Billy Bragg is among the artists who released an album in 2021 and is finally able to support it with a tour in 2022. Bragg is about to hit the road through portions of the US and Canada (dates listed below) to showcase songs from The Million Things That Never Happened and, undoubtedly, others from […]
Monday Morning Video – Billy Bragg
I’ve been digging into the greatness that is the Billy Bragg catalog lately and enjoyed being re-connected with these classics: “Levi Stubb’s Tears” and “Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards”.
Waterloo Sunset – AmericanaFest UK 2018
If you’ve ever traveled to another country, you know the quiz well. Border control agent: “So, what brings you to (insert country name here)?†What you may be less familiar with is the variety of quizzical expressions you get from those border control agents when you’re traveling to England and your answer is: “an Americana […]
AmericanaFest 2016 – The AMA Awards
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music.  Traditionally, the opening of the annual Americana Music Festival was always […]
Monday Morning Video – Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg is one of those exceptional songwriters who can move you to tears with a heartbreaking ballad one minute and fire you up with some blistering social and political commentary the next minute. Proof in point, here are “Must I Paint You a Picture” and “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward” from his 1988 […]
Mayer’s Picks: Best Songs of 2013
I posted a best songs list for the first half of 2013 back in July (here). Rather than replicate that list for my full year review, consider this the continuation — the best songs from the second half of the year. Closed Hand, Full of Friends, Foy Vance (from the Glassnote Records release Joy of […]
Americana 2013: The Sounds, Part 1
Every fall, The Americana Music Association gathers members, artists and music fans together in Nashville for its annual conference. Starting with the annual Americana Music Awards and continuing through four days of showcases and panel discussions, it is a tremendous celebration of Americana music. PATRICK SWEANY Sweany delivered what was, hands down, my favorite showcase […]
Monday Morning Video: Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Friends Perform Woody Guthrie
Here’s a great one from the archives. Legendary folk singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is joined by Marty Stuart, Joe Henry, Kelly Hogan and Billy Bragg to perform a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd” from SXSW back in 2006.
Mayer’s Playlist for March/April 2013, Part 2
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH The Other Life, by Shooter Jennings I’ll admit that I haven’t spent much time with Shooter’s previous releases. No real explanation, his music just never made it into my rotation. My bad. His latest is one of the most refreshing country records that I’ve heard in quite some time. Shooter and […]
Monday Morning Video: SXSW 2013 Highlights, Part 1
This week and next week I’ll be featuring some videos from SXSW. We’ll start with a mostly acoustic set, featuring: Steve Earle performing “Someday” The Waterboys performing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” Billy Bragg performing “Handyman Blues” Chuck Ragan and friends performing “Revival Road” Frank Turner covering Blink 182’s “Dammit” Josh Ritter and Emmylou Harris […]