeslee. Blakeslee has released numerous albums, the most recent of which is 2014’s Owed to the Tangled Wind. The album was recorded at the Columbus Theatre in Providence, RI by Ben Knox Miller and Jeffrey Prystowsky (The Low Anthem) and earned Blakeslee recognition as the […]