Credit for my discovery of the Takeover UK goes to my friend Erica (whose gorgeous photos I’ll be appropriating, with her kind permission, for use in my own South-by scribing whenever possible), who put me onto them a few weeks prior to South-by. As with my initial Wild Light listening experience, I liked everything I […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Showcase Highlights: The Riverboat Gamblers
The Riverboat Gamblers are a band whose .mp3 jumped out of the South-by torrent and practically punched me in the face 2-3 years back, so knocking me out with their Misfits-by-way-of-Austin sound that I knew I just had to see them live. Alas, as it turned out, my seeing them live wasn’t destined to occur […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Day Party Highlights: Wild Light
It’s a tad ironic that I first saw Wild Light perform at a party hosted by Paste, since it’s Rolling Stone, the grande dame of rock rags which I have to thank for putting Wild Light on my radar. Since Wild Light wasn’t one of the bands that chose to include an .mp3 on the […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Highlights: I Wanna Be Where the Bands Are
The South-by countdown clock reset around 2 a.m. on the morning of Monday, March 23, as the last chords of Alejandro Escovedo’s traditional closing night South-by show at the Continental Club rang out. The wake concluded with a typically majestic reading of “Sway” (a song that Al stole from the Rolling Stones many years ago […]
Play Ball!
Twangville City Limits – Mo Robson
Mo Robson is the lead-singer and songwriter for The Mo Robson Band. To celebrate the release of his new live album, Mo Robson Band – Live at Adair’s (Smith Music – out this week), Mo gives us a stripped-down preview of some of the new tracks and old favorites that we can expect from the […]
Old Californio – Westering Again
There are only a few regions around the great 48 that seem to have their own sound or musical vibe that serves as an identifiable tag of sorts to the rest of the country. I can’t help but think of Texas when I listen to Willie’s Red Headed Stranger or anything from Joe Ely, for […]
Vetiver – Tight Knit
If you’re familiar with the “freak folk†movement and the likes of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, you may not be interested in Vetiver. Although they may have become friends, Andy Cabic (the force behind the band) has certainly broken new ground. On this record Cabic’s acoustic pop aesthetic sounds more like Josh Rouse than […]
Michelle Shocked – Live at Yoshi’s
A friend of mine told me she saw a double bill 15 or so years ago with Michelle Shocked and Billy Bragg. Wow, to paraphrase an old Rodney Dangerfield joke, I went to a protest and a concert broke out. Michelle is on tour again in support of her upcoming album, Soul of My Soul. […]
Justin Townes Earle on Justin Townes Earle
Our friends at Vimby were kind enough to share this video interview with Twangville favorite Justin Townes Earle. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Earle live in concert, this is a good introduction to his down-home style and the sharp wit that he inherited from his father. VIMBY – Justin Townes Earle