Three former Drive-By Trucker bandmates swapping tunes and stories recorded live at the Shoals Theatre in Florence, AL in 2014. This 4LP box set was just released on vinyl last week.
June 7, 2021
Mike’s Monday Muse – Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood and Jason Isbell
June 3, 2021
The B-Side: Max MacLaury
We’ve been seeing a trend of late with Americana releases sent our way, and that is an embracing of a more relaxed song structure, a movement away from the tight confines of the honky tonk and the hushed front porch confessions and into something a bit more loose and wide open. A lot of the times that manifests itself in a journey toward the psychedelic (best embodied by Leon III’s genre blending masterpiece Antlers in Velvet that came out earlier this year) and then there’s Max MacLaury‘s “Cut From The Same Cloth.” MacLaury doesn’t throw any curve balls at you, nor whips the song into an unexpected left turn, he just simply pops the top off of it and lets it breathe and stretch its legs a bit, to great effect. It gives the song a kind of natural cinematic openness that matches MacLaury’s vocals which sit perfectly between a classic country croon and roots rock attitude, and has us playing this one on repeat.
June 1, 2021
Play Listy For Me – Americana, Folk & Roots Vol. 5
Back from our vacation in the Smoky Mountains, but still feeling that vibe, so here’s a playlist to get you on our level.
June 1, 2021
Tuesday Tip-Off: Love Crumbs
You may recall our glowing review of Love Crumb‘s “Cavalcades” a few months ago. Well we’re happy to say the fanboy love continues for their new single “Ellipses.” Where the previous single was a Joplin-esque country soul waltz showcasing Ali McTavish’s impressive vocals, this new one is a more sophisticated number, working in a sonically layered approach not unlike 70’s soft rock superstars Fleetwood Mac. That’s an easy comparison to make given McTavish’s rasp sounds particularly NIcks-esque in this context, but it goes deeper than that. There’s also a quality to the songwriting here that reminds us of (and that rivals) the best of Buckingham/Nicks.
May 11, 2021
The B-Side: The Red
From France we get singer-songwriter The Red and their unique take on Americana / indie folk with “Pretend.” As the song starts all the usual roots suspects are there – banjo, acoustic guitar, strings, a road weary voice…but quickly things start to shift and move into unexpected territory with a subtle parade march drum beat and some sort of fuzzed out lead instrument that is either a vintage Stevie synth or an oddly eq’d electric guitar. It’s at this point that you notice that even the more traditional instruments are put together in a different way and you realize this has more in common with the literary and sophisticated pop of Rufus Wainwright than it does with Rufus’s dad’s work.
May 8, 2021
We Never Asked For This
Today we clean out the inbox and find treasures from Annie from the Canyon, Nasty People, Savage The Poet, Niia, Sonny and the Sunsets, Rather Vapid, The Jupiter Effect, Julie Title and Paul Cortese & Oscar Martin.
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May 4, 2021
Play Listy For Me – Americana, Folk & Roots Vol. 4
Oh, look, it’s another grouping of the best Americana and Americana related songs we could find for you, lover of music and appreciator of a nice grouping.
May 3, 2021
We Never Asked For This
Today we have new music from Simone Istwa, Vypera, Disturbios, Karaboudjan, Ari B. Ingber, ameliarose, NATL PARK SRVC, Plaster of Paris, the HVNZ and seasonal.
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April 30, 2021
Friday 5×5
Today we have new music and few words to say about it from Bealby Point, Raven Artson & True Blue, Christopher Paul Stelling, Victory Kicks and La Sanyea Dengue.
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April 12, 2021
Mike’s Monday Muse – Fernando
Dave Harding of Richmond Fontaine: “First time I saw Fernando perform was in the spring of 1995 at Satyricon in Portland. He was on a bill with Richmond Fontaine, Jim Boyer & Bingo, and Palace Brothers. He was playing acoustic guitar, singing dark expressionist folk songs full of death and foreboding and had a huge stage presence. He was accompanied by a long-haired hippy-looking guy shredding it on a Telecaster. That amazing guitar player was Dan Eccles and he would eventually join Richmond Fontaine as our lead guitarist. Richmond Fontaine and Fernando ended up being label mates on Cravedog so we played a lot of shows together and had many great adventures. Fernando sings like a man possessed, throwing himself into every lyric and note played by his band. I always remember thinking they were like Dylan & The Band circa 65-66 when they performed live. They had that much power, and were so in sync with each other. I have moved to Copenhagen and have seen my friend Fernando play a few solo shows here since then. It’s amazing what he can do with just his guitar and voice. He is fearless, sometimes bringing the songs down to a whisper, holding the audience in his palm. This song, “Beautiful,” has such a gorgeous melody and the lyrics just hit home. Richmond Fontaine sometimes covered it and I sang lead on it. The song is basically two chords repeated over and over, which is a good trick if you can pull it off and hard to do. But Fernando did it, of course.”