Your Front Row Seat To Americana Music
It happens every time I go to a music festival. Every. Single. Time. It’s also one of my top reasons for going to festivals—there’s always that artist that jumps out at me and makes me ask, “why am I just learning about this person? Why don’t I have these songs on repeat at home?” At... Continue Reading →
Put on by Muddy Roots Music, the Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender, part car show, mixed with vintage vendors, a record convention, and a whole heap of music, features everything from rockabilly legends to country crooners. With over 90 acts on the bill, it took some strategy to see as much as possible. The Boogie shows span four... Continue Reading →
Twenty minutes before showtime, the stage at the Basement East was already ensconced by fans waiting for The Band of Heathens. In the Nashville music scene, where being fashionably late is the norm and tour managers often usher a lurking crowd closer to the stage, it was a pleasant surprise to see the Heathens faithful... Continue Reading →
At her recent show on the elevated stage in the relaxed atmosphere of Nashville’s City Winery, Tift Merritt embraced that spotlight to put her ever-genuine personality on display. Merritt kept it minimal—a choice which could prove risky for some artists, but a natural one given Merritt’s vast and varied talents--with pedal steel master Eric Heywood as the... Continue Reading →
As Music City haunt The High Watt began to fill with attendees eager to experience Wisconsin-based bluegrass band Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, the lights above shone down onto the empty stage and illuminated a lone microphone in the center. The five-piece took their positions around the center, tuned up, and jumped right in with a quick-pacing bluegrass... Continue Reading →
Josh Ritter made a return to Nashville recently for a sold out show at the warm and beautifully intimate City Winery. Ritter, currently on a tour entitled “Works in Progress” with the intentions of road-testing new material, did just that. As wine glasses began to empty and the massive crowd funneled to their seats, Ritter... Continue Reading →
On October 21st, Dan Layus made his debut appearance on the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry--the same day his first solo album, Dangerous Things, was presented to the world. The pews were packed with attendees practically sitting in each others' laps, a fact of no consequence to the Opry crowd, where friendliness is always thick in the... Continue Reading →
Artists like Australian blues man C.W. Stoneking don’t come around too often in life. As he took the Ryman Auditorium stage recently to support Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Stoneking’s solid white attire shone even brighter than his slicked-back hair, his all-female band got into formation, and the party began for the sold-out Ryman... Continue Reading →
It says a lot about a band when the previous generation’s giants take notice, and touring with Joe Walsh is a great honor, not given, but earned. JD & The Straight Shot have been working hard since forming in 2005; with six magnificent albums under their belts, their song “Can’t Make Tears” serving as the... Continue Reading →
Gather together fans of glorious folk, presented by not only mandolin and banjo, but combined with a small orchestra, turning the acoustic into the symphonic, and featuring the lovely voice of Gregory Alan Isakov, and you have an audience that is all but forced to experience feelings the depth of which could never have been... Continue Reading →