We’re closing out the 2026 Twangville Fall Showcase Series on Saturday, November 14th in NYC with a high-proof dose of grit, melody, and conviction. Matt Woods, Mic Harrison, and Carissa Johnson — solo, no chaser. Two of them come out of East Tennessee, and the third came up in Boston’s punk scene. None of them […]
Bruce Cockburn: The Blood That Runs Through the Songs
Bruce Cockburn has spent a lifetime accumulating other people’s music. Some songs became warm-up rituals, others a welcome escape from singing his own words. A few arrived by accident, a guitar figure leading him toward a melody he suddenly needed to learn. On The Blood of Others, due October 16 on Sunset Blvd. Records, the […]
Mac Cornish on Borrowed Rehearsal Spaces and Her Biggest Blessings
Mac Cornish shares the story behind “Goodbye, Nebraska,” the first song she ever recorded and one which her father still brings up today. Cornish also talks about why food is the one thing never skimped on while on tour and recalls a favorite day job at a vintage store, a natural fit for someone who loves old clothes.
Abby Posner – Rest And Rise
More than a few records have come together owing to the catharsis of writing about a broken relationship. LA’s Abby Posner raised that whole concept up a notch with her new album Rest And Rise. Taking an idea from a podcast about the 3 stages of grief, Posner organized the tracks like a vinyl release. […]
Colby T. Helms – One For the Losers
You’ve undoubtedly heard the axiom, “if I didn’t laugh, I’d have to cry.” For rural Virginia native Colby T. Helms that seems to be one of the basic tenets on his debut full-length album, One For the Losers. Growing up in the heart of Appalachia he’s seen firsthand the combination of poverty, addiction, and despair […]
Grey DeLisle – Don’t Turn Around
There’s almost always a good story around the creation of an album. I think it’s just the nature of the creative process. Sometimes though, the back story drives the record more than the other way around. That’s pretty much the case with Grey DeLisle’s new release, Don’t Turn Around. While working on SpongeBob SquarePants, the […]
Monday Morning Video – de la Cour & Mayfield Show Preview (Boston/NYC)
Two of our favorite albums of 2025 came from Ben de la Cour and Joelton Mayfield, and this month we get to put them on the same stage. De la Cour calls his songs “night songs,” and on New Roses he plays nearly every instrument himself. Mayfield’s Crowd Pleaser, his first full-length, was close to […]
A Few Words with Abe Partridge
Café Wha? opened in 1959 in a MacDougal Street basement in Greenwich Village, and it has long been an early stop for artists still building their audiences. Bob Dylan first played the room in January 1961, Jimi Hendrix worked through multiple sets a night there as Jimmy James in the mid-1960s, and Bruce Springsteen did […]
AmericanaFest 2026, Mayer’s Picks (Part 3)
THE HEARTBREAKERS featuring CHRIS STAPLETON It was hard not to be moved, from exhilaration to overwhelming emotion, watching the founding Heartbreakers reunite for the first time in more than 20 years and then accept a lifetime achievement award. (Don’t miss Shawn’s Americana Honors awards show coverage) JOHN PRINE TRIBUTE John Prine would have been 80 […]
AmericanaFest 2026, Mayer’s Picks (Part 2)
NEELYS BAND This group’s weekly gig at Nashville institution American Legion Post 82 was required attendance even before their AmericanaFest blowout. Their performance alone was a thrill. Then came the special guests: Margo Price delivering a rip-roaring “9 to 5,” Shakey Graves joining Price for an incredible duet of “Islands in the Stream,” and Duane […]