The Sideshow Tragedy’s Nathan Singleton talks about some of his favorite rehearsal spaces and his least favorite thing about being a guitar player.
Monday Morning Video – Charley Pride
Another legend lost. Here are two Charley Pride classics to celebrate his life and contributions to country music.
Readers’ Pick: Scott H. Biram – Fever Dreams
You picked Scott H. Biram – Fever Dreams as your favorite new release for the week of December 4, 2020. New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Summer & Fall 2020 Peter Himmelman – Press […]
A Holiday Video from Emily Zuzik and Ted Russell Kamp – The Christmas Star
If you have read much of what I have written this ear you know that I have been high on Emily Zuzik’s album “Torch and Troubleâ€. (certain to appear in my year end Top 10.) The producer of that album was Ted Russell Kamp, a linchpin in the West Coast Americana scene. In the sprit […]
Band Premiere – The Great Outdoors
The pandemic has been hard on bands. How’s that for an understatement? With touring shut down, and even gathering in the studio a challenge, many musicians have had to focus on more essential elements of life. In no way, though, has that diminished the passion that made them eschew a normal day job in the […]
Auyon Mukharji of Darlingside on Reasonable Band Salaries and Enjoying the Small Successes
Auyon Mukharji of folk quartet Darlingside talks about the virtue of renting a tour van and the band’s first gig, where they opened for a puppet parade.
Monday Morning Video – Devil’s Sooty Brother
Dallas musicians Joshua Ray Walker and Nathan Mongol Wells – aka Devil’s Sooty Brother – sure do like to perform. The two originally joined forces as part of Ottoman Turks, a loud and rowdy quartet. When that wasn’t enough, they started a monthly residency as Devil’s Sooty Brother, mixing originals into sets filled with classic […]
Readers’ Pick: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades – Miles in Blue
You picked Horseshoes and Hand Grenades – Miles in Blue as your favorite new release for the week of November 27, 2020. New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Summer & Fall 2020 Peter Himmelman […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 5
The Contractor, John Calvin Abney (from the Black Mesa Records release Familiar Ground) Familiar Ground, like John Calvin Abney’s previous albums, possesses a beautiful spirituality that is comforting and uplifting. Case in point – he opens this latest release with the heartening “When This Blows Over”, a song that serves as a quiet anthem for the […]
Nora Jean Wallace – Blueswoman
From her first utterances on Blueswoman, it is clear that Nora Jean Wallace is in charge. Her big Chicago-style vocals dominate this new release reminiscent of post-war leading ladies like Big Mama Thornton and Koko Taylor. Wallace is no stranger to the blues world, having broken out in 2004 (as Nora Jean Bruso) with the […]






