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”. […]
The Twangville Early 2022 Release Preview
Meet the new year. Same as the old? Not so much on the music front with a great batch of new music on the horizon. Here are some releases eagerly anticipated by the Twangville posse. Hell on Church Street by Punch Brothers (14 January) The virtuoso string quintet remind us yet again why they are […]
Ward Hayden & the Outliers Have “Nothing To Do” – a Twangville Premiere
Though the title lends itself to our Covid lives, certainly these days as Omicron wreaks havoc around the world, “Nothing To Do (For Real This Time)” is about something entirely different. The song, from Ward Hayden & the Outliers‘ outstanding 2021 release Free Country, considers the experience of returning to one’s hometown after time spent […]
Bill’s (Belated) Blues-based Best of 2021
Well, here it is again … my inexpert, incomplete review of the best blues albums of 2021. Better late than never. 1. Selwyn Birchwood – Living in a Burning House. A mature masterwork of a young(ish) musician carrying the torch for the next generation of blues greats. 2. Eric Bibb – Dear America. Bibb takes […]
Todd’s Tops of 2021
1. James McMurtry/The Horses and theHounds2. Jose Gonzalez/Local Valley 3. Isla, Josh Rouse/The Mediterranean Gardner4. The War on Drugs/I Don’t Live Here Anymore5. Charley Crockett/10 For Slim6. Todd Snider/First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder7. The Hold Steady/Open Door Policy 8. Neil Young and Crazy Horse/Barn9. The Felice Brothers/From Dreams to Dust10. Nell Smith, The […]