Hickman is Johnny Hickman, lead guitarist for the prominent alt-rock band Cracker. Dalton is Jim Dalton, front man for The Railbenders and lead guitarist for Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers. The two met a few years ago when Hickman was in the audience at a Railbenders show and tabbed Dalton as potential collaborator. They released an acoustic EP called Volume 1 in 2007 and will release their second project next week... this time with a full band at their disposal. Hickman and Dalton put their backing players to good use throughout [...]
As I mentioned over the weekend, I have been completely enthralled lately by the newest release from Austin singer/songwriter Matt Sever, AKA Matt the Electrician. While this is Matt's seventh official release (including EP's and live recordings), and while I've seen his name pop up in numerous places in the blog world over the last couple of years, Accidental Thief is my first introduction to his music. I should have come on board sooner. For those of you like me, who weren't too familiar with his music or his story, here's a brief primer [...]
I've found myself quite mesmerized lately by the new release from Matt the Electrician. It's called Accidental Thief , and it really is quite stunning. Here's the title track... ...and the first official video from the album... ...finally, the title track from Matt's previous record Animal Boy .
My apologies for the absence of RS Wednesday this week. We'll be back on schedule next week. Joy Kills Sorrow - Darkness Sure Becomes This City I had a nice surprise Wednesday when I got to host an on-air interview/performance session with Boston based progressive string band Joy Kills Sorrow. I was supposed to go on the air after they were interviewed by our program director, [...]
I first discovered the band Dawes a couple of years ago after a friend recommended that I check them out. Well... Maybe that's not exactly true. I did receive that recommendation, but I never followed through on it. I made a mental note, however, and remembered their name. A few months ago when another friend played the band Middle Brother for me, I was intrigued to know that one of the members of Middle Brother just happened to be Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith. That Middle Brother album finally gave me the [...]
Earlier this week, Hayes Carll released the official video for his song "Another Like You." I already shared a live version of this song a few weeks ago, but this clip is a must see. Make sure you read the headlines on the cable news show and stick around for the cameo from James Carville and Mary Matalin. If you're looking for another fun tune... Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers have also released a video for their song "Jubilation Day." And while [...]
Sweetback Sisters - Looking for a Fight We'll start today with a nice retro-sounding record from The Sweetback Sisters. Looking for a Fight is a fun mix of covers and originals that straddles that line between revivalist country and progressive twang... like a less bombastic Those Darlins. You can read my full review of the album over at Country Standard Time . The Sweetback Sisters: Looking for a Fight ( Buy Album [...]
Every Wednesday, I feature a brief review of at least one album that has been submitted to me through the ReviewShine website. I have cleverly titled this recurring segment "ReviewShine Wednesday." Today we focus on the traditional revivalist duo The Twilite Broadcasters. The Broadcasters are Adam Tanner on mandolin, fiddle, and vocals and Mark Jackson on guitar and vocals, two artists from very different backgrounds who are bound together through a love of early American music. Tanner is a California native who grew up [...]
People in Knoxville know this already. And thanks to the trumpeting of entities such as Paste Magazine , people outside of our town are starting to figure it out as well. Jill Andrews is an artist you should be watching and listening to. Andrews got her start with the alt-grass outfit the everybodyfields and gained heavy accolades as one of the architects (along with Sam Quinn) of that band's unique melancholic brew. When that pairing ended, Andrews surfaced as a solo artist with a self-titled EP in 2009 that made its way into [...]
On Monday, I wrote about the new album that pays tribute to Tom T. Hall's Songs of Fox Hollow record. Here's a behind the scenes video from the recording of the project. Notice how much fun everyone involved with it seems to be having. Today is also the birthday of Australian artist Kasey Chambers. She's been known to sing a few kids songs in her day as well. Here she is with her dad, Bill Chambers. And one more of Kasey with [...]
Blackie & The Rodeo Kings: Kings & Queens Blackie & The Rodeo Kings are a veteran Canadian Americana supergroup consisting of Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing, & Tom Wilson. They get even more super on their new CD Kings and Queens, where the Kings are joined by a different Queen on each of the album's 14 tracks. Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Lucinda Williams, Amy Helm, Exene Cervenka, Cassandra Wilson, Patty Scialfa, Pam Tillis, and Sam Phillips are just a few who signed up [...]
Every Wednesday, I feature a brief review of at least one album that has been submitted to me through the ReviewShine website. I have cleverly titled this recurring segment "ReviewShine Wednesday." I first became familiar with Audrey Auld several years ago when she did some recording with her fellow countryman Bill Chambers (Kasey's father). Auld is a native Tasmanian who now lives in Nashville, and has made several trips to Knoxville over the last few years to play at WDVX. I had a chance [...]
When my wife and I found out we were going to be parents for the first time, one of the many things we started to worry about was how to raise our child to be a music fan. That is to say, how would we get her to like Rosanne Cash and Buddy Miller rather than Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus... or whoever their counterparts are 10-15 years from now? My wife made a lullaby mix to take to the hospital, and we found out early on how soothing artists like Patty Griffin and The Weepies can be [...]
Tift Merritt is playing in Knoxville tonight... She's opening for The Black Lillies at The Bijou Theatre.
Brian Wright - House on Fire There are two kinds of albums that generally make their way into this space... ones that grab my attention immediately and ones that catch my ear slowly, over time and repeated listens. Brian Wright's House on Fire falls into the latter category. Even once I realized I liked his layered and complex mash of grainy Americana blues, I still wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Is WDVX ready for a song like the [...]
Every Wednesday, I feature a brief review of at least one album that has been submitted to me through the ReviewShine website. I have cleverly titled this recurring segment "ReviewShine Wednesday." We're going' to keep it really short and sweet this time around... First up is Sunday Valley, a high energy, high volume outfit from Lexington, KY. I used to go to a lot of concerts in Lexington when I lived in Kentucky, but I never really learned much about the local scene [...]
Part of what I love about my job at WDVX is the opportunity it sometimes gives me to interact with the artists I love and share with you here on the site. It doesn't happen with alarming frequency, but I love getting the chance to interact with artists in the studio, live, on the air, to hear their stories and their songs in a one-on-one setting. Friday, it happened twice. Boca Chica and Rebecca Pronsky are two artists I've featured a few times on the site, and both [...]
I apologize for the lateness of the update this weekend. I've been a little ill over the last couple of days. Anyway... I told you about the new record from The Greencards n Wednesday, and I'd like to share a couple of videos from them as well. Here's a live version of the song I shared on Wednesday, "Make it Out West." And here's one from their previous record... And... in a completely unrelated thought... I saw Spamalot this weekend.
Rod Picott - Welding Burns I've devoted a lot of space here lately to Amanda Shires and her new record Carrying Lightning . It's time now that I devote some space as well to Shires' beau Rod Picott and his new release Welding Burns . Picott was one of the first Americana artists I ever saw in concert nearly a decade ago when I started hosting Americana Crossroads back at Morehead State Public Radio, and I've followed his music ever since. [...]
A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey Buzz
HAERTS – All The Days
iTunes Leaks Kanye West’s Yeezus tracklisting??
Luca Jurman: "Alessandra Amoroso, Marco Carta e Valerio Scanu? Mi sono battuto per farli entrare ad Amici"
AirCast #09 – Stiver
