We caught John McCauley at the Shindig early Wednesday, several miles past the interstate in East Austin, so far east in fact that we felt like we were halfway to Dallas. But it proved to be a nice sanctuary from the crowds and the hustle, and a perfect way to spend the afternoon. McCauley was [...]

When music snobs hear the term “supergroup” nowadays, the usual reactions range from stern looks of disapproval or obligatory mild interest to extreme disappointment when the band doesn’t meet fan expectations. But Diamond Rugs doesn’t need to be labeled as a supergroup to inspire stern looks of disapproval, which is why these scraggly rockers are [...]

A few months ago, the country singer Jonny Corndawg took his friend Sean Dunne to a tiny West Virginia town called Oceana. “It’s snuggled right down in the middle of nowhere. I found it when I was a kid,” says Corndawg, a native of Esmont, Virginia, outside Charlottesville, some 200 miles from Oceana. “There are [...]

These United States’ self-titled fifth studio album is aptly named, not only for the band itself, but for the diverse collaborations featured on the album. With help from John McCauley of Deer Tick, Michael Nau of Cotton Jones, Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent, Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, Ben Sollee, David Moore of Langhorne Slim, Josh Read, [...]

  Bon Iver, Civil Wars, Jack White and more play 2012′s Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington.

Jack White will perform on Saturday Night Live in the next live episode March 3. It will be White’s first television appearance in support of his debut album Blunderbuss, out April 24. Check out the Blunderbuss tracklist: 1. Missing Pieces 2. Sixteen Saltines 3. Freedom At 21 4. Love Interruption 5. Blunderbuss 6. Hypocritical Kiss [...]

How did you first get into Bob Dylan? I bought The Times They Are A Changing in high school. It just seemed like a good place to start because I was more interested in starting to write my own songs and I wanted some kind of platform that made sense. I plowed through everything he [...]

Move over, Middle Brother. There’s a new supergroup in town. Meet Diamond Rugs, a new band featuring John McCauley (Deer Tick, Middle Brother), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (The Black Lips), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite). Watch the video for the band’s “Christmas In [...]

A great American songwriter once wrote, “Jingle bells/ Batman smells/ Robin laid an egg.” We may never know the author of that timeless composition, but here’s 20 more great holiday songs whose origins are not in doubt. Season’s greetings, y’all. 1. Paul Simon – “Getting Ready For Christmas Day” 2. Hayes Carll – “Grateful for [...]

John McCauley’s disgusted. “I can’t eat, I can’t use my mouth,” he sneers through his ultra-lysergic vocal bite, which has been Deer Tick’s signature audio tic since the timeless-sounding 20-somethings first got their shit together for an album. But they still sound nice and nasty, even on the well-worn “Be My Baby” beat. "Main Street" [...]

Deer Tick Divine Providence Partisan Rating: No matter what we may call our music these days, “alternative,” “indie,” “noise rock,” if you look at it squarely and say there are no real rock and roll bands anymore, you’re not really wrong. Oh sure, we’ve got poetic, dreamy dudes like Band Of Horses and The Kooks, [...]

Jonny Corndawg backstage at the War Memorial (click to watch) The “jogging cowboy” was seemingly everywhere this year – co-writing songs with indie rock supergroup Middle Brother, criss-crossing the country like Johnny Appleseed to promote his Kickstarter-funded album Down On The Bikini Line, and popping up in numerous publications (like ours). This video was shot [...]