Album Review – Jason Boland & The Stragglers – “The Last Kings of Babylon”

On “The Last Kings of Babylon,” Jason Boland tries to summarize the last 25 or so years in music, from the personal and the professional, to the sacred and the profane.
On “The Last Kings of Babylon,” Jason Boland tries to summarize the last 25 or so years in music, from the personal and the professional, to the sacred and the profane.
It’s not a festival, it’s a revolution. It’s also a great opportunity to see some of the best bands in Texas and beyond all in one place. It’s all thanks to radio station 95.3 KHYI in Dallas.
“This album is a mirror,” says Boland. “It’s a retrospective, a reflection of everywhere we’ve been and everything we’ve learned over the last 25 years on the road. These songs are about the journey. We were searching for something.”
The 2024 installment of AmericanaFest transpired in Nashville last week, giving fans, members of the industry, and fellow artists an opportunity to check out much of the talent in the independent side of country and roots.
For some Austin music venues, there’s a sense of not “if,” but “when” the end will come, and along with it, all the history, memories, and sometimes friendships and family that is made at these magical spots.
Those intimately familiar with the name Courtney Patton will need no coaxing to pay attention to a new album from her. No long-winded critical assessment is necessary, they pre-ordered this thing weeks ago, and much attention and love will be given to it for the weeks and months to come.
Based in Texas, but affecting audiences well beyond, the songwriting of Courtney Patton is cherished among many distinguishing and attentive listeners for the poetry and insight it contains, and Courtney Patton’s often stunning delivery. She’s also revealed herself to be a badass boss lady.
The single greatest band in country music at the moment has just released one of the single greatest records you will hear in country music in the last few years. And as much as you may assess this opinion as fandom overriding objectivity, or outright overwrought hyperbole…
Christmas came early for ticket holders of the Texas Music/Red Dirt/Americana-oriented Mile 0 Fest set to transpire in Key West, Florida on January 28th-February 1st, 2020, as well as for those still sitting on the fence about if they want to go, or those who might have a ticket waiting for them under the Christmas tree.
30 minutes before Texas music legend Charlie Robison was scheduled to be paid tribute by his fellow Texas and Red Dirt artists, a line 400 deep snaked around the block of the 200-capacity Key West Theater as part of the 2019 Mile 0 Fest. Some folks had shown up hours before.
If you know anything about Texas country songwriters, then you know about Courtney Patton. And if you don’t know about Courtney Patton, then you better get wise. Fortunate for you, she’ll make it easy on you by releasing a new album on February 16th, 2018 called What It’s Like to Fly Alone. “The title sounds […]
Jason Eady can do what they can do, but they can’t do what Jason Eady does, which is strip it all back and have the appeal for the music rest entirely on the written composition of a song. Even the most minimalist of performers have to rely a little bit on style, groove, or some sort of window dressing. But for Jason Eady, it’s like a type of Zen.
Amputations are things we’re only used to hear about happening in war zones, not during lazy afternoons at the Wimberley Farmers Market. The news was so shocking, with the thought of this musician and a mother that has brought so much light and vitality to people being encumbered now for the rest of her life feels so unjust. Not Savannah. Anyone but Savannah.
But like a diamond, true talent has a tendency to shine through the darkness and Patton’s skill as a singer-songwriter has done just that. She is quickly becoming a driving force within the Red Dirt and Texas music scenes. Patton married fellow musician Jason Eady in March of last year and released So This Is Life today (6-9).