Ok, so it’s February. Kind of late for a year-in-review special. But, I was traveling for my day job, the one I get paid for, so that’s why I’m late. So, I’ve been doing these blues-based years in review for a few years now, and I’m not sure I ever explained the methodology I use, […]
Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder – Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder have a history going back nearly 60 years, which officially makes Get On Board a long-awaited reunion – and something to cherish. With the profound contributions and pedigrees of Mahal and Cooder, we expect brilliance, and the album more than meets those expectations. In the mid-1960s, when Ry Cooder was […]
Bill’s Blues Based Best of 2018
Once again, I have compiled my inexpert list of the blues-based albums that I liked the most from the past year. Here we go: 1. Eric Bibb – Global Griot. I like experimentation, and that is something Bibb is not afraid to do, as his last several albums all include interesting collaborations and stylistic blends. […]
Joachim Cooder – Fuchsia Machu Picchu
Listening to Joachim Cooder’s EP Fuchsia Machu Picchu, it’s easy to see how his famous father Ry Cooder got the atmospheric feel that dominates many of the tracks on The Prodigal Son, released last month. Cooder the Younger, who turns 40 later this summer, has been a drummer, percussionist and keyboardist on his father’s team for many […]
Ry Cooder – The Prodigal Son
In a somber chat between Jesus Christ and Woody Guthrie, Jesus cautions Woody that the “engine of hate” that fueled Woody’s struggles last century was back again and “you good people better get together or you ain’t got a chance anymore.” That sums up how Ry Cooder paints today’s world in “Jesus and Woody,” one […]
2014 Americana Music Awards
On September 17th, the glitterati of the Americana Music Scene gathered at the historic Ryman Theater for their annual Awards show and presentation.  Mayer and I were lucky enough to procure a seat to the festivities.  You can get a full list of the award nominees and winners here, but these are the highlights from our […]
John Hiatt – Terms of My Surrender
John Hiatt has long been one of the mainstays of Americana music. Throughout his long career, Hiatt has been known for great songwriting and musicianship, but of all his earthy Americana releases, Terms of My Surrender is certainly his grittiest and arguably his most enjoyable work to date. Despite some early success as a songwriter, Hiatt was […]
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 December 2011
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Too Drunk to Truck, by Roy Sludge This album was tailor-made for Twangville. Old school in all the best ways, it might as well be a collection of lost classics from the Sun Studios archive. The title track kicks off the album with a strong indication of what will follow. Yup, […]
David Bromberg and Ry Cooder
The release of new albums by two masters of roots music this summer flew pretty much under the radar. Both David Bromberg and Ry Cooder have churned out album after album of Americana spanning folk to R&B since the early 1970s. Bromberg’s career has been the oddest, with long periods of withdrawal from public performance […]