Not Ready Yet, Jamie McDell (from the ABC Music release Jamie McDell) I’ve been not so patiently awaiting the latest release from New Zealand’s Jamie McDell. Her 2019 EP was a tremendous introduction to her songwriting talent, especially the pull no punches “Botox” and the raw emotion of “Worst Crime”. Both songs are featured, alongside […]
Mickelson’s “A Murder of Crows – A Twangville Premiere
I first connected with Bay Area artist and producer Mickelson in 2019 when he produced Blanket the Homeless, a wonderful benefit album to support programs for the homeless in San Francisco. He followed that project with a solo album Drowning in an Inflatable Pool, a one of my favorite releases of that year. And now […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Feb/Mar 2022, Part 1
The Ballad of Sissy & Porter, The Whitmore Sisters (from the Red House Records release Ghost Stories) There’s a throwback quality to the Whitmore Sisters’ Ghost Stories. Sure, sisters Eleanor and Bonnie have magical familial harmonies that recall The Everly Brothers. It’s the songs and arrangements, however, that hearken back to a bygone era when […]
Monday Morning Video – The Sadies
We lost another great talent this past week with the passing of Dallas Good, co-founder of Canada’s treasured The Sadies. In addition to the group’s own prodigious output, they have collaborated with countless friends and admirers, including Neko Case, John Doe, Justin Townes Earle, Gord Downie, and countless others. Good’s passing is another tragic loss […]
Sarah Borges – Together Alone
The human psyche is programmed to take comfort from things that are familiar. That plays out in the new record from Sarah Borges, Together Alone. She, and long-time collaborator Eric (Roscoe) Ambel, took the chaos of the pandemic, stitched together an impossible-to-repeat remote recording routine, and produced a record that’s just the Sarah Borges music […]
Mason Jennings on Ford Econoline Vans, Thai Food, and “Moving Blues”
Mason Jennings talks about not trying to fit in and the wildlife that roams around his rehearsal space.
Jimmer Podrasky of The Rave-Ups on Finding BBQ on the Road and Taking a 24 Year Hiatus From Music
Jimmer Podrasky of The Rave-Ups celebrates the band’s first new album in more than 20 years by reflecting on secret rehearsals in the basement of A&M Records and the band’s early gigs in Pittsburgh.
Lord Nelson – Transmission
It’s an oft-attempted, but less often achieved, feat to capture the live sound of a band on a studio album. It’s a shame, because there are many groups that consistently kick it up a notch when they’re in front of a crowd. One of those is Charlottesville, VA-based Lord Nelson. They thought they had the […]
Monday Morning Video – Bendigo Fletcher
In search of one last morsel of music late one night at last fall’s Americana Conference, I stumbled across Louisville, Kentucky’s Bendigo Fletcher. Although I only caught a couple of songs, the band’s melodic (and harmonic) charm and lyrical intensity stuck with me. I finally got to see a full and proper set on the […]
Monday Morning Video – Ronnie Spector
With the passing of Ronnie Spector, another rock and roll legend has been taken from us. Spector leaves behind a tremendous musical legacy, one that led to the Ronettes being inducted into the Hall of Fame (with an induction speech by Keith Richards). Below is that night’s performances of the group’s signature “Be My Baby”. […]