Watch Out! Mickey Guyton – “Better Than You Left Me” [VIDEO]
I don’t cover a lot of the stuff coming out of Music Row. The vast majority of what they call music is pre-fabricated radio fodder engineered for topping charts not touching hearts. And then sometimes…
Listen Up! Punch Brothers – “My Oh My”
Punch Brothers, the thinking person’s bluegrass band, has just released their 4th studio album (and one EP). If you’re a fan of their roots-chamber music sound you won’t be disappointed. The themes for the new…
Ralph Stanley – ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ Out Now via Cracker Barrel
While on the Cayamo roots-music cruise Buddy Miller mentioned several times a collaboration with Dr. Ralph Stanley that had been produced in his home studio in Nashville was being released the Tuesday while we were…
Sturgill Simpson Signs With Atlantic Records
in news that surprises no one, Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson has signed to a major label. Coming off the biggest year of his career Simpson rode a huge wave of critical accolades and year-end lists for…
First Aid Kit Stamps Released in Sweden
Postnord, the joint Danish and Swedish postal service, has released series of stamps commemorating popular Swedish personalities. The Jenny Mörtsell portraits depict folk sister duo First Aid Kit along with Robyn, Avicii producer Max Martin,…
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The Devil Makes Three Contest
Bay Area roots-rockers band The Devil Makes Three is asking fans are asking fans to vote for their favorite tracks from the selections “Worse or Better”, “Hand Back Down” and “Old Number 7.” which will then be recorded as an acoustic performance. The winning song…
Listen Up! Robert Earl Keen with Natalie Maines – ‘Wayfaring Stranger’
On one song from his upcoming bluegrass-inspired album ‘Happy Prisoner,’ Robert Earl Keen travels a more solemn road than the one he usually cruises down towards forever. Keen covers the classic 19th century folk/gospel number ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, which with beautiful deft documents a plaintive soul’s…
Watch Out! Lera Lynn: “Out to Sea” – Late Show with David Letterman 1/5/2015
Last night David Letterman continued championing Americana and roots music in the New Year by inviting Lera Lynn (“From Nash-VEGAS Tennessee!” Letterman announces as a inside joke with his maestro sidekick Paul Shaffer ) to the Late Show stage. Lynn may make her home in…
Listen Up! Tyler Nail – “Valentina”
North Carolina-based Americana folk artist, Tyler Nail single, “Valentina” off his second, full-length album, ‘Feathers’ is a satisfying uptempo folk-rock song that maps the heart as well as American geography Nail says of “Valentina,” “it was the catalyst to what became the rest of the…
New Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2015
2014 was another bumper crop year for Americana and roots music. We shared our favorites and you weighed in with more. 2015 shows no signs of easing up as stalwarts like Steve Earle and James McMurtry and young guns like The Lone Bellow and American…
Live Review – Old 97s – Majestic Theater – Hitchhike to Rhome Anniversary Show – December 13
Remember alt.country? That mongrel cultural mash-up, fueled on a hefty helpings of George Jones and The Clash, that burst into cultural consciousness with Uncle Tupelo’s 1990 debut ‘No Depression?” Though the style is still heard in many performers in the greater Americana genre the movement…
Watch Out! Willie Nelson & Billy Joe Shaver: “Hard To Be An Outlaw” – David Letterman 12/17/2014
It’s good to be David Letterman. Though his last show is set for May 20, 2015 he continues to showcase great music for quality and less commercial reasons. And why not? He’s the reigning late night king. And while it lasts it’s good to be…
Listen Up! Hear An Unreleased Joe Ely and Linda Ronstadt duet “Where is My Love.”
Joe Ely has alway been a step ahead of the music industry. He’s toured as an opener for the Clash and shared the stage with Elvis Costello. He;s kept Lubbock on the map by teaming up with local musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock…
Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2014
It defies all marketing logic. Take thoughtful, and oftentimes uncomfortable, music built unapologetically (and more importantly, without irony) from instrumentation and melodies that reflect the past and drag it into the present. Brazen sentimentality in the face of a blase world and lack of absolute…