I live in NYC these days but am fortunate to be connected to the music scenes of two cities in which I previously lived – Boston and Dallas. Artists from both metropolitan areas have released some exceptional music this year. Here are a few favorites. Love it local. LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER (BOSTON YOU’RE MY […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best of 2025, the Albums
HONORARY 2025 PICK: No Hard Feeling by Balto Released on December 20, 2024—too late for my 2024 list, but technically not a 2025 album—Balto’s surprise farewell record lives in an in-between space that mirrors the band’s own bittersweet moment. Songs like the epic “Big City” and the blistering “Black Snake, Mojave Blues” build from restraint […]
Tommy Womack – Live a Little
Tommy Womack has never been interested in polish for its own sake. Across decades of records, he’s built a reputation on candor, dry humor, and a songwriter’s instinct for finding grace in the wreckage of ordinary life. Live a Little, his new album, feels like a distilled version of that ethos. At its core, it […]
Laney Jones on Touring Perks and The Cost of Doing Business
Nashville-based Laney Jones talks about why she smiles every time it rains, hitting the road with “Old Shelley”, and not taking shortcuts when it comes to recording.
Monday Morning Video – Joe Ely
It’s hard to overstate Joe Ely’s influence. When your admirers range from Bruce Springsteen to the Clash, it says everything about both your reach and your range. Ely helped lay the groundwork for what became alt-country/Americana—starting with the Flatlanders—and then spent the rest of his career embodying Texas music in its fullest sense: folk storytelling, […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall/Winter 2025, Part 2
Little Red Rider, Kathleen Edwards (from the Dualtone Records release Billionaire) The music world is a better place when Kathleen Edwards is writing and performing. It’s been said before, but Billionaire makes it worth repeating. Edwards has never been one to mince words. Her storytelling carries a truthfulness built on specific details and brutal honesty, […]
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 […]
Sophie Gault on Drinking Premium Water and Working to Tour
Nashville singer-songwriter Sophie Gault talks about using a guitar string to tie the bumper back on her car, time spent working at an animal hospital, and being raised by a pack of dingoes in Australia.
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.