Review- Willow Avalon: Southern Belle Raisin' Hell

Review- Willow Avalon: Southern Belle Raisin' Hell

Derek Scudder

She doesn’t sound like anybody else most people have heard of. That might be a problem for some, but Willow Avalon sounds a little like quite a few fantastic singer/songwriters across several genres. On Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell she uses her childhood in Georgia as the root for a selection of songs featuring her distinctive vocals in a variety of settings, but all coming from the center of a girl in the South. “I’ve got my mama’s mouth and my daddy’s drawl” might be more than just a clever line from the title track; Willow’s father is Jim White who happens to be another singer that doesn’t sound like anybody else most people have heard of. I asked him how much his genetics may be involved in Willow’s talent and Jim made it clear “she gets at least as much of her musical talent from her mom's side of the family as from anything from my end of the equation--her grandmom and two great aunts were incredible singers.” They were talented enough for Jim to have featured them singing “Knoxville Girl” in his film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. Now based out of New York, Willow plays, writes and produces her music alongside a small group of collaborators.

Review- Justin Bloss: Claymore

Review- Justin Bloss: Claymore

Derek Scudder

Justin Bloss has been playing the dive bars and tiny clubs around Tulsa for nearly twenty years with only a handful of releases that might give the rest of the world a hint at the genius that the locals have known for quite some time.  

Review- Ben Chapman: Downbeat

Review- Ben Chapman: Downbeat

Morgan Davis

Downbeat is Ben Chapman’s third full length album, following Make the Night Better from 2022 and last year’s Amber Sound, Vol. 1, and it gives a fresh look at the singer/songwriter from Lafayette, GA. If the songs feel real and personal, it’s because they are. They come from his own life experiences and observations of the music business, both the victories and the losses. 

Review- Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle: Self-Titled

Review- Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle: Self-Titled

Ryan Bush

It’s the type of tunes that you can hear the hardwood creak beneath the rocking chair. You taste the smoke from burning tobacco, feel the warmth of that Kentucky elixir spilling against your throat. Every note, a boot stomp in time to the lick of the banjo, heart bouncing with the tug of bass. The dust and dirt jumping from the floorboards to the kick of the drum - all, crashing into a chaotic symphony of folk mastery. Needless to say, Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle don’t create the emotion - they are the emotion. 

Premiere- Nellen Dryden: At Midnight

Premiere- Nellen Dryden: At Midnight

Melissa Payne

Today we’re premiering ”At Midnight,” the newest single from Nellen Dryden’s upcoming album, Show Me The Way. “At Midnight,” is a testament to Dryden’s ability to channel raw emotion into art that resonates with listeners on multiple levels. A striking blend of Americana, roots-rock, and vintage soul; the song captures the feeling of searching for light in the midst of personal struggles. Dryden herself describes it as, "about looking deep into yourself and loss. I wrote it on guitar in a day. It came to me while I was going through a lot of bullshit and trying to see my way out... but as with songs, I sort of hope it takes on a meaning of its own for the listener." This openness gives the track a personal feel, inviting each person to find their own narrative within her words.

Review- Taylor Hunnicutt: With All Due Respect

Review- Taylor Hunnicutt: With All Due Respect

Derek Scudder

You know what follows is probably going to be something you don’t want to hear from somebody that has no business saying it. Saying “With all due respect…” seems to give some folks the green light to point out something grossly inappropriate or downright rude. Taylor Hunnicutt says she has taken the feeling of hearing that phrase and used it to fuel her passion, “the tone of this whole EP lies with the idea of just being done with this shit.”

Festival Review- Greatest Hits of AmericanaFest 2024

Festival Review- Greatest Hits of AmericanaFest 2024

John Carpenter

There is a tendency at multi-venue music festivals like Americanafest to overthink the line-up card. You race from one venue to another to try to create the perfectly curated live music experience from the dozens of great acts playing all over town, only to stand in the back or miss half the acts you wanted to see.  I’m more of a pick-a-venue-and-settle-in guy, and the Day One evening we had at 3rd and Lindsley is one reason why.

Festival Review- Highlights from AmericanaFest 2024

Festival Review- Highlights from AmericanaFest 2024

John Schumacher

You could get a pretty good taste of the breadth and depth of Americana music by hopping around the three stages of the Cannery Hall complex in Nashville on Friday night of AmericanaFest. 

There, you’d find the dean of Americana, Jim Lauderdale, resplendent in a glittery purple suit. You’d find the soulful afropop-folk of Ugandan immigrant Jon Muq and the swaggering, high-octane country rock of Jason Scott and the High Heat. You’d hear the fiddle forward country-with-an-edge of Kelsey Waldon and the funk-soul-gospel of the McCrary Sisters. You’d find the thrilling vocal runs of R&B singer Major and the muscular soul of Amythyst Kiah. 

2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards

2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards

John Carpenter

Hats off to the Americana Music Association for a sublime moment at the end of this year’s awards show. Instead of the usual all-acts-on-stage sing-along, they paid tribute to the song and songwriter who must certainly be considered among the founders of this nebulous genre.

Gram Parsons’ “Return of the Grievous Angel” was released 50 years ago, four months after his untimely death at the age of 26. It was a jangly homage to old time country music at a time when the rest of the world was listening to anything but, and it featured a young singer Parsons had discovered in New York a few years earlier, Emmylou Harris.

Review- Midland: Barely Blue

Review- Midland: Barely Blue

Noah Johnson

After years of hard work, sacrifice, and iteration; three amigos living in the hill country east of Austin, Texas in 2016 made a strategic, hard-fought entry into the arena of country music with a collection of recordings titled On The Rocks. The band, Midland, went on to earn commercial success through the irresistible hits of that record (e.g., “Burn Out,”  “Drinking Problem”) whilst touring relentlessly with credible deep cuts and covers to back them up. Following up their debut with subsequent releases of the LP’s Let it Roll in 2019 and The Last Resort: Greetings From in 2021, Midland has made a name for itself as being a band that carries the flag forward for traditional country in a distinctly modern, soulful delivery. The collection of references and influences to artists like Gary Stewart, Keith Whitley, the Eagles, and countless more laced throughout the music alludes to the band’s namesake, which comes from a Dwight Yoakam song.

Premiere | J. Isaiah Evans and The Boss Tweed: Let’s Rock

Premiere | J. Isaiah Evans and The Boss Tweed: Let’s Rock

Jolene Horihan

Texas native J. Isaiah Evans, formerly of The 40 Acre Mule, is building up to a debut album release from his most recent project, J. Isaiah Evans and The Boss Tweed. Today, we are premiering the Roots Rock trio’s latest single “Let’s Rock.” 

Out of curiosity, I asked J. Isaiah how he landed on the band name “The Boss Tweed.” As a self-proclaimed history nerd, he talked about how fascinating William “Boss” Tweed’s political career was in New York in the late 19th century. Although corrupt, Tweed was a powerful politician. Evans thought the name, “Boss” Tweed, was cool, tough, and conveyed the kind of power he wanted out of a band.

Review- Juliet McConkey: Horses Around

Review- Juliet McConkey: Horses Around

Melissa Payne

Juliet McConkey's latest single, “Horses Around” serves as a serene, yet powerful prelude to her much-anticipated sophomore album, Southern Front. The track beautifully captures her yearning for simplicity and authenticity in a world that often feels overwhelming and superficial.

 From the very first chord "Horses Around" draws listeners into McConkey's peaceful vision of life. Her lyrics paint a picturesque scene: “Don’t need a boatload of paper money, just a warm bed and good fresh honey and a back porch to watch the sun go down and a few pretty horses around”. This imagery contrasts sharply with the hectic pace of modern culture, offering an alternative for those who find themselves weary of the stress that seems to follow us everywhere. 

Review- India Ramey: Baptized by the Blaze

Review- India Ramey: Baptized by the Blaze

John Schumacher

Baptized by the Blaze, the new album by outlaw country firebrand India Ramey, hits the ground at a full gallop and barely stops for a breath over 30-plus blazing, twanging minutes. It’s a rousing blend of honky-tonk brash-and-sass, by turns invigorating and healing, exploring themes of rebirth, redemption and just plain kicking ass.

The album brims with hard-won wisdom. Ramey has walked through the fire since her previous album, 2020’s excellent Shallow Graves. Just about the time that album was released, Ramey began reckoning with a long-term addiction to the tranquilizer Klonopin. She had been self-medicating for years to deal with trauma. Finally, she sought professional help to deal with the addiction and the underlying trauma. 

Review -Muscadine Bloodline: The Coastal Plain

Review -Muscadine Bloodline: The Coastal Plain

Derek Scudder

Muscadine Bloodline will release their fourth full-length record August 16 on Stancaster Records via Thirty Tigers, but The Coastal Plain will represent the Mobile, Alabama-based group’s second release with a clearer sense of identity. “In a lot of ways our last record felt like it was our first record, in terms of knowing exactly what direction we needed to take our music,” said Gary Stanton, one half of the duo along with Charlie Muncaster, referring to 2023’s critically praised Teenage Dixie, “With this new album we wanted to narrow the lens even further and create a refined and more adventurous version of that.” 

Review - Pony Bradshaw: Thus Spoke the Fool

Review - Pony Bradshaw: Thus Spoke the Fool

Morgan Davis

Pony Bradshaw’s latest release, Thus Spoke the Fool, is his fourth album but it serves as the third part of a trilogy about the North Georgia region that he calls home. It might feel like you already know some of the characters from listening to his previous two records – Calico Jim, released in 2021, and last year’s North Georgia Rounder. The recurring geography and continued themes provide a sense of familiarity that connects you to this new batch of songs from the very first listen. You were already invested in these stories, and now new layers have been added that pull you deeper into the worlds that were created by Bradshaw’s incredible ability to mix myth, folklore, and history together in a song.

Review - Corduroy Brown: Doin' My Best

Review - Corduroy Brown: Doin' My Best

Phillip Ring

We, here at The Amp, have covered Corduroy Brown since his debut release Let Me Know in 2021. There’s an energy to the work with a bold mix of elements of Americana and pop music,  encompassing lyrical content that swirls around themes of mental health, relationships, near death experiences and material that can cause music to be uncomfortably dark. With that introduction you may expect some dark gothic downtempo struggle music, but you won’t find much of that in the catalog. With the pain, distress, struggle that weave through the lyrics of the work, there’s electricity of hope that breathes life into the material. There’s always a reminder that you don’t win wars without scars, you don’t get better without work, and you don’t build character without obstacles.

Premiere - Tiffany Williams & Dalton Mills: Worst of Both Worlds

Premiere - Tiffany Williams & Dalton Mills: Worst of Both Worlds

Jolene Horihan

With a friendship forged through the camaraderie of their native Kentucky music scene and a bond strengthened by songwriting, two Tennessee residents – Dalton Mills and Tiffany Williams – joined forces to bring us a duet project due for release this Friday, August 2nd. Today, we are thrilled to premiere the single “Worst of Both Worlds” from the three-song EP titled Wasted Luck. 

Mills, a Bell County native, released his well-received self-titled debut album in 2020, and his sophomore effort, Good Place to Hide, was released to critical acclaim in 2024. He has opened for the likes of John R. Miller, Abe Partridge, Justin Wells, and 49 Winchester.

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