In this year of election divisiveness perhaps no topic separates people more than what it means to live the American dream. When I saw the title of Amy Speace’s latest album, I wondered how she was going to address the issue. Instead of painting a picture of what it is, Speace instead offers vignettes of […]
Monday Morning Video – The Ballad of El Goodo
Let’s go back to 2010. Alex Chilton was scheduled to appear at SXSW that year to celebrate the legacy of indie rock legends Big Star. Chilton tragically passed away from a heart attack just days prior to the appearance. So the planned celebration suddenly became a bittersweet tribute to a band that inspired so many […]
FAI Conference 2023 – Musical Highlights
As I noted yesterday, the Folk Alliance International conference is one of my annual highlights. A big reason for that is the vast offering of musical performances; last year there were over 150 official showcases, and over 1000 private showcases in just 4 days. This year probably topped that. Clearly I didn’t make it to […]
Readers’ Pick: Amy Speace with The Orphan Brigade – There Used to Be Horses Here
You picked Amy Speace with The Orphan Brigade – There Used to Be Horses Here as your favorite new release for the week of April 30, 2020. New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter […]
Amy Speace – There Used To Be Horses Here
We should all be thankful musicians find writing songs to be cathartic. Amy Speace has taken inspiration from the first birthday of her son, and the passing of her father, to deliver an emotional, passionate new record. Entitled There Used To Be Horses Here, it’s a natural fit for vinyl with two pretty distinct parts […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009, a Video Companion
We kick the June video companion off with selections from this month’s spotlight artists: Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka and Athens, Georgia’s Patterson Hood. From there we get a bevy of performances from Rhett Miller, Amy Speace, Crooked Fingers, A Camp, Andrew Ripp, The Roadside Graves, Pete Yorn and Matthew Grimm (covering Billy Bragg). We finish […]
Mayer’s Playlist for June 2009
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs), by Patterson Hood Patterson Hood’s last solo release was a somber acoustic affair. This one ain’t. In fact, this collection of songs from Hood’s archives is not dissimilar from a Drive-By Truckers release. Sure, I miss Cooley’s guitar and the Truckers triple guitar interplay. But […]