There are jam sessions, and then there are JAM SESSIONs. When you get blues masters Charlie Musselwhite and Alvin Youngblood Hart together with former Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, North Mississippi Allstars brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and their father Jim, you’re gonna have a JAM SESSION. That’s what happened in the fall of 2007, […]
The Sea The Sea on Hard Won Lessons and Touring with a Blender
Mira Stanley and Chuck E. Costa of The Sea The Sea talk about why they can’t tour with a harmonica and recall the first songs that they wrote.
Kelley Swindall on Mailing Lists and Alternate Side Parking
NYC-based artist Kelley Swindall talks about the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, tour breakdowns, and ordering salads in the South.
Justin Wells on Modern Country Radio and Asking For Help
Justin Wells talks about the importance of checking the spare tire before heading out on tour, buying guitar strings in bulk, and losing his rehearsal space.
Monday Morning Video – Joni, Bob, and Roger
It’s amazing what you can find stumbling around online video archives. Here’s Joni Mitchell her then new song “Coyote”. If that weren’t special enough, she’s accompanied by Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn while sitting in Gordon Lightfoot’s house.
Readers’ Pick: Darlingside – Fish Pond Fish
You picked Darlingside – Fish Pond Fish as your favorite new release for the week of October 9, 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 On […]
Non Duo – In Your Eyes
I’ve been writing reviews for over a decade, and I listen to a bunch of things I never write about. Plus, stints on the radio and owning too many records. In all that time, I’ve never heard an album start and end with the same song, only in English and Russian. I have now. Better […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2020, Part 2
Fine, Bonnie Whitmore (from the Aviatrix Records release Last Will & Testament) Bonnie Whitmore lulls you in with a chorus of harmonies on the opening track to her latest album. But before one can settle into the lushness, a fuzzy bass, quickly joined by ominous strings and a resonating electric guitar, interrupts to create a […]
Greg Felden Premiere – Back of the Line
Back last summer I ran across the debut album from LA-based Greg Felden. I noted at the time he set an emotional tone with the songs and several of them were driven by a rock and roll guitar sound. He also did a bit of introspection on some of the acoustic numbers. Well, he’s turned […]
Gordy Quist of The Band of Heathens on Quality Pour-Over Coffee and the Path to Writing Good Songs
Singer-songwriter Gordy Quist of The Band of Heathens talks about The Finishing School studio, a brief stint as a substitute teacher (with an accompanying apology to substitute teachers that he had as a child), and why music can be personal therapy.