Forty years. It has been forty years since John Prine released his first, self-titled album, with such classics as “Paradise,” “Angel From Montgomery,” and “Spanish Pipedream.” That first album was one of the few true folk albums included in Rolling Stone‘s 500 greatest albums (a bogus, arbitrary exercise to boost circulation for sure – but John Prine was on […]
Butch Walker/Drinking With Strangers
Butch Walker’s latest release, Drinking With Strangers, opens with the catchy…wait, this isn’t a record… it’s a book. Sorry, I get into a pattern here. Co-Authored with Matt Diehl, this funny tale of Walker’s love/hate relationship with the music industry is pretty much summed up nicely by Walker when he describes his 20 plus career […]
Monday Morning Video: Gordon Gano + Lost Bayou Ramblers
I spent a day at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans a few weeks back and happened upon a set by Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes playing with Lafayette, Louisiana’s Lost Bayou Ramblers. When they launched into the classic “Blister in the Sun,” the crowd erupted. I couldn’t find good footage from Voodoo, […]
Sons Of Fathers – Sons Of Fathers
You have to be pre-disposed to like any album that starts out with a paean to Lawnchair Larry. Â Maybe it’s just a song about a couple of fella’s similarly tempted, but Weather Ballon, the opening cut on the debut album from Austin-based Sons Of Fathers, is an apt metaphor for how quickly this record soars […]
Glossary- Long Live All Of Us
Glossary is a band that I have always defined by their (relatively) more mainstream friends. Lucero, Two Cow Garage, The Hold Steady, the Drive-By Truckers, and Conor Oberst have all praised the band effusively. Despite these endorsements, Glossary has never really broken through to the kind of indie rock-stardom that those friends and mentors have […]
Win Big: The Beach Boys “SMiLE Sessions”
SMiLE may be the most famous album never heard. After unleashing Pet Sounds, arguably one of the greatest albums ever recorded, Brian Wilson wanted to further explore the complex and innovative recording techniques of that release. Painstakingly recording an array of instruments and meticulously layering vocal harmonies, Wilson was on a quest for perfection. Forty-five […]
Mason Jennings – Minnesota
Mason Jennings’ latest effort, Minnesota, is a lyrical romp with Jennings’ characteristic musical hooks that teeter on the edge of sappy but that work for him. Every song on Minnesota is worth the listen. The multi-instrumental Jennings opens with the subdued piano-based ballad “Bitter Heart” followed immediately with “Raindrops on the Kitchen Floor,” a retro […]
Monday Morning Video: The Frames
If you only know Glen Hansard from the Swell Season, then you’ve been missing out. For much of his career Hansard has led the Frames, a merry band of Irish musicians whose music radiates a powerful intensity. Here are two versions — one acoustic and one electric — of “Fake” from 2007’s The Cost.
Photos that ROCK! Hoots & Hellmouth
Hoots & Hellmouth Tree House Concerts in Takoma Park, MD: November 2010 Post by Suzanne D. McMahon (Suzanne Davis Photography) The Tree House is a pretty special place. Pete, Anne, Matt, and Janet host music junkies at their home to experience incredibly intimate nights of folk or rock. It’s not every day that you get […]
Americana 2011: Say What?!
One of my favorite things about attending music conferences and festivals is the crazy things that you hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. I know that it is time to get back on the road when I run out of those little shampoos. Road Manager Phil Kaufman I don’t get Twitter. […]