The offspring of two famous musicians prove their worth independently on this commendable effort

I came to this music on “Wreckin’ Yard” not knowing anything about Stevie Agnew and his band. And that’s a good thing, because as time went by I learned more and was pleasantly surprised.

I don’t usually read biographies or research other critics reviews of an artists’ music because I don’t want to be influenced by what they might…

FTB podcast #208 features the new album by NEW AMERICAN FARMERS called Brand New Day. Also new music from BILLY BRAGG, WAYNE HANCOCK and ANNIE KEATING.

Here's the direct link to listen now!

Here's the…

Jack Carty first caught my attention earlier this month when I came across his wonderful tune “She’s Got A Boyfriend.” This self-deprecating uptempo lament about losing a girlfriend to another holds an ingratiating charm that suggests a young, lovelorn Billy Bragg.

Investigating further, I discovered that Carty is an up-and-comer singer-songwriter from Down Under. Since 2009, the impressive twenty-something troubadour has released an EP and a pair of full-length albums. Both…

By Tom Semioli

"Well it is art if they say it is…" Anthony Haden-Guest.

Music often makes for strange bedfellows. The above-quoted iconic writer Anthony Haden-Guest and noir folk artist Lorraine Leckie would strike most American citizens as polar opposites. He: the legendary reporter, poet, writer and cartoonist renown for his chronicling of socialite life (and death) in New York City in the wild and crazy 1970s. She: the dark princess of the contemporary Greenwich…

On Stranger In My Land (Bloodshot Records), Aborigine singer-songwriter Roger Knox delivers a collection of folk tunes that are rare, unrecorded, and/ or handed-down by his peers and predecessors. Knox is joined by an incredible roster of guests including Bonnie Prince Billy, Kelly Hogan, Dave Alvin (X, Blasters), Sally Timms, Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers), The Sadies, and Andre Williams.

As if all…

Lugging the sound of Appalachian around like a travel worn tattered old suitcase plastered with travel stickers, containing the basic necessities a traveler needs to keep thier roots close, and ample space for things collected through weary wanderings, Jonathan Warren and The Billy Goats build on those roots of mountian music with a cross section…

One of the things that already tops my list of "things I miss most about living in Brooklyn" is the reading time during my daily commute. So until moving to Portland this past August, the NYC subway (MTA) is where I have absorbed most of my reading material since I moved there in 2004. Burying my face in a book on the subway was not only a great way to wake up in the morning on my way to work, but it also served as the ideal method of mellowing out on my way home.

On one level it sounds like dogged persistence paid off.  Billy Martin is in San Fransisco doing a drum clinic, the young organist Wil Blades whose built a name for himself at the Boom Boom Room thinks he can swing a duo money gig together, presses the manager, and apparently he passes the muster. "We just got up there and played, there was no preparation we didn't really have time for any of that with Billy coming in to do these clinics there just wasn't any time.  So we basically…

On September 18th, Thrill Jockey Records released the new solo album by Freakwater's Catherine Irwin. Little Heater is Catherine's first solo album since 2002's Cut Yourself A Switch, and her first record since Freakwater's Thinking of You (2005).

Little Heater features collaborations with such artists as Tara Jane ONeil, Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince…

If the opening track is any indication of how far Greg Fleming has come in his career this is the achievement. Wow.

Greg has had many wonderful songs through the years – but, this is certainly something to be proud of. Usually it takes a few listens to get into an LP and then pick excellent tracks but this lead off track is like getting knocked out in the first round.

A…

Marbleheaders are all proud to call Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl two of their own. Daring is the much heralded and influential composer of the soundtracks for John Sayles’ films. Jeanie is a renown folk and jazz singedr.  Both comprise the duo, Daring and Stahl. “Marblehead Morning” is the most well-known song they have recorded.  It was a staple on folk radio in the 1970s.   Mason and Jeanie were part of what became dubbed as The Passim All Stars.  In addition to Mason and Jeanie, the All…

First published on OurStage, an MTV/CMT Partner

Talking to Sarah Lee Guthrie, daughter of Arlo and granddaughter of Woody, you’d never know she is folk music royalty. Even though her relatives have created some of the most enduring songs in the American music catalog—everything from “This Land is Your Land” (written by Woody…

Once again, I’m taking this week off. But, my buddy Ryan Estes (@RadioEstes) from the fantastic podcast 8th Grade Ball is taking over for me this week. For those of you with eclectic tastes, Estes jumps around the genre and plays a little outside the box with what you would normally hear on the show, making this episode one of the best you’ll hear.

Also check out…

There was a time when some people wrote song and some people sang songs. The two rarely mixed. In that era of Tin Pan Alley and the songwriting mills, Curtis Stigers would have been a demi god. As he displays on Let's Go Out Tonight, he can take well written songs and wring every bit of melody and emotion out of them. Songwriters would be inventing ways to get Stigers to record one of their works. 

But those days of songwriters churning out one song after another in the hopes…

When I last spoke with Thrill Jockey Records recording artist Luke Roberts, we focused on his early musical experiences and development, as well as the writing and recording of his first album, Big Bells and Dime Songs. (You can read that interview here)

For this interview, Luke and I pick up from where we left off from…

Silos' front man Walter Salas-Humara’s hair is now laced with silver, but the Florida ex-pat has lost none of the romantic tendencies that marked the Cuban songwriter/singer’s songs from the Silos’ earliest days. Also, a visual artist specializing in dogs, the appropriate place to decamp for South by Southwest was the backyard of Yard Dog Gallery, who’d hosted some of the week’s best parties.

Like the dBs, who had fans clogging the sidewalk outside their BD Riley’s  Friday night show…

Halfway into his taut set at the Saxon Pub, Shooter Jennings pushed the hank of hair falling in his face back, screwed up his face and half-barked, half-taunted,

 “You say you’re an outlaw with your perfect boots

That you got from your record label’s image group

Sing another man’s song with a big drum loop

Listen, son, you ain’t got a clue

You can’t buy true…

Tell you what they should do…

They should outlaw you….”

Not nearly as venomous as it…

You sneak up on Session Americana. Oh, not literally, as you can discover them in an ever-widening circle of clubs and festivals, three studio records and one live set, and on a new, as-yet-untitled 10-song release due this spring (listen to early mixes of "Easier " and "Goldmine" below). But, after…

Maybe I'm a little jaded, but there aren't too many  people I'd get excited about meeting. 

Billy Joe Shaver is an exception.

He's a writer that proves less is more which meant a lot when my dad showed me "Tramp on Your Street" while I was in college.  Surrounded by people trying to use big words…

I first discovered Cheyenne Marie Mize through her six-song collaboration with Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham) called Among The Gold.  I enjoyed it so much that I began digging around online and realized that in addition to working with Mr. Oldham, Ms. Mize has also been prolifically teaming up with the likes of Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore, and her partners in her band, Maiden Radio.

Last year Maiden Radio released their second album, Lullabies, via…