Don’t you think that Emmylou Harris should win a lifetime achievement award for best female accompaniment? She’s got the “Midas Touch”. Off Sam Bush’s latest release Laps in Seven, here are the two of them in a video for the song “The River’s Gonna Run”. Posted by Buffalo5380 on YouTube.
Notable Releases: 6 June 2006
The River in Reverse, Elvis Costello & Alan Touissaint A potent combination inspired by one of America’s disgraceful disasters. Zoysia, The Bottle Rockets The pride of Festus, Missouri rediscover the rock-and-roll side of country. For more on the Bottle Rockets, see the Twangville preview. Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer The English duo were a pleasant surprise at this year’s SXSW. […]
The Return of the Bottle Rockets
The Bottle Rockets are back! Brian Henneman and the boys are Twangville royalty, having delivered some of alt country’s greatest hits. After a three year hiatus, the band makes a welcome return with the forthcoming Zoysia. While Blue Skies, the band’s last album, was a dark album reflective of the personal matters confronting the band, […]
Notable Releases: 30 May 2006
West of the West, Dave Alvin Dave Alvin is an American original. Possessing an encyclopedia-like knowledge of American roots music, he can lead his crack band of Guilty Men from country blues to rock to folk with equal aplomb. His latest release is a tribute to his native California. It features a stirring — and […]
Notable Releases: 9 May 2006
In the better late than never category, here are my picks from last week’s class of new releases. Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman, Various Artists    Although he lives in Los Angeles and has built a unparalleled (and Oscar-rich) career writing scores for films scoring films, Randy Newman’s early years were spent writing short […]
Mayer’s Playlist for April 2006
I’ll Be Coming Around, The Bottle Rockets (from the album Bottle Rockets Live in Heilbronn Germany) While we wait for their forthcoming studio release, the Bottle Rockets tease us with this knock-out live release. Essentially a greatest hits collection, it captures the band in fine form during a tour of Germany last year. This track, […]
Notable Releases: 2 May 2006
The Boxing Mirror, Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo has been lauded by critics (No Depression named him artist of the decade in the 1990’s) and heralded by his peers (on 2004’s Por Vida). After a nearly fatal bout with hepatitis C, Escovedo returns with his first album of original material since 2002’s By the Hand of […]
Tom’s Pick of the Week, Drive-by Truckers
DBT!… DBT!… DBT!… my favorite rock band since GBV hung the towel over a year ago. The Drive-by Truckers return with their latest release A Blessing and A Curse. While I’m not as emotionally attached to this one as I was 2004’s The Dirty South, I undoubtedly believe this will add yet one more notch […]
SXSW 2006: The Bands (Part 2)
Coulda, shoulda, woulda… With over 1,200 bands appearing during the course of the festival it was inevitable that I would miss a few gems. Here are a few artists that may have slipped by me at SXSW but they didn’t escape me completely. Susan Cagle – I missed her in Austin but I made up […]
Best of Winter 2006, a Playlist
The bar has been set high! I’m astounded by the number of great albums that have already surfaced this year. Will Hoge shunned traditional record promotions by leaning heavily on juggernauts MySpace and Purevolume all the way to offering up a free download from the album once every week. Josh Rouse travelled to Spain offering […]