Twangville readers picked My Old Familiar Friend by Brendan Benson as their favorite release for week of August 18, 2009. With his fourth solo LP Brendan Benson teams up with producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Maximo Park, Foo Fighters, Gomez) to deliver 11 new tracks. The music has been in the works since as early as […]
Mindy Smith – Stupid Love
The best way to understand the present state of Mindy Smith’s career is to put that career in the context of how it really began. Mindy Smith was included in an all-star tribute album to Dolly Parton, Just Because I’m a Woman (Sugar Hill, 2003). However, in 2003 Smith was no All-Star, but there she […]
Bobby Bare Jr. – American Bread
This post was originally going to be all about my recent trip to Ft. Worth, TX to catch Bobby Bare Jr. and The Legendary Shack Shakers. But, things have taken a turn since I listened to the album I purchased that night when leaving the show (more on that in a bit). I was expecting […]
Indie Hour: Brendan Benson
With The Raconteurs, his side-project with friend Jack White, on a hiatus, Brendan Benson returns to his solo roots to unleash a power pop bonanza with My Old, Familiar Friend. Opener “A Whole Lot Better†sets the tone with a rash of electric guitars powered by an urgent beat and walking baseline. “I fell in […]
Mayer’s Playlist from July 2009, a Video Companion
So my quest for a Bottle Rockets video from the new release turned up empty. That won’t, however, stop us from watching the boys rock out with David Bowie’s “Suffragette City.” From there we run through a string of great live performances from Daddy (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack), Jones Street Station, Those Darlins, Ketch […]
Mayer’s Playlist from July 2009
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Lean Forward, by The Bottle Rockets Now that summer has finally arrived, it’s a good time to pick out the summer albums. It starts with the latest from the pride of Festus, Missouri, The Bottle Rockets. Lead songwriter Brian Henneman is a pop songwriter masquerading as an alt-country musician. And summer […]
Scott Warren – Quick Fix Bandage
I have really enjoyed digging into the new album from Californias’ Scott Warren. Quick Fix Bandage (Jungular Music), is one of those great singer/songwriter albums that deftly tosses folk, rock, country and pop into a wholly satisfying creation. Warren’s vocals contain a gentle rasp that seems to help the fusion of different styles, much in […]
Gina Villalobos -Days On Their Side
The name Gina Villalobos and the words “Best-of-List” will likely be placed together fairly often, once the end of 2009 begins to roll into 2010. This impending pairing is due to the release of Villalobos” beautiful 4th studio album, Days on Their Side (Face West Records). Hailing from California, her geographical roots are prominent as […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009, a Video Companion
We kick the June video companion off with selections from this month’s spotlight artists: Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka and Athens, Georgia’s Patterson Hood. From there we get a bevy of performances from Rhett Miller, Amy Speace, Crooked Fingers, A Camp, Andrew Ripp, The Roadside Graves, Pete Yorn and Matthew Grimm (covering Billy Bragg). We finish […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs), by Patterson Hood Patterson Hood’s last solo release was a somber acoustic affair. This one ain’t. In fact, this collection of songs from Hood’s archives is not dissimilar from a Drive-By Truckers release. Sure, I miss Cooley’s guitar and the Truckers triple guitar interplay. But […]