What originated as a long weekend, AmericanaFest now has official events beginning on Tuesday. However, the apex of the music festival remains the Americana Music Awards on Wednesday evening in the wonderful Ryman Auditorium. After last year’s long event padded with speeches and awards to complementary organizations, this year marked an appreciated return to focus […]
Monday Morning Video – Abraham, Martin, and John
Originally recorded by Dion in 1968, this song has taken on a life of its own. Here are some classic performances, courtesy of Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, and Dion.
Monday Morning Video – Celebrating Levon Helm at the Ryman
Levon Helm is an Americana, hell, an all-around music legend who we lost nine years ago today. Here are two celebrations of the man at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The first is a Levon Helm’s Ramble show from 2009 and features the man himself, as well as John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Miller, Sam […]
Bonus Monday Video – Celebrating Tom Petty
The late Tom Petty would have celebrated his 70th birthday last week. Nashville-based musician Dylan Sevey decided to mark the occasion by inviting a few friends to share some of their favorite Petty songs. I guess things got a little carried away – just look at the list of participating artists below, more than 100 […]
Sam Bush – Storyman
It is fitting that Sam Bush is releasing his new album on the heels of The Telluride Bluegrass Festival. After all he has ruled the festival for most of its existence. Seeing him there was an experience that allowed me to cross at least one item off my bucket list. His new release, “Storymanâ€, has […]
Shawn's Picks – Best Albums of 2015
The Mavericks – Mono  More than their previous albums I felt like Mono showcased the band more than the individuals in it.  They”re not breaking any new ground here, but that”s like dinging someone for being the best in the world at something.  This stayed in the disc changer in my car for about 6 […]
Readers’ Pick: The Traveling Kind by Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
EMMYLOU HARRIS & RODNEY CROWELL, The Traveling Kind beats out RHETT MILLER WITH BLACK PRAIRIE, The Traveler by 1 vote as your favorite for the week of May 12, 2015. Poll Results Readers’ Top 25 – Spring 2015 THE SIDESHOW TRAGEDY, Capital (50) RAY WYLIE HUBBARD, Ruffian’s Misfortune (22) DWIGHT YOAKAM, Second Hand […]
Americana Music Conference 2013: The Awards Show
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. Any discussion of the Americana Music Conference has to begin with […]
Steve Earle: The Warner Bros Years
I ‘m usually not a fan of re-releases. My general view is that if I bought the album once, why should I buy it again? Well, I’d make an exception for Shout Factory’s new collection The Warner Bros. Years, which brings together Steve Earle’s first three releases for Warner Brothers Records. This trio of albums […]
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 […]