Twangville readers picked ‘Flower Petals’ by The Subdudes as their favorite release for week of August 18, 2009. Deep in the heart of New Orleans is where you’ll find The Subdudes, a band that uses a tambourine in place of drums. They played together for 9 years before reuniting in 2002 to give it another […]
Readers’ Pick: My Old Familiar Friend by Brendan Benson
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 […]
Ritter and Kweller take North Adams
With its first music festival, you might think that Mass Moca (Museum of Comtemporary Art) would go for something really progressive like Deerhunter or experimental electronica Panda Bear. Something that changes the way we look at music (and thus alienating nearly every member of the audience with the exception of the Pitchfork’s uber-music geeks). But […]
Readers’ Pick: Acousticueticals by Plain & Simple
Twangville readers picked fan write-in Acousticueticals by Plain & Simple as their favorite release for week of August 11, 2009. Plain & Simple is the work of B.J. Purnell a middle-America father of five who appears to live up to the “plain and simple” moniker. The album contains 11 original songs written by Purnell accompanied […]
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 […]
Les Paul, 1915-2009
Les Paul could be called a legend merely for the 80-year recording and performing career that saw him playing regular weekly gigs nearly 12 years leading up to his passing today. When one considers his innovations — ranging from the “Les Paul” model electric guitar to multi-track recording techniques — and his legacy becomes nothing […]
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 […]
The Bottle Rockets – Lean Forward
Hailing from the St. Louis area, The Bottle Rockets show some of the same influences that inspired Uncle Tupelo and their progeny. In Lean Forward , their tenth release, the Rockets have a record that’s a rich bouquet of rock and roll, but nonetheless retaining some twangy alt country aromas. What distinguishes many of the […]
The Deep Vibration – Veracruz
The Deep Vibration, out of Nashville, know how to leave a guy wanting more. Their EP, Veracruz (Dualtone), seems to tease the listener with only a total of 5 songs. All 5 songs are made up of high-quality, bluesy rock and it just doesnt seem like enough. Matt Campbell’s vocal performance is strong and the […]