RUBY BOOTS I’d previously only seen Nashville by way of Australia songwriter Ruby Boots play acoustically. SXSW offered the perfect time to remedy that as she had band in tow. It represented a better reflection of the recently released Don’t Talk About It, which rumbles with electrified melodies and a healthy back-beat. Boots and company […]
SXSW 2018 – The Sounds, Part 1
LEE BAINS III & THE GLORY FIRES If you haven’t seen Bains and company live then you’ve been missing something special. Well, perhaps special isn’t the right word; maybe cathartic? The quartet unleash a fury of rock and roll complete with blaring guitars, roaring vocals and enough energy to power a small town. Bains bounded […]
SXSW 2018 – The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for SXSW. With upwards of 2,000 bands and more than 20,000 attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music conference. Even […]
Monday Morning Video – Play Ball with Josh Kantor
It’s that time of year – Opening Day is this Thursday. What better way to celebrate than a video from Josh Kantor, Fenway Park organist and indie music enthusiast. Here’s his take on the Replacement’s “Here Comes a Regular.”
Readers’ Pick: The Decemberists – I’ll Be Your Girl
You picked I’ll Be Your Girl by alternative folk band, The Decemberists, as your favorite new release for the week of March 16, 2018. Poll Results 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 Winter & Spring […]
Colter Wall/March 8, 2018/New Brookland Tavern/West Columbia, SC
A near sold out show on a Thursday night in West Columbia, South Carolina is a rare thing. A 22 year old armed only with his guitar doing this is even rarer. But, we’re not talking about any 22 year old, we’re talking about Colter Wall, who’s voice recalls the great baritones of country and western […]
Monday Morning Video – Deer Tick Go to the Bar
Feel like starting the week with some rock and perhaps a sing-along? Deer Tick have got you covered with the raucous “Let’s All Go the Bar.”
Readers’ Pick: 6 String Drag – Top of the World
You picked Top of the World by americana band, 6 String Drag, as your favorite new release for the week of March 9, 2018. Poll Results 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 Winter & Spring […]
Paul Thorn – Don’t Let the Devil Ride
As many before me have observed, there’s a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Particularly  when applied to many congregations in the American South, that observation pertains as much to the music as it does the time of day.  Many hymns originated in the late 19th century as verses created or borrowed from Christian […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Winter 2018, Part 2
Simple Scenes, Marie/Lepanto (from the Big Legal Mess Records release Tenkiller) It perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster (Water Liars) and Will Johnson (Centro-Matic et al) named their new project after a rural road sign that marks an intersection near two Arkansas towns (Marie and Lepanto). Tenkiller exudes a sense of […]