Another year is winding down, leading us to the moment where we look back at all our favorite releases from 2016. Without further ado, here are my choices for the best albums of the year. #10. THE ROOMSOUNDS, Elm St Dallas, TX quartet The Roomsounds hit the mark with a feel good rock record heavy […]
Monday Morning Video – Celebrating the Boston Music Awards
For nearly 30 years, the Boston Music Awards have celebrated all the great music that emanates from, well, Boston. This year’s event was held last week and a number of Twangville faves walked out as winners. The Silks were selected blues artist of the year while Julie Rhodes took the best new artist crown. Old […]
I Will Remember Massachusetts, Part 2 – A Special Boston Playlist
Good Old Wind, Kingsley Flood (from the self-released Another Other) There’s been a recent trend of artists producing EPs rather than full-length LPs. The economics make sense, certainly for independent artists, in the context of the continuously evolving music industry. I also appreciate the possibility of getting more frequent, albeit shorter, releases from my favorite […]
Monday Morning Video – A Tough Music Year Keeps Getting Tougher
It’s been a tough year for music fans as we continue to lose a generation of greats. Here are a quartet of videos from three that we’ve lost in the past two weeks. We’re gonna miss the spirit and songs of Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen and Sharon Jones.
I Will Remember Massachusetts – A Special Boston Playlist
Monroe, Ian Fitzgerald (from the self-released You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone) For many a year Fitzgerald has plied his trade as a folk singer, a troubadour with an acoustic guitar. Over that time he has earned the respect of fellow musicians, always a good indicator that an artist warrants attention. Let’s give credit where […]
Doug MacMillan of The Connells Makes Sparks at the Gas Station and Finds Cheap Eats on the Road
Doug MacMillan of the Connells on working with record companies (his present one excluded) and songs 1 through 7.
Monday Morning Video – Ian Hunter “When I’m President”
Tomorrow is election day and we at Twangville want to encourage everyone to vote. We’re not going to get political, we’re merely going to say that it is a right, a privilege and a responsibility for those of us in the United States to select the individuals who will lead our country. The US Constitution […]
Just Like Ringing a Bell – A Special Boston Playlist
Over the past few years there’s been a rush of overdue attention paid to the studio musicians responsible for some of the finest music of the rock and roll era. The Swampers in Muscle Schoals. The Wrecking Crew in LA. The Funk Brothers in Motown. I expect that many places, even today, have a collection […]
Juliet Simms on Rockin’ a Kia Hybrid and Getting Fired From Her First Job
LA by way of Florida singer-songwriter Juliet Simms talks about why getting sick before her first gig turned out to be a good thing and how she earns a living in, or rather alongside, the music industry.
Monday Morning Video – David Ramirez
Austin-based singer-songwriter David Ramirez passed through Boston last week as part of his “Bootleg Tour,” for which every audience members gets a digital recording of the show). Standing alone on stage (save a coffee table with a lamp and a framed Bill Murray promo picture from the movie “Stripes”), Ramirez mesmerized the crowd with a […]