Another tremendous voice in American music has gone silent with the passing of Raul Malo, co-founder and lead singer of The Mavericks. The band rooted itself in country but seamlessly mixed in elements of Cuban son and Tex-Mex, creating a sound entirely their own. From life-of-the-party anthems like “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall/Winter 2025, Part 1
Speechwriter, Joelton Mayfield (from the Bloodshot Records release Crowd Pleaser) Joelton Mayfield’s Crowd Pleaser announces itself with purpose: vivid storytelling wrapped in guitars that know when to whisper and when to scream. The dynamics shift constantly—bobbing, weaving, building tension that reverberates from somewhere in the distance before crashing into the present moment. “Pretty Linda” offers […]
Kiss Off – a Special Twangville Playlist, Part 8
A few times over the years I put together a series of special playlists featuring my favorite kiss off songs. Despite what some may think, I’m really not that cynical. Rather, I just appreciate how some songwriters can tackle the topic with humor and bite. It’s kind of like a genre unto itself. There have […]
Bonus Monday Video – Many Rivers to Cross
Apparently I’m not the only one who considers Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross” one of contemporary music’s great compositions. Here are some exceptional performances of the song by Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Annie Lennox, Lissie, Allen Stone & EJ Worland, and Bruce Springsteen.
Bonus Monday Video – The Cranberries
There’s something special about hearing artists strip down and reimagine their songs in an acoustic setting—it offers fresh perspective on both the material and the songwriters behind it. MTV’s Unplugged series provided the perfect platform for these transformative performances, capturing artists at their most vulnerable and inventive. When The Cranberries took the Unplugged stage in […]
Alex Wong on Mixing Records and Teaching Martial Arts
Singer-songwriter Alex Wong talks about rehearsing above a tallow factory (and the odors that permeated the space) and the time that he played fake guitar in a TV commercial.
Monday Morning Video – Toad the Wet Sprocket
The Ryman Auditorium has heard more than its share of songs about the passage of time. Earlier this year, Toad the Wet Sprocket added one of their own to that legacy with an acoustic rendering of “Rings.” Stripped of studio polish, the song’s imagery — rings of rain and summers, dry spells and brushfire — […]
“The Breeze” – a Premiere from Mel and the Tall Boys
Brooklyn’s Mel and the Tall Boys tap into something timeless with “The Breeze.” Singer-songwriter Mel Johnston fuses the pop classicism of Peggy Lee with the melodic edge of Mary Weiss and the Shangri-Las, deftly channeling that lineage with confidence and grace. Lush instrumentation, including strings, piano, and percussion, adds rhythmic drive and cinematic color behind […]
Monday Morning Video – Karl Wallinger and World Party
This week we’ll celebrate the late Karl Wallinger, who would have turned 68 yesterday. As the creative force behind World Party, Wallinger had a gift for writing songs that were simple and sublime yet deeply moving. “She’s the One” is a perfect example: a love song that builds into something transcendent, carried by his distinctive […]
The Grahams – The Bridge
When we last checked into our Americana travelogue protagonists, Alyssa and Doug Graham, they had just finished the third segment in a 3-part journey across the landscape. It was a motorcycle ride down Route 66, and was preceded by a train tour of the country and a Mississippi riverboat cruise. For their newest release, The […]