Tin Pan South, the world-class songwriters festival based in Nashville, begins this Tuesday in Nashville, and as usual, the line-up of talent is rich and diverse.
Category: Songwriters TV
Concert review: Sam Baker, Chip Dolan, Tim Lorsch
For a songwriter whose material tends toward the melancholy, Sam Baker gave quite an uplifting performance in Houston on March 19.
Tin Pan South set for March 25-29 in Nashville
Tin Pan South, a wide-ranging and always rewarding songwriters festival, has just announced its 2014 line-up. The festival, which features both songwriting legends and upcoming writers, will run from March 25 through March 29 in Nashville.
Review: Irene Kelley’s “Pennsylvania Coal”
From the back cover depicting Irene Kelley’s coal-mining grandfather to “You Are Mine,” the closing track written and performed with her daughters, Pennsylvania Coal is fueled by family.
Review: Jim Bianco’s ambitious “Cookie Cutter”
Jim Bianco’s “Cookie Cutter” succeeds as a songwriting exercise, but this collection is strong enough to stand on its own, even without the backstory.
Thursday schedule at Tin Pan South in Nashville
Americana Music News –– We’re seeing good crowds throughout the Tin Pan South Festival in Nashville. Tonight, we dropped by Tapas for the 6 p.m. show featuring Steve Bogard, Sherrie Austin, Rob Hatch and David Fanning, and it was wall to wall, with people being turned away at the door. There’s another strong line-up Thursday. Among the highlights: The CMA…
Nashville Songwriters induct Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata, Kim Williams, Larry Henley
Americana Music News —Tonight the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will induct Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Arata, Kim Williams and Larry Henley at a ceremony in Nashville. Carpenter, who played the Ryman Auditorium Friday night, is being recognized for a body of work that includes “I Feel Lucky,” “Down at the Twist and Shout” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her.”…
Celebrating songwriting at Blanco’s Bar & Grill
By Paul T. Mueller The musicians and industry pros might have outnumbered the ordinary fans at Houston’s Blanco’s Bar & Grill on the evening of July 9, but you didn’t have to be an insider to enjoy a full evening’s sampling of talented Texas singer-songwriters. The event, produced by the Houston chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), was…
Review: I’ll Be Here In The Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt
By Terry Roland I’ll Be Here In The Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt by Brian T. Atkinson Published by Texas A&M University Press. The question comes to mind when first picking up Brian Atkinson’s new book, I’ll Be Here In The Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt: Do we need another book or really any…
Review: Chris Ronald’s “Turning Tides”
By Joe Ross Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Chris Ronald is usually heard in intimate listening environments where there is ample stage space, cold beer and good burgers. Restaurants, music circles and open mics are great places for small, attentive audiences to experience his music in its purest, unamplified form. In concert, he also talks about his influences, song ideas, inspirations, and the…
Matthew Sweet at 30A Songwriters Festival
Matthew Sweet opened the afternoon show at the 30A Songwriters Festival with a set that drew heavily from his breakthrough 1991 album Girlfriend. Sweet joked that the girlfriend was now 21 and old enough to drink. It was a tough setting for Sweet. Most of the crowd had come to see the Bangles, and though there’s some stylistic common ground,…
Bangles, Crowell, Ray headline 30A Songwriters Festival
The Bangles, Rodney Crowell and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls are among the headliners at next week’s 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. While some songwriters festivals feature writers who have composed for others, the 30A festival features a wide range of performers with recording careers, who also happen to write their own material. Artists scheduled to…
Schuyler, Shamblin, Bettis, Brooks and Jackson to enter Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation announced today that Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, John Bettis, Tom Schuyler (pictured) and Allen Shamblin are its newest inductees. (Full disclosure: Sun209: Americana Music Journal editor Ken Paulson is on the hall’s board and cast a ballot for nominees.) The hall’s press release: The five new inductees will be welcomed into the elite…
David Olney dons his “Boots”
OK, it’s the least likely music video ever, but the sight of David Olney surrounded by mini-skirted dancers while he sings a Nancy Sinatra hit is pretty irresistible. Lee Hazelwood wrote “Boots,” so it’s not a stretch for Olney to channel Hazelwood’s rough-hewn voice here. It’s goofy and we like it. In other Olney news, the fine singer-songwriter did an interesting…
Rock and Roll Joe
There are songwriters with more melodic voices and some with more chart success, but few are as consistently interesting as Chip Taylor. Best known as the writer of “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning,” and more recently as an Americana artist, Taylor is never complacent. His 7 Days in May told of his complicated romance with a young French…
Presley, Armstrong and Foster among most influential Americans
In the spirit of the holiday, a friend posted a link to a 2006 Atlantic Magazine article listing the top 100 influential Americans. I went through the list and was glad to see that three musicians made the cut. The list, compiled by a panel of historians, identified Elvis Presley (#66), Louis Armstrong, (#79), and Stephen Foster (#97) as the…
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announces nominees
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced its 2011 nominees, and the roster is extraordinary. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the Hall’s board.) Here’s the announcement that was released today: Five highly successful artists and ten songwriters whose work has been recorded by some of the biggest names in popular and country music have been nominated for one…
A Righteous Tin Pan South
Tin Pan South is a celebration of songwriting put together by the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The annual festival is remarkable for its scope and depth of talent, and occasionally you can even have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member drop by. Righteous Brother Bill Medley performed in the round at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville with Steve Dorff, Bill LaBounty and Bobby…