Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
Folk Alliance Int’l 2026 – Mayer’s Picks, Part 2
Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
Folk Alliance Int’l 2026 – Mayer’s Picks, Part 1
Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
2026 Folk Alliance International Conference
From gold-plated toilets in the White House to $5000 burgers, society’s pendulum is clearly swinging well into the conspicuous consumption range. For a respite from all that money can buy, I heartily recommend the annual Folk Alliance International conference. Held a couple of weeks ago in the downtown Sheraton in New Orleans, it’s a haven […]
Studio Spotlight/Rancho Deluxe, Jesse Wilson
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jesse Wilson from Rancho Deluxe where he and partner Nicki Bluhm work, and who’s most recent release shares the name of said studio. Location: Madison, TN on the north east side of Nashville. It is the detached garage next to our home. Our property is 28 […]
Chip’s Best of 2025
As seems to be the case every year, selecting a top 25 was difficult task for 2025. There are so many good albums not on the list, that I liked almost as much as what was included. However, selecting the top album was not hard this year. Wednesday – Bleeds was an obvious choice to […]
Twangville’s 2025 Favorites are…
The Twangville pick for Album of the Year is Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell. Recorded as a stark, all-solo acoustic statement, it hit our critics and readers the same way his best work does: sharp writing, lived-in emotion, and melodies that don’t need anything extra to land.
Jeff’s Picks – Best Album of 2025
“I want to go out and play these songs by myself and it sound as close to this as possible,” Jason Isbell explains to Gena Johnson, co-producer, in Well Welch’s documentary about the recording of “Foxes in the Snow.” Documenting the Isbell’s process making of the album, the above-mentioned film is called “Feel Real Good” […]
Shawn’s Album Favorites: 25 From 25
1) Silverada – Texas 42. A love letter to the Lone Star State, from the title track to the drinking song to the closer with the armadillo. With some slight changes of lyrics it’s also a requiem for living just about anywhere in southern and/or western rural America. 2) I’m With Her – Wild And […]
Mayer’s Picks, More 2025 Favorites
Here, in no particular order, are more favorites from 2025.