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Mayeux & Broussard Bring the Texas in "Gather Myself"
Tate Mayeux and Brian Broussard make the kind of country music that wouldn\’t have been completely out of place at Gilley\’s in its Urban Cowboy heyday. It has the requisite fiddle runs and Tele riffs, along with a lazy Texas swagger that Mayeux compares to Hayes Carll. But these guys — Texans, both — aren\’t…
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Five Questions: Martin Sexton
Martin Sexton is one of those guys who has been slugging it out on the singer/songwriter circuit for 25 years. Though he dangled his toe in the major label waters in the late 1990s, Sexton has been, by and large, a fiercely independent artist. Defying anyone and everyone\’s attempts to pin him down — and…
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Caroline Spence: Somehow
Equal parts torch and twang, Caroline Spence\’s Somehow falls squarely into the Americana wonderland between folk and country. The songs here capture the heart ache and heart break so thoroughly associated with traditional country, but they do so in a deeply introspective manner more reminiscent of the folk world. It\’s an unpretentious set, content to…
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30 Years On: An Interview with Suzanne Vega
It was 30 years ago this year when the world-at-large first got an ear on Suzanne Vega with her self-titled debut album. Her “Marlene on the Wall” video became a mainstay on MTV and VH1 only to have its success topped two years later when “Luka” became about as ubiquitous as any song of that…
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Ryan Culwell: Flatlands
Ah, Texas. The Lone Star state. The land of long, lonesome highways and dreams as wide as the horizon that meets them. With all that space, outside and in, it\’s no wonder Texas has birthed so many great songwriters singing so many great songs. Songs crafted by the likes of Rodney Crowell, Robert Earl Keen,…
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Five Questions: Jorma Kaukonen
At 74 years old, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen shows no signs of letting up. One might think that founding two legendary bands (Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna) and being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as one of Rolling Stone\’s \”Top 100 Guitarists of All Time,\” would be enough for a guy,…
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Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors: Medicine
When you start a record out with a track as fantastic as \”American Beauty,\” you\’ve set yourself a very high bar to clear on whatever cuts must follow. Luckily enough for Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, they have the talent and the songs to do it — not every time, but enough to make their…
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Pine Hill Project Takes Their Own Road to "Wichita"
In the contemporary folk world, few songwriters are as highly revered as Gillian Welch. She just has a way with a song that sets her apart from the pack. One of her tunes, “Wichita,” was originally recorded by Tim and Mollie O\’Brien for their Away Out On the Mountain album in 1994. Welch, too, has…
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Robby Hecht, Natalia Zukerman at the Bluebird Café
When you\’re a singer/songwriter armed with little more than a guitar and your talent, you have to find ways to stand out from the crowd. That\’s why the pairing of Robby Hecht and Natalia Zukerman last Friday at the Bluebird Café made for a fascinating study of contrasts that even Hecht couldn\’t help but point…
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Here I Am: An Interview with Kate Pierson
As the B-52s head toward their 40th anniversary next year, Kate Pierson is keeping herself busy this year with her first-ever solo album, Guitars and Microphones. The timbre of Pierson’s voice is so charmingly iconic that, even when applied to new material, it sounds thoroughly familiar. And her smart, catchy pop songs — crafted largely in tandem…