In the world of bluegrass and roots music, few, if any, have been buzzed about louder than Sarah Jarosz has been in the last couple of years. Unlike so many other hyped-up youngsters, however, the current musical student (it’s likely she could take many of her fellow pupils to school, if you know what I […]
Love That Dirty Water: A Boston Playlist
Welcome to the second in a periodic series of playlists showcasing artists from my hometown of Boston. You Were Drunk, Rose Polenzani with Session Americana (from the self-released When the River Meets the Sea) Polenzani does a periodic showcase at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. It is quite the affair as she invites friends and […]
Amos Lee – Mission Bell
On January 25th, Amos Lee is going to release Mission Bell on Blue Note Records. Mark your calendars, this early January release will remain on many best of lists by the end of 2011. Characteristically, Lee’s soulful voice is the focal point of the album. However, the sound of Mission Bell exhibits more texture than his previous […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Oct/Nov 2010, Video Companion
Happy weekend. I’m certainly ready for it, some time to relax and perhaps catch a show or two. Here’s the over-stuffed (Thanksgiving pun intended) video companion to the October and November playlist. Things kick off with a run of acoustic performances from Bow Thayer, Doc Dailey, Will Hoge, Teddy Goldstein, the Autumn Defense, Benjamin Frances […]
Meatyard – Sweet Old Green Life
Somewhere in the information that I dug up on Meatyard, it says something about how “Leonard Cohen would sound if he had a country band”. There are all kinds of implications in that statement, like future greatness, cult following, and even that somehow nothing Cohen does is country. I don’t subscribe to much of that, […]
Kathryn Caine – Down Home Girl
Ever notice there aren’t many female-oriented songs about not being tied down? I’m sure there are, but they don’t come to mind like Free Bird or Ramblin’ Man. I suppose Thelma & Louise gives the XX perspective for the movie genre, but what about something you can sing along to? Kathryn Caine, on her latest […]
The White Buffalo – Prepare for Black & Blue
Wow. Upon seeing the name, The White Buffalo, visions of indie-hipsters attempting achieve some sort of irony for irony’s sake, were dancing through my head. Thankfully, an irony-seeking hipster The White Buffalo isn’t. It was too good to be true that The White Buffalo would be this artist’s given name. According to our friends at […]
Turnpike Troubadours – Diamonds & Gasoline
Busting out of Oklahoma, The Turnpike Troubadours are here to breathe new life into what is too often a stale environment in the world of Red Dirt music. Sure, this quintet does their fair share of rocking out, why wouldn’t they? It’s the added country (shocking!) dimensions of their tunes that lend the album, and […]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2010
This year marked the 10th version of the world’s largest music festival. It’s grown from 13,000 people watching 9 acts on 2 stages in one day, called Strictly Bluegrass, to a 3-day event with nearly 90 acts on 6 stages with 650,000 attendees, called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. All of it free: paid for by philanthropist […]
The Honey Dewdrops – These Old Roots
I was instantly transported back a decade or more to a sunny meadow in summertime Colorado. Norman and Nancy Blake were performing an afternoon set at Rockygrass. It was surprising how sweet and lighthearted sounding their songs were, yet be so full of melancholy and sorrow. That’s the same experience I had with These Old […]