Immortal Americans, Austin Lucas (from the Cornelius Chapel Records release Immortal Americans) Immortal Americans feels like the album that Austin Lucas was destined to make. The road there certainly wasn’t easy as he overcame a series of challenges, both personal and professional, along the way. It ultimately led him back to his roots in Indiana […]
The Twangville 2018 Release Preview, Summer/Fall Edition
We’ve already been treated to a number of great new albums in 2018. Read on for some releases expected in the back half of the year. What albums, whether on this list or not, are you most excited to hear? TILT AND SHINE by KEVIN GORDON(27 July on Crowville Media) Gordon returns with another scruffy […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2018 (So Far), the Albums
It’s been a good year for music so far this year (and the rest of the year is looking quite nice, too). Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite releases from the first half of 2018. HOW TO BE OK ALONE by BRENT COWLES Cowles shares a debut solo full-length that is […]
Speedbuggy USA – Kick Out the Twang
A friend and I were talking the other day about the irony of punk music being 30+ years old. Although I can’t claim to have been a punk rocker back in the day, I did like the country influence that some LA bands were putting on it, notably X, under the nom de plume of cowpunk. […]
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Live at Songbirds
At one point early in his set Ray Wylie Hubbard borrowed a line form one of his songs and said, “Any day my gratitude is above my expectations is a good day. Today has been a good dayâ€. It was indeed a good night. The event took place at Songbirds in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Songbirds is […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Spring 2018, Part 2
Heartbreak Man, Sam Morrow (from the Forty Below Records release Concrete and Mud) Concrete and Mud is the sound of an artist hitting stride. Sam Morrow’s previous two albums were solid outings but there was a certain restraint, a tentativeness of an artist in the process of finding his voice. One can actually see that […]
The Twangville 2018 Release Preview
If the albums scheduled for release over the next few months are any indication, there’s a great year of music ahead of us. Here are just a few forthcoming long-players that we are eagerly anticipating in 2018. BETWEEN TWO SHORES by GLEN HANSARD (19 January on Anti- Records) Hansard has the unique ability to combine […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best Songs of 2017, Part 3
I posted my list of favorite from the first half of 2017 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this a continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year. Stone Age, David Ramirez (from the Thirty Tigers release We’re Not Going Anywhere) “Well […]
Mayer’s Picks – More Favorites from 2017
Here, in no particular order, are a few more favorites from 2017. New MistakesTerra Lightfoot Letters Never ReadDori Freeman Other Love SongsFront Country Boy Crazy and Single(s)Lydia Loveless Transient LullabyThe Mastersons The World We BuiltThe Wild Reeds Youth DetentionLee Bains III and the Glory Fires Tomorrow ForeverMatthew Sweet Life Is FinePaul Kelly This Is My […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2017, Part 2
No Heart Left Behind, Hannah Aldridge (from the Rootsy Music release Gold Rush) “I take my heartache with a little bit of ice,” announces Muscle Shoals-raised Hannah Aldridge on “Burning Down Birmingham,” one of several stand-outs from her latest release. Electric guitars lead the charge, sometimes chugging with an insistent stoicism and other times unleashing […]