It's that time of year again... time to make my year end "Best of" list. I should start rolling out my Top 20 list sometime over the coming week. Until then, you can go back and read up on my favorite releases of 2009 , and relive some of that music with the following YouTube clips... #1 - Noble Beasts by Andrew Bird #2 - One Foot in the Ether by Band of Heathens #3 - Tarpits [...]

#6 - Electric Dirt by Levon Helm Levon Helm was a legend long before he revived his solo career in 2007 with the critically acclaimed Dirt Farmer. As a member of The Band in the 60's and 70's along with Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Robbie Robertson, Levon was responsible for creating some of the most beloved Roots Rock music of all time. His sharp drumming and weathered voice helped to define The Band's sound and continues to shape his [...]

A few weeks back, I wrote about my experiences at the Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson concert at the Bijou Theatre here in Knoxville. As part of that, I mentioned how pleasantly surprised I was by the music of Shane Nicholson. I had been a fan of Kasey's for some time, but was completely unfamiliar with Shane prior to the Rattlin' Bones album. I feel bad about this now, but before Saturday night, I never really viewed Shane as an equal collaborator in the [...]

Last week, I previewed the nominees for "Best New & Emerging Artist" at this year's Americana Awards and Honors and asked you to vote for who you thought should win. You chose The Band of Heathens by an almost two-to-one margin over Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles. This week, we're going to dip into another category and ask you to vote on the "Americana Song of the Year." We'll start with "Chalk" by Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin from Buddy and Julie Miller's 2009 release [...]

As I mentioned last week , we had quite the musical smorgasbord in Knoxville over the weekend. Brendan James Wright, Chris Knight, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show, Van Eaton & Friends, and The Steeldrivers all played somewhere in or around town this weekend. The biggest "event," of course, took place Friday night at World's Fair Park when the Old Crow Medicine Show and a few thousand of their closest friends gathered for The Big Surprise Tour. By all accounts, OCMS and friends [...]
Tonight's the night... I'll be seeing Kasey and Shane at the Bijou. If anybody has seen them lately, let me know what I'm in for.

This is a HUGE musical weekend in Knoxville, and I'll tell you all about it... but first... *** I want to start off this post by wishing a Happy Anniversary to Steve Earle and Allison Moorer. The Americana power couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary on Tuesday. I still remember when I first heard the rumours that the two were becoming involved with each other. In fact, I think I probably had the info a little sooner than most outside observers. I got the scoop from my [...]
by eliza czander I just got back from a week of camping in the rain at Bluesfest , up in Byron Bay (the east coast of Australia), and shit am I happy to be home. Not to say it wasn't a great time - trust me, it was - but, watching music in the pouring rain, attempting to stay dry under a single sheet of plastic, and losing your life in the mud underneath your feet is only fun for so long, you know? [...]

I was raised, musically speaking, on Elvis, Buddy Holly, George Jones, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash. And I have never been able to shake my musical roots. Not that I want to. I will go through phases or moods where 'roots' or 'old timey' music is just about all I wanna hear. And now I have a brand new album to add to the playlist. It's the joint effort between Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, 'Rattlin Bones.' Sounds like home. * Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - 'Rattlin Bones' MP3
Just in time, i bring you my list for the Best Albums of 2008 . Throughout this year-end list process, i've come to realize i don't like making lists. Maybe next year i won't order them. i will offer some limited justification for my picks after naming each album, so i won't go on too much here in the preamble. But i feel like i should explain some of my decision making processes. Since really getting into good music in the last couple of years, one of the biggest changes i've gone though is to [...]

We took a day or two off for the Holiday (hope everyone had a good one by the way), and we may take another one here soon, but the Top 10 list will continue. I hope to have all ten posted by Jan. 1. Wish me luck. We'll start back in at #6 with Rattlin Bones' by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. Like R.E.M.'s entry at #10 (and the entry coming after this one), Kasey Chambers' latest album came as a welcome surprise and a bit of a comeback. I've written here before [...]

In honor of Halloween and especially after receiving my first Cease and Desist order, I have decided to post a CD worth of files. I've read it takes two to three weeks before the C&D notice is even posted so I can find out what the offending files were and Blogger removed the post from my edit list, so I'm not sure if I can ever repost a "clean" version. Seems likes a strange process. Oh well, speaking of strange, Halloween is almost here. So, [...]
The highlight for this week is The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole , the debut album from former Haste The Day vocalist Jimmy's new band Trenches . It's well worth picking up. Aside from that, there are live releases from Avenged Sevenfold and Unwritten Law and new stuff from Jonezetta , All That Remains , Hootie and the Blowfish's Darius Rucker (whaaaaaat?) and Portugal, the Man . :: Adventure , Adventure (Carpark) :: Alexander Tucker , Portal [...]
"Rattlin' Bones" is a collaboration between married duo Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. Title: Rattlin' Bones Artists: Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson Label: Essence Music Australia Grade: A Another entry in my ongoing blog-only album review series. Am currently, unexpectedly,...
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson have a cool new animated video for the song "Monkey on a Wire" from their brilliant upcoming album Rattlin' Bones . Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Monkey on a Wire (YouTube video) Muruch Rattlin' Bones Review -- Please visit Muruch to comment. Muruch is a 100% legal music blog, all mp3s are posted with permission.

Kasey Chambers and her husband Shane Nicholson will release their new collaborative effort Rattlin' Bones on September 16th. The Australian singer-songwriting duo wrote and perform every song on the album, whether together or as individuals. There's even a brief cameo by the couple's son, Arlo. I've long been a fan of Chambers, and was very excited to receive an advance copy of this wonderful work. The songwriting, instrumentation, and vocal harmony are splendidly rustic. The album is one of the best of the year. Left my home [...]

Readers of my other blog will know I traveled hundreds of miles to see Tom Waits last month (missed it? Read about night one and night two .) His tours are a rare event, but he's a concert performer unlike any other, aggressive and wild, stomping and growling his way through songs both harsh and touching. So to celebrate the event, for this month's album I'm doing a personal favorite, his '99 comeback release Mule Variations that earned him his first Grammy for Best Alternative Album (in response he quipped: "Alternative to [...]