Like John Muir’s move to Yosemite Valley or E.B. White’s move to a Maine farm, sometimes a simple next step in life’s journey becomes the focus of a writer’s career. Clearly without the hindsight of those two examples, I wonder if a similar pivot is happening with Gunnison, Colorado-borne, but now resident of Austin, bassist […]
Monday Morning Video – Maggie Rose & Old Crow Medicine Show
What happens when you pair Maggie Rose’s voice with Old Crow Medicine Show’s string-band muscle and turn them loose on John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery.” Give a listen and find out.
Greg Piccolo & Heavy Juice – Who Knows What the Future Holds
Tenor sax player Greg Piccolo is another in a long line of Roomful of Blues alumni who have gone on to great solo careers, along with the likes of Duke Robillard, Ronnie Earl, Curtis Salgado and Sugar Ray Norcia. Roomful of Blues has long been the gold standard for jump blues, which is a horns-heavy […]
Pieta Brown on Borrowing Iris DeMent’s Van and Listening to Pharoah Sanders
Singer-songwriter Pieta Brown talks about the song she wrote as a kid that’s still part of her live sets today, and describes her makeshift garage rehearsal space, where a neighbor’s chickens and passing trains provide unplanned accompaniment. She adds a hard-won career lesson: people like names they can pronounce.
Monday Morning Video – Glen Hansard
Glen Hansard died last week, and it’s hard to know where to start. He was one of the genuine ones — in his music and in how he moved through the world. That’s a rare thing, and it’s the thing we’ll miss most. I’ve written before about my favorite Hansard memory: an impromptu moment at […]
The Family – Delusions of Grandeur
Some records feel assembled; Delusions of Grandeur feels inherited. The Family is Dylan LeBlanc, his father James LeBlanc and James wife and stepson Angela Hacker and Bay Simpson. The album carries the unmistakable weight of shared history, where blood ties matter less than the lived experiences that shape every lyric and harmony. Recorded at Muscle […]
Aaron Lee Tasjan – Get Over It, Underdog
Success as an artist can be hard to quantify. Many of the greatest painters the world has ever known died penniless. Most of us have favorite musicians that we’re mystified why they haven’t become superstars. The flip side of that coin is when some success does come, it can be hard to understand why you […]
Chris Pierce on His Old Ford Bronco and His “Lone Wolf” Years
Singer-songwriter Chris Pierce recalls landing his first gig at age 7 or 8 after spotting a classified ad in the L.A. Times, and later working as a music professor during the pandemic. He also talks about stocking up on water while on tour, and the value of building and nurturing relationships in the music business.
The Twangville 2026 Album Preview-Side B
Here are some albums that we’re looking forward to hearing in the back half of 2026… Material Witness by William Matheny (10 July) William Matheny brings pure rock and roll spirit to Material Witness, leaning heavy on electric guitars and hearty, driving rhythms. His lyrics crackle with authenticity and a wisened view, proving there’s still […]
Monday Morning Video – Austin Plaine
Some songs meet you exactly where you are — and then lift you somewhere better. Austin Plaine has a gift for that kind of winsome, quietly uplifting songwriting, and “Rise Above It” is a perfect example. It sits with the weight of hard-won experience before arriving at something that feels like grace. “Looking at the […]