By Paul T. Mueller – Songwriters, even great ones, aren’t always the best performers of their own songs. But when a songwriter of Jimmy Webb’s stature hits the road, it seems worth the ticket price to hear the author’s own take on some of his best-known work. A few hundred people at Dosey Doe Big Barn in The Woodlands, Texas,…
Category: Americana Music
WMOT presents Los Lonely Boys, Strung Like A Horse, Bettysoo
Los Lonely Boys, on the road promoting new album Resurrection, headlined the Oct. 8 WMOT concert at Riverside Revival in Nashville. Set opener “See Your Face” set the tone for the energetic acoustic set to follow. The evening’s revelation was Knoxville’s Strung Like a Horse, whose showmanship transcended the recorded work we’ve heard. There’s a Old Crow Medicine Show spirit…
Hayes Carll holiday-flavored set makes for a great time
By Paul T. Mueller Singer-songwriter and Texas native Hayes Carll launched his Grateful for Christmas Tour with a couple of sold-out shows at Houston’s Heights Theater. The second, on Dec. 2, was a great time for all concerned. Carll, in fine voice and fine humor, performed only a couple of actual holiday songs (his own “Grateful for Christmas” and Buck…
Thirty years on, Ellis Paul’s songs and stories delight audiences
By Ken Paulson – Singer-songwriters are plentiful these days. Have a guitar, smartphone and social media account? Suddenly you’re giving concerts. There was a time, though, when anyone stepping on stage at a coffeehouse had to truly engage an audience with songs, stories and a sense of humor. If you wanted to work, you had to entertain. Ellis Paul is…
Gretchen Peters’ graceful exit from touring
By Paul T. Mueller — Gretchen Peters, wrapping up a long touring career, gave her fans in Houston a fine show to remember her by. The prolific singer-songwriter and her husband and musical partner, Barry Walsh, performed for a nearly full house at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on June 22, the final show in the church’s Coffee House Live spring…
Mastersons’ folk with a rock ‘n’ roll heart
By Paul T. Mueller The Mastersons – guitarist/singer Chris Masterson and multi-instrumentalist/singer Eleanor Whitmore – finished up their current tour March 12 with a matinee show at the Old Quarter Acoustic Café in Galveston, Texas. The duo, longtime – and now former – members of Steve Earle’s band, The Dukes, got rhythmic support from Eleanor’s sister Bonnie on bass and…
Cimarron 615: A new band with Poco roots
By Ken Paulson – A tribute to the late Rusty Young of Poco has paid a welcome dividend: the birth of a new band. Five artists, all with significant ties to Young and Poco, teamed up late last year for My Friend: A Tribute to Rusty Young on Blue Elan Records. The quintet, dubbed Cimarron 615 for the recording, contributed…
James McMurtry taps into his rich body of work
By Paul T. Mueller – Singer-songwriter James McMurtry released his first CD in 1989, so it’s pretty much inevitable that his shows these days resemble career retrospectives. At an August 26 solo acoustic show at Houston’s McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, McMurtry led off with “Melinda,” from his 1995 album Where’d You Hide the Body. Next came the title track of 2002’s…
New in print – Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble
By John W. Barry – Mention the late Levon Helm to a fan of Americana music and you’re likely to get a very strong response. The quick comeback could focus on The Band, for which Levon played drums and mandolin, and sang. And there are, of course, those iconic Band songs that Levon sang, “Up On Cripple Creek,” “Ophelia” and…
BettySoo celebrates release of “Insomnia Waking Dream”
By Paul T. Mueller – Texas singer-songwriter BettySoo’s July 7 show at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston celebrated the release of Insomnia Waking Dream, a CD-only collection of 15 demos recorded over more than a decade and assembled with the help of fellow singer-songwriter Curtis McMurtry. BettySoo was the sole performer on the album, but for this show and others…
Robert Earl Keen’s joyous last go-round
By Paul T. Mueller – Robert Earl Keen, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire from touring after more than four decades, probably could have phoned in his farewell tour. His legions of fans likely would have eaten it up in any event. Instead, the beloved Texas singer-songwriter seems to be taking his last go-round very seriously, while…
Steve Forbert is “Moving Through America” with stop in Nashville
By Ken Paulson – Words never spoken after a Steve Forbert concert: “I’m just so tired of him playing the same set on every tour.” Forbert, a former Nashville resident, returned to the town’s City Winery tonight with a performance that promoted his new album Moving Through America, but seemed to be largely fueled by whim. I was just telling…
In wake of Judds’ tragedy, Country Music Hall induction celebrates life, love, music
By Ken Paulson – What could have been an evening of mourning instead became a celebration of life and music as the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted its class of 2022. The sudden death of honoree Naomi Judd might have cast a pall over the event honoring the Judds, Ray Charles, pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake and session drummer…
Cayamo 2022’s exuberant rebound
By Paul T. Mueller – After a year lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cayamo cruise returned in mid-March, rewarding passengers and artists alike with nearly a week’s worth of floating music festival. The chartered cruise, produced by Norwegian Cruise Lines subsidiary Sixthman and held aboard the NCL Pearl, featured more than 40 bands and solo artists and around 2,000…
John McEuen melds past, present in Franklin Theater show
John McEuen, a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, revisited songs spanning decades in a nostalgia-rich show at the Franklin Theatre in Franklin, TN tonight. It was an informal and entertaining evening that began with a singalong to “The Ballad Of Jed Clampett” and featured McEuen’ and his band’s rendition of big Dirt Band hits, including “Dance Little…
Happy 80th Birthday to Steve Cropper
There was a nice event honoring guitar legend Steve Cropper on his 80th birthday last week. He sat at stage right for the entire first half of the show and then took the stage to play with folks like Felix Cavaliere, 84-year-old Eddie Floyd and Billy Gibbons. “Knock on Wood,” “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” “Green Onions” and…
Americana and country artists take a stand for the First Amendment
Jason Isbell, Loretta Lynn, Ketch Secor and more are supporting our core freedoms.
Show 51: Thomm Jutz and his “Two Worlds”
You may know Thomm Jutz from his work with David Olney, Mary Gauthier or Nanci Griffith. Or maybe his collaborations with Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. You may also have come across his 1861 Project, which chronicled the Civil War in three striking volumes. Or you may know his other work as a producer, with more than 70 albums to…
Show 50 Songwriter Adam Wright
We remain big fans of Adam and Shannon Wright, who collectively perform as the Wrights. Adam now spends most of his time writing songs in Nashville and you’ll find his work on releases by Lee Ann Womack, Alan Jackson and Aubrie Sellers. He’s also proven to be one of the hotter songwriters in bluegrass. His collaboration with Brandy Clark –…
Just in – American Music Association Honors and Awards Nominees
Minutes ago, the Americana Music Association released its list of nominees for this year’s Honors and Awards. It’s a big year for Brandi Carlile, with her own nomination for artist of the year, her nods as a member of the Highwomen and nominations for Tanya Tucker’s “While I’m Livin’” which she co-produced with Shooter Jennings. The association’s announcement: Album of…