The first time that I heard the Bottle Rockets was in an Atlanta recording studio. It was one of the intimate in-studio performances that had about 15 of us sitting on the floor while the band played a brief stripped-down set. Drummer Mark Ortmann played a guitar case. The song that [...]
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There is no doubt the "Royal Couple" of Americana is Buddy and Julie Miller. With the release of Rattlin' Bones, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson should at least be considered a member of the Royal Court. Perhaps they could be known as the Duke and Duchess of Overseas Americana. That might be an appropriate title [...]
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Joseph Arthur playing "Temporary People" from his SXSW performance at Red Fez on March 15th, 2008. JOSEPH ARTHUR & THE ASTRONAUTS, Temporary People (Lonely Astronauts) Official Site | MySpace | Samples (Amazon) Joseph Arthur has been dropping EPs all year long and now we have a full length to chew on. As if the video above [...]
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Some 30 years ago, when Springsteen released his seminal Darkness on the Edge of Town, John Lyon, better known as Southside Johnny did the same with his Hearts of Stone. Though the album didn't sell all that well at the time years later Rolling Stone magazine would vote it as one of the best albums [...]
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"The Fabled City" is Tom Morello's second solo outing as the Nightwatchman. Though Morello admittedly performed a lot of these songs "amidst the tear gas attacks at the G8 protest," there is, again, little common ground between this solo album and his work with Rage Against the Machine. Though in both projects Morello presents [...]
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I’ve always had mixed feelings about music in commercials. For many of us, songs often become connected with certain personal feelings and experience in our lives and it is a bit jarring when a commercial suddenly associates it with something totally different.On the other hand, commercials can be a lucrative source of income and [...]
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Old Crow playing an upbeat version of Caroline at Merlefest. OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW, Tennessee Pusher (Nettwerk) Official Site | MySpace | Samples (imeem)Known for their live shows and throwback sound, Nashville’s Old Crow Medicine Show delivers their third album on Nettwerk Records. If Bob Dylan were ever holed up deep in the hills [...]
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Matthew Ryan was kind enough to forward this astonishing new song, Some Streets Lead Nowhere." It is an astonishing performance that highlights his ability to wrap emotional intensity in delicate arrangements. Equally impressive is Ryan's essay about the song's original and meaning, provided below. You can download Some Streets Lead Nowhere [...]
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2008 has seen some of the founding insurgents that have been credited for the Alt-Country movement have released albums this year. Names like the Old 97's, Alejandro Escovedo, Gary Louris, Jason Ringenberg among others have proven that, in spite of rumors to the contrary, alt-country (or whatever you want to call it) is alive and [...]
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Easton, Stagger, Phillips is a super group. The good kind. 3 of the best singer-songwriters in alt. country music come together on this low key collection of originals. Though each of the three can certainly rock out, One For the Ditch is the sound of “3 friends playing songs on the porch”. They keep it [...]
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How do you spell pop music? I spell it "Jim Boggia." This video companion features a few from the pop maestro. Keep going to find live performances from Willie Nile, Chris Knight, Air Traffic, the Avett Brothers and a classic from Todd Snider. Finally we've got a special interview and performance [...]
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Marc Broussard performs "Real Good Thing" live at Paste Studios. MARC BROUSSARD, Keep Coming Back (Atlantic) Official Site | MySpace | Preview (AOL Music) I'm positively giddy about this new set of original tunes from Carencro, Lousiana's Marc Broussard. Its his debut album on Atlantic records and is sure to continue to raise his neo-soul profile [...]
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ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Misadventures in Stereo, by Jim Boggia Jim Boggia is a pop classicist extraordinaire. He takes simple and sublime melodies and packages them in intricate yet accessible arrangements. It is a skill to admire and a treat to enjoy. Take "To and Fro," a rollicking ode to complicated relationships in [...]
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It's Such A Sad, Sad World Who you might say? That's what I thought when I first saw this name pop up over at the "B" Side, Red Kelly's excellent blog. These days the net is swarming with Internet publications, blogging is so easily accessible that anybody with a half functioning computer can work it out. [...]
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Summer ended with a bang thanks to some fine new music. We kick off our August/September video bonanza with some, well, sweet live performances by Matthew Sweet, one of our featured artists. Dig a bit deeper and you'll get live concert footage from Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, British Sea Power, Chris [...]
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From "Carried To Dust" - out on Quarterstick Records (9/09/08). CALEXICO, Carried To Dust (Touch & Go) Official Site | MySpace | Samples (Amazon) One of the best blends of Mexican and Texas/Arizona soundscapes you'll hear, Calexico is back. This is classic convertible Ford Mustang driving through the desert music. Picture giant cacti zooming by [...]
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ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Sunshine Lies, by Matthew Sweet "'cause we're already good and we're already evil, unfazed by a world of constant upheaval," sings Matthew Sweet on "Let's Love" from his latest release. It's a moment that carries meaning beyond the song's intended topic. In the nearly fifteen years since Sweet's seminal [...]
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With all due respect to all the excellent comments of moonlighting band members (see below for the full list), the best of the bunch went unmentioned. To wit I submit Steven Van Zandt. After building a reputation as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Van Zandt unleashed his criminally-overlooked solo debut, Men Without [...]~~
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Texas has become quite the recording hot-spot, with Austin being the central source of heat. Simply because an album happens to be recorded in the Lone-Star State doesn't make it a "Texas Album", in my not-so-humble opinion. Honesty, simplicity, distictive voices, and even more distinct writing is the combination of components of what [...]~~
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Bruce Robison performing "She Don't Care" at Scholz Beer Garte, Austin 8-13-08 BRUCE ROBISON, The New World (Premium) Official Site | MySpace | Samples (Amazon) The most disappointing thing about this album is that there are only ten tracks. This is perhaps a countrier version of something Peter Case would put together which makes it top [...]
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