Exclusive: Hear Two New Songs From Andrew Combs

On April 10, gifted Nashville singer-songwriter Andrew Combs will release the digital singles “Big Bad Love” and “Take It From Me.” There will also be 500 limited edition vinyl 7”, screen-printed and hand-numbered, designed by Andrew Combs and Kristen Beck. Fans will be able to download the singles or pre-order a copy of the 7” on April 10th via Bandcamp.

Click here for an exclusive preview of the songs.

Fiona Apple Announces Summer Tour Dates

Fiona Apple will have a fruitful summer in 2012. The songstress just announced a slew of tour dates to support The Idler Wheel is Wiser…, her first album of new material in seven  years.

Check out the full list of tour dates here.

Guest Blog: Miss Willie Brown at the ACM Awards

Hey! Miss Willie Brown here! We went to the ACM Awards in Las Vegas this past weekend and it was a blast! We went to radio remotes at the MGM, which is basically a gigantic room filled with radio stations from all over the country and you go from table to table meeting them and doing interviews. It was so much fun!

On Saturday, we performed at the ACM Experience Acoustic stage for a bunch of folks and we were super grateful to be included. We got to meet everyone afterwards and had a blast. We also had the privilege of being a part of the Dr. Pepper party where we got to take pictures with fans and see Chris Young and Blake Shelton perform … they were awesome! THEN … Sunday we walked our very first red carpet at the 2012 ACM AWARDS!!!! IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE!!! At the show we got to watch all the performances LIVE!!! Since we can’t fit all of our experiences into one paragraph, we thought we would give you a quick glance into our time in Vegas …

Click here to continue reading.

Writer Of The Week: Chuck Prophet

For his latest album Temple Beautiful, Americana artist Chuck Prophet drew inspiration from the same city that drew in the Beat poets and helped spawn the psychedelic rock scene. We asked Prophet about his approach to songwriting, teaming up with Alejandro Escovedo, earning high praise from Steven Van Zandt and more.

Your new album is all about San Francisco, a city you’ve called “your drug of choice.” What’s so special about San Francisco?

It’s not any one thing that makes it an awesome place. It’s a wild ride. A great drug even. One hit and it’s over. That first hit is a killer that makes you want to live forever. This town is a wellspring of inspiration. You can find it in the cracks of the sidewalks, the library, the streetcars … you need a second unit just to capture it all. It’s not quite the city that never sleeps. Maybe it’s the city that’s been known to rest it’s eyes from time to time, but hell, I Iove it — it’s broken my heart many times but still it’s somehow never let me down.

Click here to continue reading the interview.

Lyric Of The Week: Tom Petty, “I Won’t Back Down”

An arsonist set fire to Tom Petty’s L.A. home in May 1987, burning most of the house to the ground. While his wife and daughter stayed at a friend’s place in Beverly Hills, Tom began rebuilding the house on the exact same plot of land, using his basement recording studio – one of the few rooms to survive the blaze – as the foundation. He wasn’t going to back down to any firestarter.

The house was still under construction by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. The Pettys, who’d already spent half a year in someone else’s home, were getting restless. Deciding that a game of softball was the best way to blow off steam, Tom got into his car and went out in search of baseball mitts.

Continue reading here.

Sinead O’Connor Announces North American Tour

It’s been quite awhile since Sinead O’Connor has toured the States;  five years, to be exact. On May 12, The Irish provocateur and Bob Dylan obsessive  will launch a North American tour in support of her critically-acclaimed new album How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? Read our review of the album here.

Pre-sales start March 28, and tickets will be available to the general public on March 30.

Click here to view the tour dates.

Video Premiere: Ron Pope, “Atlanta”

Americana singer-songwriter Ron Pope is going places. Following the runaway success of his song “A Drop In The Ocean,” whose fan-made video garnered over 16 million views and went on to rack up a million downloads, Pope is ready to release his latest album, the rootsy Atlanta, which is due out next month on iTunes (and in stores this June.)

We’re excited to bring you the premiere of the video for the album’s first single, “Atlanta.”

Read more about the song here.

Review: ZT Lunchbox Amplifier

It’s not often that dreams come true, but the ZT Lunchbox is one of the rare cases where it actually happened.

No bigger than metal lunchboxes we carried to school (okay, I’m old) that not only held your lunch but a thermos that would break after the first week, the Lunchbox is certainly compact in size.  Small amps are nothing new, and are usually of the practice variety. But this baby packs 200 watts of power making it more than loud enough to use in a band setting at a gig. And it weighs in at a back-saving nine and a half pounds.

Click here to continue reading the review.

Hello, Cruel World: A Q&A With Gretchen Peters

Gretchen Peters, writer of some of the ‘90s biggest country songs and maker of quietly moving modern folk albums, is not one to send an interviewer away empty-handed. Ask her for self-analysis, and she’ll sift through thoughts and feelings until she arrives at something with some substance to it. One can approach a Gretchen Peters album expecting engrossing, character-driven narratives spun from her inner awareness, and her latest album, Hello Cruel World, is no exception.

You’ve gone through different phases in your career, from you country cut era to your big record label era to finding a warm welcome with the folk audience. Now you’ve added a satellite radio show and Huffington Post blog. Has your idea of what you do as a songwriting and communicator changed?

Well, obviously, yeah, especially with those things that you mentioned. I think that I’ve finally kind of accepted that I’m a writer, period, without a hyphen in front of it. The Huff Post blog, for instance, it was daunting to write that first one just from a writerly standpoint, you know, the essay form. I chose the form of songs for a reason, because that very small box really felt like my niche. And writing an essay, it felt so open-ended. Writing without the overlay of poetry felt very naked and a little bit daunting. But I also found pretty quickly that the same things apply to writing that piece that apply to writing the songs on this record and to anything else, which was I had to find my way to the heart of the matter and get there, and then everything went smoothly. …And the radio show is a secret fantasy I’ve had forever. I think every musician I know would secretly like to do this. At first I thought, ‘Well, am I going to run out of stuff to play?’ Then halfway into the second show I realized, ‘Never.’

Click here to continue reading the interview.

Willie Nelson, Music and Donuts: Jonny Corndawg’s Wild SXSW

Jonny Corndawg’s 2012 SXSW experience included a trip to Willie Nelson’s ranch, and the kind of food you might want to eat after visiting said ranch.

Check out the photo set with Corndawg’s captions here.