Musicians have a long tradition of giving. Sure, they give to all of us with the music that they share. Yet they also have a penchant for supporting meaningful causes. Over the next few weeks we will highlight several releases that demonstrate this giving spirit. Bruce Springsteen has long supported food banks and hunger charities […]
Tom’s Picks: Best of Summer 2012, a Playlist
20 favorites from the Summer of 2012. Enjoy! Money for the Weekend (Pocket Full Of Shame) by Alberta Cross A three year hiatus was worth the wait for the now Brooklyn-based band’s sophomore release. Keep Believing by Bob Mould Touring playing full sets of Sugar’s “Copper Blue” alongside a full set of the new album […]
Monday Morning Video: Kasey Anderson
The VH-1 series “Behind the Music†has long chronicled tales of musical excess and success. Yet, for many musicians, the real story is far less glamorous for many musicians. Music is both an art and a business, and the latter can be daunting. Kasey Anderson knows the story well. For more than five years he […]
Duct Tape Saves Lives: Thoughts and Opinions From 3 Southerners on Dwight Yoakam’s 3 Pears
Ok Twangville readers, this will hopefully be a recurring feature that switches up our normal review protocol. It was inspired by frequent long email chains over the years between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen. Though to be fair, the conversation below is a bit cleaner and more serious than […]
James McMurtry at Johnny D’s
From the first few notes his 12-string, I could tell that this would be a treat. A seasoned performer with over 20 years on the road, McMurtry had the kind of stage presence that you can’t get after a few years. And he had the kind of storytelling chops that an English Professor mother and […]
Craig Chaquico – Fire Red Moon
Craig Chaquico has made the transition from ethereal to earthy in his first blues album, Fire Red Moon. Chaquico has successfully joined the legion of ex-rockers-turned blues musicians with his latest effort. But he may be the only one whose path to the blues led through new age music after having spent almost two decades churning out […]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2012
As probably all Twangville readers know by now, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is an Americana music festival held the first weekend in October every year in San Francisco. Â Here’s my review, followed by Chip’s. Shawn: This year there were 88 bands, on 6 stages, for 3 days, all for free, courtesy of the late Warren Hellman. […]
Monday Morning Video: 2012 Americana Music Conference Highlights
As we wrap up our 2012 AMA coverage, here is a playlist highlighting some of the official showcases. We kick things off with a special treat — Richard Thompson telling an amusing story about Robert Plant. We move quickly into the tunes with Hayes Carll, Jason Isbell and Patterson Hood paying tribute to Levon Helm […]
John Hiatt- Mystic Pinball
Mystic Pinball is an awesome name for a record. Just sayin’. Anyway, this is John Hiatt’s third album in as many years following The Open Road (2010) and Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns (2011). But since those records found Hiatt in late career resurgence, it’s not that surprising that the 2012 edition of Mr. Hiatt […]
American Aquarium- Burn. Flickr. Die.
“you’re a two pack habit with a southern accent/ I’m a pearl snap poet with bad tattoos”- BJ Barham Burn. Flickr. Die. opens up with a gnarly southern blues guitar tone ringing out over a persistent rhythm section. Frontman BJ Barham’s first lines are “I was born in the valley of the Cape Fear River, […]