Watch Out! Strand of Oaks featuring Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires – “Ruby”
Strand of Oaks was joined by members of My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel, drummer Patrick Hallahan, bassist Tom Blankenship, and keyboardist Bo Koster, as well as Jason Isbell and Amanda Shire performed a pastorally…
Watch Out! The Blood Moon Howlers – “Drunk N’ Cold” [VIDEO PREMIERE]
If you like your music greasy then, folks, do we have a treat for you! L.A.’s The Blood Moon Howlers’ newest single “Drunk N’ Cold,” slithers to life with grinding electric guitar and smokey saxophone…
Watch Out! – Todd Snider “Talking Reality Television Blues” [VIDEO]
Todd Snider channels his inner Christopher Allen Bouchillon with his “Talking Reality Television Blues,” The clever animated video below gives us a history lesson in 20th-century media and its effects on culture. “Talking Reality Television…
Watch Out! Hayes Carll – Times Like These
It seems these days people are going out of their way to find reasons to divide themselves. Like somehow looking for the common humanity in your neighbor that binds us together is out of style,…
Watch Out! Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Sing “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” Oscars 2019
The 2019 Academy Awards held very little appeal for me (how was Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat and Charlie Sexton’s performances in ‘Blaze’ overlooked?!) but a break in the tedium came when Kacey Musgraves introduced Gillian…
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Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2017
2016 was another great year for Americana and roots music, and 2017 shows signs that the great music will continue to come our way. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from last year makes plain we might be experiencing a new golden age of…
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Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2016
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…
Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2016
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…
Hear Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Perform “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings”
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings wrote “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” for the recent six-part Coen brothers anthology, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs. If you watched the show you know the original song was sung by Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs…
Jason Isbell Announces Summer Tour with Father John Misty
Summers are always made better when there’s great live music to attend. Jason Isbell hitting the road with Father John Misty is just one of those highly anticipated summer evets. See dates and buying info below. Get tickets at jasonisbell.com **PRE-SALE BEGINS TOMORROW (2/13) AT…
The Felice Brothers Announce New Album ‘Undress.’ Hear the Title Cut
Few contemporary bands embody what Greil Marcus coined as “Old. weird America” as well as The Felice Brothers and a new release by this Upstate New York rustic-core collective is always welcome news. The new album, “Undress,” the follow-up to 2016’s “Life in rhe Dark,”…
John Paul White Readies “The Hurting Kind” For Spring Release; Hear New Single Now
There are many ways to describe the work of master singer-songwriter John Paul White. If forced to distill to a single word to describe his aesthetic it would be bittersweet. So, to learn that White’s upcoming third solo release is entitled “The Hurting Kind” made…
Charley Crocket Recovering From Open Heart Surgery
Texas Roots Artist Charley Crocket took to his Instgram account to share that his recovery from open heart surgery is going well. The surgery was to address a heart condition called Wolf Parkinson’s White Syndrome, a condition Crocket was born with. Wolf Parkinson’s White Syndrome…
Townes Van Zandt Unreleased Songs Out In March, Hear “All I Need” Now
Pre-order “Sky Blue” Many refer to musicians as “artists.” Few deserve the designation as much as Townes Van Zandt does. In his brief and troubled time on this planet, Van Zandt spun dark beauty from tragedy and addiction. “Though he did briefly flirt with mainstream…
Ryan Adams To release ‘Big Colors,’ ‘Wednesdays’ in 2019. Debuts New Single
Ryan Adams has revealed that he plans to release three albums in 2019. First up will be “Big Colors” out April 19. Produced by Adams, Beatriz Artola, and Don Was, and features contributions from Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and fellow alt.darling Bob Mould.…
Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2019
2018 is now in the pages of history and as America shifts (lurches?) into an uncertain future. Americana and roots music, unlike many other genres, continues to be true to its legacy and addresses our times with art that refuses to chase the charts and…
Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2018
Truth be told I’ve been distracted by much unpleasantness in 2018. So much so as many of these outstanding selections moved past my attention when they were first released. Luckily I keep a list of yearly releases and was able to rewind and catch them…