As long-time readers know, I do like me a good kiss-off song. A literal read of the lyrics to Dan Bern’s “Baby Bye Bye” finds it more closure than kiss-off adjacent but I’d like to think there’s a hint of sarcasm in there. And you’re gone, it was time to flyAnd all that’s left is […]
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Mayer’s Picks – Best Songs of 2023, Part 2
I posted my list of favorite from the first half of 2023 back in June (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this a continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year. Whatever Helps You Sleep, Abby Hamilton (from the Blue Gown Records release #1 Zookeeper (of the San […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall/Winter 2023, Part 1
Toothache, Lydia Loveless (from the Bloodshot Records release Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again) Relationships are messy and few songwriters capture that fact better than Lydia Loveless. One need look no further than “Song About You”, the confessional ballad that opens their latest album. Against the backdrop that is mostly a lone electric guitar, […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Fall 2023
Alameda, Anna Rose (from the White Pony/Electric Child Music release Last Girl of the Rodeo) Anna Rose doesn’t pull any punches – lyrically or musically – on Last Girl of the Rodeo. The LP cycles through the collapse of a relationship, bleeding raw emotion as it does. The deeply brooding “Whatever Gets You Through the […]
Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2023 (So Far), the Songs
Suicide of Town, Ben de la Cour (from the Julian Records release Sweet Anhedonia) Amidst an album of dark and sobering ballads, de la Cour proves that he can rock with the best of ‘em. Simple Things, The Band of Heathens (from the BOH Records release Simple Things) Getting by on simple things, letting go […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Jan/Feb 2023
Missing Someone, Jaimee Harris (from the Folk N Roll Records/Thirty Tigers release Boomerang Town) Harris’ eagerly awaited sophomore release has arrived – and it’s a beauty. What makes it even compelling is that its beauty isn’t easy. Harris fills her songs with difficult topics and troubled characters, digging into them with a thoughtful perspective. The […]
Mayer’s Picks – Best Songs of 2022, Part 2
I posted my list of favorite from the first half of 2022 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this a continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year. Paranoid Heart, John Fullbright (from the Blue Dirt Records release The Liar) “Well maybe […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Summer 2022
Clean Getaway, Caroline Spence (from the Rounder Records release True North) Caroline Spence looks at relationships from a myriad of perspectives on her wonderous new True North. “Blue Sky Rain” and “Clean Getaway” focus on their failure with a thoughtful clarity. “You never see it coming, only see it pass,” she sings on “Blue Sky […]
Rusty Tinder – Alchemy Road
The cover of L.A.-based, keyboardist Rusty Tinder’s soon-to-be-released sophomore album, Alchemy Road, is a depiction of a musician dragging his piano through floods and past wildfires, to the accompaniment of a fiddling horseman of the apocalypse. You could also say it’s a musical theme throughout the record. Tinder’s resume includes everything from church choirs and […]
Mayer’s Picks – the Best of 2021 (So Far), the Albums
J.T. by Steve Earle & The Dukes Steve Earle’s moving tribute to his late son Justin Townes Earle is an emotional gut punch. Yet beyond the tragedy of the younger Earle’s passing, the elder Earle’s performances of his son’s songs highlight their shared gift of songwriting and storytelling mastery. Be warned, though, that the closing […]