A friend of mine told me she saw a double bill 15 or so years ago with Michelle Shocked and Billy Bragg. Wow, to paraphrase an old Rodney Dangerfield joke, I went to a protest and a concert broke out. Michelle is on tour again in support of her upcoming album, Soul of My Soul. […]
The Legacy of Townes and Sir Douglas
Spring brings us two phenomenal releases honoring the legacy of Texas music pioneers Doug Sahm and Townes Van Zandt. The recently released Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm (Vanguard Records) pays tribute to San Antonio native Doug Sahm. Sahm established himself in 1965 as leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet, a band whose […]
Kiss Off! A Special Twangville Playlist, Part 3
In the words of the guy in the Verizon ad, “Can you hear me now?” If not, try these gems from the classics edition of our special Twangville playlist: Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright), Bob Dylan So long, honey, babe Where I’m bound, I can’t tell Goodbye’s too good a word, babe So I’ll just […]
Elvis Perkins, midnight church, and redemption
Elvis Perkins just restored in my faith in the hot-blooded beating heart of music, in a cavernous church sanctuary in the middle of Austin tonight. Playing a midnight set with his impassioned band Dearland, he left me reeling in the front pew as he wailed and pounded and jangled through his heartbreaking song catalog. I […]
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
When I was growing up back in the 70’s, it wasn’t unusual for an artist to have a Concept Album. They would take some idea or theme and write a number of songs at least vaguely in line with the concept. Of course all those records can really be traced to Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts […]
Kiss Off! A Special Twangville Playlist, Part 2
Here’s the second installment of our special “Kiss Off” playlist, country and folk edition: So Long Baby Goodbye, The Blasters There was a cold wind blowing on the night we met, The leaves fell from the trees, You made a lot of promises I ain’t seen yet, And I ain’t gonna ask you please. You […]
Brett Dennen — Hope For The Hopeless
Everyone should be so lucky as to live in a place that inspires the kind of love song to a city as "San Francisco", the opening track in Brett Dennen’s latest album, "Hope For The Hopeless". Dennen grew up in Oakdale, CA, a couple of hours from the city by the Bay, but it seems […]
The Whipsaws- 60 Watt Avenue
The Whipsaws are a bar band…. a glorious, alt. country ass kicking bar band. Just listen to the tossed off rock and roll of their sophomore effort, 60 Watt Avenue. Though Neil Young is the easiest influence to infer as the band moves from Crazy Horse style rockers to Harvest-era ballads with ease, the Whipsaws […]
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Angelic voices and classical music are like two peas in a pod. Rock, pop, and country, on the other hand, seem a bit more interested in the broken and damaged. Rock voices usually lack the purity of the biblical cherubs. There’s something about a perfect vocal that’s just the antithesis of rock. Now I didn’t […]
Fred Eaglesmith, Live at the Little Fox
One of the reasons I like live shows so much is you get a true sense of the artist. You hear the real musician, not what an engineer or producer decides you should hear. You also get to see their real talent. Take Emmylou Harris, for example. Unbelievably, that crystal clear, mesmerizing, audible perfection of […]