The year in music for 2016 is best defined by the classic Dickensian line from “A Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Mortality cut a wide swath across some of the greatest and influential musicians…

2015 was another bumper crop year for Americana and roots music, and 2016 show vast signs that the great music will continue to come. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from 2015 makes plain we might be experiencing a new golden age of roots…

Roots music virtuoso Sierra Hull has announced her ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ tour. Each of the four tour stops she will partner with Toys for Tots and/or a local food bank– “seeking to ease the stress of the holidays for the less fortunate.” Each attending…

Southwestern spirit chaser Ryan Bingham will release his sixth studio album “American Love Song” on February 15th, 2019. That will mark a four year stretch between his latest and the criminally overlooked “Fear and Saturday Night.” That’s a long time for fans, like me, to…

How do you tour in support of a seminal album when its main influence has been dead for 45 years? Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman are currently on the road trying to answer that very question. Friday last at the lovely Majestic Theatre the Founding…

Today Twang Nation is proud to exclusively premiere the video for Grain Thief’s “Colorado Freeze” from their full-length debut “Stardust Lodge.” (out now – order below) The song is perfect road song and the video fitfully follows the band as they perform on their tour…

Just as the weather turns crisp and the Halloween candy gluts the store isles you know that Record Store Day Black Friday event is right around the corner. The event, that results in indy record store around the world making a good chunk of their…

In the wake of the seemingly sudden dissolution while their ascent to superstardom (well, as much superstardom as a nebulous root genre can afford) Americana duo The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams and John Paul White went their separate ways each gravitating to the sounds they…

In the late 60s, the American rock band the Byrds were ripe for a change. The band’s fifth LP, The Notorious Byrd Brothers proved to be another sterling example of the band’s established psychedelic experimentation, but it also incorporated jazz, pop and the roots music…

American contemporary street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey is best known for his viral designs featuring wrestler Andre the Giant and his “Hope” poster featuring Barack Obama. Last Saturday Fairey unveiled a 15-story mural of Johnny Cas in downtown Sacramento, CA., just over 25…

I was lucky enough to be living in New York City in 2007 when Lucinda Williams hit multiple venues to play her entire discography in reverse order. I caught “Essence” at Irving Plaza which, as extraordinary as that was, paled in comparison to the performance…