Happy 50th Anniversary, Sesame Street! The legendary children’s television show has become an educational institution, helping to shape countless minds while never shying away from important social topics. It has also hosted some of the biggest names in music history. Their performances include both parodies and straight up takes on their greatest hits, plus some […]
Readers’ Pick: Red Clay Soul by Tinsley Ellis
TINSLEY ELLIS, Red Clay Soul beats out PAUL SIMON, Stranger to Stranger as your favorite for the week of June 3, 2016. Poll Results 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’ Top 25 Spring 2016 WILLIE NILE, World […]
Eric Bibb & Habib Koite – Brothers in Bamako
Bluesman Eric Bibb is the latest in a succession of American musicians to get his passport stamped in Mali since Ry Cooder and the late Ali Farka Toure won the Grammy for Best World Music Recording in 1994. Bibb’s fine collaboration with Malian Habib Koite, Brothers in Bamako, stands up well next to Cooder and Toure’s Talking Timbuktu; […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Oct/Nov 2011, Part 1
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Beauty, Wit & Speed, by Nathan Hamilton “Give me the mad ones, the sad ones, the ones who’ve got nothing to lose,” sings Hamilton in “Through Ether and Time” from his latest release. It is a telling comment and a great introduction to an album that deftly explores the search for […]
Stockbridge to Boston: A Special Playlist
Here’s the latest installment of my playlist series highlighting the latest and greatest in New England music. FEATURED ALBUM C’Mon by Barnstar! There’s a lot to be said for just getting in the studio for a few days and just having fun. Now while I can’t confirm that this was the case with Barnstar, it […]
Mayer’s Playlist for Oct/Nov 2010, Video Companion
Happy weekend. I’m certainly ready for it, some time to relax and perhaps catch a show or two. Here’s the over-stuffed (Thanksgiving pun intended) video companion to the October and November playlist. Things kick off with a run of acoustic performances from Bow Thayer, Doc Dailey, Will Hoge, Teddy Goldstein, the Autumn Defense, Benjamin Frances […]
Celebrating the Rock Hall of Fame: Night One
Tom Hanks may have kicked things off with a hearty “Hail Hail Rock and Roll,†but it was the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis (HoF inaugural class of 1986) who got the party started. The 74-year old was clearly showing his age yet still showed his spark as he knocked out a healthy version of “Whole […]
Mayer’s Playlist from May 2009, Part 2
THE PLAYLIST: Broke My Heart, Tim Easton (from the New West Records release Porcupine) “Love and destruction seem to go together, when you find one the other’s close behind. A broken heart isn’t the worst thing in the world, when you give it justa little piece of time.” Six Fast Bullets, These United States (from […]
Kiss Off! A Special Twangville Playlist, Part 3
In the words of the guy in the Verizon ad, “Can you hear me now?” If not, try these gems from the classics edition of our special Twangville playlist: Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright), Bob Dylan So long, honey, babe Where I’m bound, I can’t tell Goodbye’s too good a word, babe So I’ll just […]