The McKee Brothers A Time Like This Self-released In this writer’s radio days, a frequent caller often said, “You can never have too many horns.” It is not only the horn charts that drew me to this record, but repeated listens revealed some good songwriting, strong vocals on every track, and fond memories of their […]
Will Kimbrough Spring Break Will Kimbrough’s Spring Break releases October 23, 2020 as a break from, well, all of it. Will Kimbrough is the hardest working man in Nashville. Faced with what to do when the work as he knew it stopped? Will Kimbrough got busy. Spring Break is the result and this new solo […]
Rick Fines Solar Powered Too Independent Rick Fines hails from Peterborough, Canada in Central Ontario. He gained attention in the 1980’s as the co-founder, front man and guitarist in “Jackson Delta” who recorded their 1989 debut “Delta Sunrise” in Memphis. They followed up with two Juno Award nominated albums; 1991’s “Acoustic Blues” and 1992’s “I […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an interview with Dustin Arbuckle Dustin Arbuckle and The Damnations are not a band you can easily associate with one specific genre, and that’s how they planned it. Arbuckle, a veteran of the progressive roots music scene whose singing and harmonica playing first came into prominence in Moreland & Arbuckle, […]
Harvey McLaughlin Rascality Saustex Equal parts Tom Waits, Professor Longhair, Warren Zevon and Randy Newman, Texas-based pianist and singer-songwriter Harvey McLaughlin brings a bizarre set of tunes, zany attitude, and plenty of sarcasm on his second solo outing Rascality. McLaughlin is at heart a roots-rocker with punk sensibilities who seems less interested in musical mastery than in creating […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Ten Penny Gyspy Arkansas singer/songwriters Justin Patterson and Laura Lynn Danley had been writing and performing separately as solo artists for years when they decided to form the Folk/Americana duo Ten Penny Gypsy in 2017. That decision changed their fortunes immediately, and put their musical careers onto a new […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Justin Farren Justin Farren was born and raised in Sacramento, where he lives in a house built with his own two hands – or as he likes to refer to it, “a living museum of my own mistakes”. Justin’s twin brother is yellow truck named […]
Chris Smither More From The Levee Signature Sounds Chris Smither recorded his debut album “I’m A Stranger Too!” in 1970. Included was the song “Love You Like a Man”. Two years later the song was recorded by Bonnie Raitt and helped establish Smither as one of our foremost songwriters. Smither’s last album was 2018’s “Call […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Andrew Adkins Across the Cumberland River from Music City, the burgeoning neighborhood of East Nashville has become a haven for artists, songwriters, and other creatives. One such songwriter is Andrew Adkins, who has been a part of the Nashville community for over a decade. As the […]
Bart Ryan Starlight and Tall Tales Blackbird Initially what is striking about LA-born/Nashville-based session guitarist and award-winning singer- songwriter Bart Ryan’s Starlight and Tall Tales is his soulful bluesy guitar and lap steel playing, but the album offers a good dose of roots variety as it unfolds, including some very soulful tunes. Twangy and bluesy […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with RB Morris RB Morris is a poet and songwriter, solo performer and band leader, and a sometimes playwright and actor from Knoxville, Tennessee. He has published books of poetry including Early Fires (Iris Press), Keeping The Bees Employed, and The Mockingbird Poems (Rich Mountain Bound), and music albums including Spies Lies and […]
Home page Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Al Basile Al Basile grew up in a park in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1966, and in 1970 he was the first to receive a Master’s Degree from the Brown University Writing Program. He began his musical career as a cornet player […]
Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite 100 Years of Blues Alligator As this writer has said before of other artists, the eventual pairing was inevitable. Not only are Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame guitarist Elvin Bishop and Grammy-winning harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite fellow blues travelers and Blues Hall Of Famers with over 100 years of […]
Band of Heathens Stranger BOH The Band of Heathens (BOH) have made a pandemic record, loosely alluded to by its title, Stranger, the sixth studio album for the Austin-based unit, and their first of original material since 2017’s Deuende. Actually, the title for this one, wasn’t directly drawn from the pandemic but rather influenced by […]
Home Page Making a Scene Presents an interview with Sugarcane Jane Sugarcane Jane is Anthony Crawford and Savana Lee —Americana’s husband-wife duo from Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Between them, they have decades of rich musical experience: Anthony’s an in-demand multi-instrumentalist and producer who has worked with such notables as Neil Young, Steve Winwood, and Dwight Yoakam. […]
Pete Kronowitt Do Something Now Self-released San Francisco-based, New Jersey born, Florida raised singer/songwriter and activist Pete Kronowitt is out with his latest set of rallying cry songs, Do Something Now. Kronowitt is the founder of the Face the Music Collective, a grassroots organization driving social and political change. However, what may be more notable […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with DL Marble From the White Mountains to the Valley via Tempe Arizona.. D.L. Marble and his band share passions for sound, rhythm and the road! Each member brings a unique musical aesthetic to the band and over the years they have grown comfortable jumping genres and […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Dianne Davidson There are a lot of good singers around today and a lot of talented musicians. There are performers who draw large crowds wherever they play. But there are few true artists. An artist leaves a lasting impression because what they express is unique. Dianne […]
Joan Osborne Trouble and Strife Womanly Hips Music Trouble and Strife, self-produced on her own label, is her tenth solo studio album and the first album of Joan Osborne’s original material in six years, since 2014’s Love and Hate. It’s Osborne, one of the best and certainly most versatile singers of our time, responding to […]
Various Artists Put Down That Weapon (Make Music Not War) Y & T Music By Jim Hynes The social unrest we are experiencing now inevitably brings comparisons to the sixties and its wealth of protest songs. For example, “For What It’s Worth” has this line “What a field day for the heat, a thousand people […]
WEBSITE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Emily Zuzik Emily Zuzik is an L.A.-based Americana singer-songwriter who has planted her musical roots in a unique eclectic blend of alt-country, modern, rhythm & blues and rock music. She brings to her songs a woman’s vulnerability and strength in the tradition of Patsy Cline and Madonna. She […]
Yana Distant Shore Today I want to introduce you to a wonderful singer/songwriter from the Czech Republic…Yana. When you listen to her music you realize very quickly that she has a strong connection to Ireland and she says about herself that she may have lived there in a previous life. Yana released her debut EP […]
WEBSITE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Dave Huebner and Julie Szewc of “The Two Tracks” Cutting undeniable grooves in the road of Americana music with their new release Cheers to Solitude, Sheridan WY quartet The Two Tracks bend genres into a sound both unique and immediately familiar, laced with a hint of that […]
Dianne Davidson Perigon: Full Circle Independent Born in West Tennessee, Dianne Davidson was singing and writing songs when she was just a child. She formed her first band when she was eleven. She completed her musical education by performing in bars, nightclubs and listening rooms from Tennessee to Greenwich Village. She recorded her debut album […]
Various Artists Back to Paradise – A Tribute to Okie Music Horton Think Tulsa and inevitably the names of J.J. Cale, Leon Russell, The Gap Band, Jesse Ed Davis, and others come to mind. Today, it’ likely John Fullbright, John Moreland, Paul Benjamin, Jesse Aycock, and others. Fullbright, Benjamin, Aycock and six more pay tribute […]
Dan Penn Living On Mercy The Last Music Co. The seventy-eight-year-old Dan Penn was born Wallace Daniel Pennington in Vernon, Alabama. Penn found work at the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. He first recorded in 1960, and that same year wrote his first hit for Conway Twitty. He is among our most soulful songwriters. His […]
Eli Winter Unbecoming American Dreams Chicago-based guitarist Eli Winter, who is still in college, delivers Unbecoming, is first album as a leader and second overall. and one that explores many aspects of instrumental guitar from acoustic to electric and even baritone electric. On two of the three tracks (yes, these are lengthy ones) Winter plays […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Heather Anne Lomax Heather Anne Lomax has spent the greater part of the past decade putting her own spin on the Americana and Country-Rock/Blues genre. She has won awards and radio play across 76 stations both locally and internationally. Originally hailing from Kansas City, the now […]
The Two Tracks Cheers to Solitude Cheers To Solitude, the newest album by Sheridan Wyoming’s Funky-Americana quartet, The TwoTracks, releases on August 14, 2020 amidst radio charting buzz. The Two Tracks have been making a name for themselves nationally since their self-titled debut was voted “Wyoming Best Album” by Wyoming Public Radio In 2016. The […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kitty Coen Kitty Coen is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, TX. Kaleidoscopic and hopelessly romantic, Coen’s voice pulses through the listener and lingers with a haunting essence thereafter. Paired with booming bass guitar, energetic electric guitar, funky synth, and infectious drum patterns, Kitty Coen brings a […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Anthony Geraci Pianist, Hammond organist and composer Anthony Geraci was born in New Haven, Conn. in 1954. His interest in playing piano began at age four when he told his parents “I want a piano!” Kind of an odd request when most kids want a […]
Cary Morin Dockside Saints Dockside Saints released August 7, 2020 and features an all-star cast of soulful players. Cary Morin releases the best album of his career at a time when promoting new music will take a higher power. There is something special at play here, perhaps something ancestral was captured, some ancient Native culture […]
Eliza Neals Black Crow Moan Eliza Neals has produced an album of soul stirring blues and rock n’ roll. You know that your in for a treat from the opening track “Don’t Judge The Blues” when it blast’s off with the meanest slide guitar that you are ever likely to hear, add in some hand […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Cary Morin Described as “one of the best acoustic pickers on the scene today,” Cary Morin brings together the great musical traditions of America and beyond like no other. With deft fingerstyle guitar and vocals that alternately convey melodic elation and gritty world-weariness, Morin crafts an […]
Market Junction Burning Bridges Self-released Houston, Texas-based Market Junction grabs the listener right from the outset with lyrics to the opening “When Your Heart Begins to Break.” Try this line – “Love is not an anchor that steadies you at sea. It’s more like a shipwreck on a godforsaken beach.” As the album unfolds, it’s […]
Family Album Stephen Simmons Introducing new music from Stephen Simmons as he releases his Family Album on his indie Locke Creek label. These are uncertain times but perhaps one saving grace during the pandemic is that people are slowing down and reconnecting with family. The songs on Family Album are exactly that, a connection to […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz of the Lucky Losers Accompanied by a dynamic four piece ensemble, veteran Bay Area artists, Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz deliver a truly signature sound, layering elements of Stax/Volt styled R&B, electric Americana, and psychedelic rock atop a Chicago and Texas […]
HOME PAGE Making A Scene presents an Interview with Billy Prine The best education a musician can get is playing in bar bands, and the earlier the better. Billy Prine formed and led his first bar band in Chicago at the tender age of twelve. Chicago in the 1960’s and early 1970’s was wide open, […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with JD Taylor! JD Taylor grew up in Brownsville TN. never dreaming that at age 30 a gift of a harmonica would change his life forever. In just 3 short years of writing songs practicing harmonica, hanging out on Beale Street and and catching all the greats traveling […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Graham Bramblett Graham Bramblett was born in raised in Dallas, Texas before embarking on a journey where he called many places home. Bramblett attended college in Missouri but found himself paying as much attention to writing and performing songs as much as his school. Upon graduation, […]
Wily Bo Walker & Danny Flam Ain’t No Man A Good Man Mescal Canyon Records Wily Bo Walker is a Scottish born singer/songwriter who has had success in both Europe and the U.S. He combines Rock, Americana, Blues, Gospel and R n’ B into his own hallucinogenic stew. He performs his swamp and stomp “VoodooVille” […]
Taylor Swift Folklore In a stroke of marketing genius,Taylor Swift dropped a surprise album with 17 hours notice on Friday. Swift’s 8th studio album titled Folklore proves that even as the world is in the midst of a pandemic, the music doesn’t have to stop. Fans went wild upon hearing the news of the lengthy […]
HOME PAGE Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Jon Strahl We are a group of musicians interested in exploring the Blues and the many interweaving genres of American music. Our playing and songwriting is straightforward and heartfelt, always moving forward while remaining rooted in tradition. We continue to create, perform, and entertain on our […]
Gravel & Grace Bringing The Blues Ava Grace Music Modesto California’s Big Earl Matthews is a twenty-year veteran of the local blues scene. He is bandleader of “Big Earl and the Cryin’ Shame” and an intense organizer of jams and events. He is also a member of the blues and roots band the “Poorhouse Millionaires”. […]
CD Woodbury World’s Gone Crazy Independent CD Woodbury developed a reputation as a sideman on the Pacific NW blues scene. He founded his own band in 2009 and released his debut Sunbanks Live! In 2010; resulting in winning the first of his eleven Washington Blues Society “Best of The Blues” awards and the moniker “The […]
Heathcote Hill The Stories We Are Told 311 Music Westchester County New York may not be a common base for many bands, but Heathcote Hill are proud to call Mamaroneck, NY home. Stories We Are Told is the band’s fifth album in less than four years. Produced and mixed by Timothy M. Hatfield (Keith Richards, […]
Too Slim And The Taildraggers The Remedy Vizztone Label Group Too Slim And The Taildraggers were first formed in 1986 by Spokane, Washington’s Timothy Lee “Too Slim” Langford. They released their debut recording “Swingin’ in the Underworld” in 1988. The prolific band received a 2012 Blues Music Award nomination in the category of “Blues Rock […]
Ten Penny Gypsy Fugitive Heart FUGITIVE HEART is the new full-length release from five-time Arkansas CMA nominee TEN PENNY GYPSY. The album releases July 10th, 2020 and is available on all streaming services and on TEN PENNY GYPSY’S official website. This is the Americana groups second album, and they again teamed up with renowned multi-instrumentalist […]
Billy Prine A Place I Used to Know Memphis International Records Billy Prine releases A Place I Used To Know on July 10 by Memphis International Records and is his first album release since 2013. It features two songs written by his legendary, late brother John Prine. Originally from Chicago and now living in Nashville, […]
Andy Baker North Country Sky Self-released Andy Baker is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter who placed as a 2020 Kerrville Folk Festival finalist for two of the songs on this release, North Country Sky, his fourth studio album. The album is somewhat eclectic, from folk to folk-rock, a dash of country and even blues but it holds […]
