is a contributing writer living in Athens, GA. He podcasts at <a href="http://www.the68comebackspecial.com">the68comebackspecial.com</a>. <a href="http://the68comebackspecial.tumblr.com/tagged/Best+o
Luck Revival
There’s nothing quite like Luck Reunion. One day each year, Willie Nelson opens his ranch to ticket holders for an absurdly well-curated music festival, erecting stages across the still-standing western town from the set of Red Headed Stranger. Legend has it the script originally called for the town to
Fly Golden Eagle’s Quartz is a record you’ll want to hand down to your children, and you’ll just have to hope on hope that it doesn’t ruin their lives by making them the coolest little mother fuckers on the block. I mean, seriously, this record could
[bandcamp album=2954949496 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=grande] Back in January I wrote about one of my very favorite records of last year, Kentucky-born Sturgill Simpson’s High Top Mountain. Well, ol’ Sturgill is back again with Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, & this time the junket is in
alt country
[O]hio-native* Lydia Loveless often gets tagged as alt-country, but most of the fare on her latest EP would’ve passed as mainstream alternative rock in the ’90s. And I can understand if you took that as a dig, but I mean it in the best way possible. Imagine if
americana
[S]omething you don’t often come across is a perfect song. A perfect song is a simple song… it has to seem effortless, not conspired… almost conversational. Each word of each line has to count for something, like a complete puzzle revealing a larger picture. It needs to contain
aaron lee tasjan
[A]aron Lee Tasjan is my favorite songwriter. Too bad he’s from Ohio.* Thankfully he’s up and moved down to East Nashville (after a stint in NYC), which means bi-monthly shows down here in Georgia. Aaron has a lot going on… between touring furiously as a solo act,
country
[bandcamp album=3469043521 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=grande] [I] spent a few days in Nashville recently, & I stopped by the Country Music Hall of Fame only because they moved Hatch Show Print into the building (which is goddamn shame & a half). But as I was walking around
Standing Room Only Producer Jay Clifford once told French Camp’s principle songwriter, Owen Beverly, that it’s easier to write about a place once you’ve gotten away from it. Owen would prove the point by moving to Brooklyn and penning a track where he sings “I miss the
aaron lee tasjan
[bandcamp track=2213293563 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=grande] Aaron Lee Tasjan is one of those musicians who are like magnets. You know, those in-demand hired hands that entire scenes end up forming around, but only musicians seem to listen to. As such, it’s hard to not just be
bleeding rainbow
[B]leeding Rainbow (formerly Reading Rainbow) are one of those bands you can’t really write about without namedropping a bunch of other bands, so I’m just going to go ahead & get it all out of the way. Sonic Youth, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, etc,
brendan benson
Brendan Benson – Metarie (Wellfed Version) [I]f you’re not familiar with the names Brendan Benson & Jason Falkner, you’ve undoubtedly heard their playing, arranging, engineering, or producing on critically acclaimed records by everyone from Paul McCartney to Adele, Beck, the White Stripes, Gnarls Barkley, or even Loretta Lynn.
Cory Chisel
Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons – Never Meant to Love You [O]ld Believers marks Cory Chisel’s second collaboration with producer/performer Brendan Benson, & was recorded on the analog equipment at Nashville’s Welcome To 1979 studio. Unsurprisingly, it sounds like a 70’s record; between Benson, David