Archive for March, 2011

Sessions: Ponderosa

Sessions: Ponderosa

Ponderosa stopped by the American Songwriter offices last month to play three songs from Moonlight Revival, their New West debut which they recorded with Joe Ciccarelli in Nashville at Blackbird Studios. The Atlanta-based roots rockers played soulful, stripped-down versions of “Old Gin Road,” “Broken Heart” and “I Don’t Mind,” blowing our minds in the process. [...]

The Festival King: George Wein Casts A Long Shadow

The Festival King: George Wein Casts A Long Shadow

photo by Laura Brown There’s a scene in the great 1959 film Jazz On A Summer’s Day, shot at Newport Jazz Festival, which is often cited as an inspiration by rock and rollers like Keith Richards. A jazz rhythm section backs Chuck Berry for his nighttime set, and the band does everything to rattle Berry’s [...]

Amy Speace: Lands Like A Bird In Nashville

Amy Speace: Lands Like A Bird In Nashville

Amy Speace left New York for Nashville, grieving. Music City seems to have resulted in a slower, more deliberate pace on songs like the ultra-slow-burner “Real Love Song.” On Land Like A Bird, lazy piano hits ring out, Kim Richey sings on several songs, and pedal steel sometimes adorns Speace’s lethargic and plaintive Sunday-afternoon-stroll vocals. [...]

Tech Review: Amazon Cloud Player

Tech Review: Amazon Cloud Player

Well, yesterday we wrote that Amazon might beat Apple and Google to the cloud, and today, the online-shopping giant has officially done it. On Amazon’s home page Tuesday, the company has published a letter to users from CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos explains in layman terms why cloud computing is, essentially, better – especially for music. [...]

Dan Muckala Named Songwriter Of The Year At ASCAP’s Christian Music Awards

Dan Muckala Named Songwriter Of The Year At ASCAP’s Christian Music Awards

From the press release: ASCAP celebrated the songwriters and publishers of Christian music’s most performed songs at our 33rd annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards on Monday, March 28, 2011 at Richland Country Club in Nashville. A total of 22 most performed song honors were given out, interspersed with several very special performances, including “Your Love” [...]

Win Tickets To Hangout Music Festival

Win Tickets To Hangout Music Festival

Here’s your chance to grab tickets to this year’s Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama! Billed as “the first and only festival of it’s kind,” Hangout invites you to shed your muddy boots and walk barefoot on the sandy beaches of Gulf Shores while enjoying music from acts such as Paul Simon, Foo Fighters, [...]

Stream Pearl Jam’s <em>Vs.</em> And <em>Vitalogy</em> Reissues

Stream Pearl Jam’s Vs. And Vitalogy Reissues

Want to relive some classic Pearl Jam moments? AOL Music is offering free streams of Pearl Jam’s seminal second and third albums Vs. and Vitalogy, which Sony Legacy is releasing in remastered, expanded editions today as part of the band’s 20th anniversary celebration. You’ll have to buy the actual box set to hear the live [...]

Hear “Learning To Listen,” Ryan Tanner And Jim Lauderdale’s Lyric Contest Co-Write

Hear “Learning To Listen,” Ryan Tanner And Jim Lauderdale’s Lyric Contest Co-Write

American Songwriter is pleased to unveil “Learning To Listen,” the song Ryan Tanner, our 2010 Grand Prize Lyric Contest Winner, co-wrote with local legend Jim Lauderdale last week. Tanner and Lauderdale wrote the song from scratch, in the span of one afternoon. “The song we actually wrote just came from something from our conversation,” Tanner [...]

The Band Of Heathens: <em>Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster’s Son</em>

The Band Of Heathens: Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster’s Son

Austin rockers’ latest goes down easy.

Matt Duke: <em>One Day Die</em>

Matt Duke: One Day Die

Singer-songwriter ponders mortality.