THE ALBUM OF THE MONTH: The Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration The Stax sound is one of American music’s greatest legacies. one of the greatest legacy’s in American music. With Booker T & the MGs — a house-band so good that they could score a #1 song on their own (with the instrumental “Green Onions”) as […]
Last Train Home, Live From IOTA (6/15/07)
If you’ve never been to a live Last Train Home show, here’s a taste of what you’re missing. I recorded these this past Friday night at IOTA in Arlington, VA. IOTA has been a regular venue for Last Train Home for over a decade now. They brought the full band consisting of Eric Brace (vocals, […]
Last Train Home’s “Last Good Kiss”, Reviewed
The planets have aligned for Last Train Home. Bolstered by the additions of Steve Wedemeyer and Jen Gunderman (The Jayhawks, Dag, Caitlin Cary) and a recent move to Nashville, Last Train Home entered 2007 with the world as their oyster. Marking a decade of making music this year, the band celebrated with a February release […]
Juliana Hatfield & Frank Smith + More, Album Previews
Juliana Hatfield & Frank Smith, Sittin’ in a Tree (Full CD) Unfortunately Sittin’ in a Tree is only an EP, but I love the sweet buttery sound of Juliana Hatfield layered on top of formerly Boston, now Austin-based alt-country outfit Frank Smith. Check out EP track “A Beer and a Shot”. Even better, be sure […]
The Liabilities/The Liabilities
The Liabilities are a 4-piece from Macon, Georgia consisting of Aaron Irons (lead vocals, guitar), Justin Smith (bass, backing vocals), Brandon Fickler (lead guitar, vocals) and Josh Smith (drums). From listening to their debut self-titled disc, you’d have no idea it was recorded in a 10×30 foot storage shed in Columbia, South Carolina during the […]
Son Volt & More, Album Previews
Son Volt, The Search (Legacy) Their previous release, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, landed at #3 on my top ten list of 2005. Its fair to say I’m biased when talking about Son Volt. Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn created Son Volt out of the ashes of Uncle Tupelo who along with Whiskeytown should […]
Twangville Live In Long Beach, CA
Twangville presents a local alt-country show on Thursday, March 8 at The Blue Cafe in Long Beach, CA with three great bands: The Vaquetones, Merle Jagger and Michael Ubaldini. This is one in a series of Twangville shows that happen every second Thursday at the Blue Cafe.
Careless Hearts, On the Radar
Check out San Franscisco Bay Area twangers, Careless Hearts. The foursome lead by the songwriting and vocals of Paul Kimball consists of guitars (Paul Kimball and Derek See), bass (Rob Miller) and drums (Craig Heitkam). Their self-titled debut is full of sad songs influenced by traditional country songbooks juxtaposed with rockin’ twang channeling the likes […]
Bottle Rockets in So. Fla.
Good concerts come to my South Florida town about as often as cold fronts. The dearth of viable venues south of the Carolinas and the unusual length of the peninsula discourage artists from making the long trip. Sure, the major acts fly in from time to time. You can still watch the Billy Joel hit […]
Twangville Live in the OC
Twangville Presents a live and local show Sat. Feb. 17 featuring Mike Stinson, Gina Villalobos and Haymaker at the Blue Cafe in Huntington Beach, CA. Three great LA-area artists bring Twangville live to this local club. Twangville Live presents Americana/Alt-Country once a month at the Blue Cafe.