November 19, 2021 · 8:56 pm

Nashville’s Hans Condor is back.

Photo: Geddi Monroe

Get Paid is the first full-length album released by Nashville punk-rock band Hans Condor since 2010, though versions of it have been sitting on the shelf for quite some time. There were a few splits, but not a full-length.

It didn’t seem like the band would get back to the music, but the pandemic gave them all a reason to pick up their instruments again. Now, they have a new lineup, and they already have a followup for Get Paid ready to go. I talked to frontman Charles Castor about how all of that unfolded.

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November 16, 2021 · 9:38 pm

Rob Aldridge readies a new Proponents record.

A lot happened in 2021 for Rob Aldridge & the Proponents. During the recording of their new record, bassist Stone Anderson suddenly passed away. Anderson was a longtime collaborator and friend of Aldridge’s, and the sudden loss was difficult. But Aldridge focused his energy into ensuring that the record that Anderson had finished recording with the band would be released, and now, that effort will be rewarded. The first single is out tomorrow, and the full album arrives in January.

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November 10, 2021 · 9:45 pm

Garrison Starr’s return to the South.

Garrison Starr’s major label debut is now 24 years old. The veteran songwriter from Hernando, Mississippi was nearly ready to give it up, but along came 2021’s Girl I Used to Be, a record years in the making that helped her become more comfortable with sharing her own story.

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November 2, 2021 · 8:56 pm

Paula Cole finds her path.

Paula Cole released her 11th album over the pandemic, a collection of cover versions titled American Quilt. Now the Grammy-winner is readying the followup, a collection of originals that she hints will be “autobiographical.” A few of the new tracks are already recorded, including a collaboration with Alabama’s own Jason Isbell and John Paul White.

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October 26, 2021 · 7:50 pm

blink-18Toupin.

📷: Josh Weichman

Over the summer, Katie Toupin shared a TikTok covering “Adam’s Song” by blink-182. The band’s co-founder and bassist, Mark Hoppus, shared the video and it got a lot of attention. Katie had so much fun doing it, she decided to start a gofundme and see if she could fund a full album of blink-182 covers. Quickly, she had about a quarter of the project funded.

I spoke to Katie before she came to Birmingham for Secret Stages, but I had to check back in after she began this project. blink-182 was, after all, my favorite band when I was 16. We talked about how it all happened and what her plans are for the project. You can donate to the gofundme here and you can check out a great selection of merch here.

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October 13, 2021 · 9:53 pm

Blue Mountain to celebrate 30th anniversary at Fall Boogie No. 9.

It’s been nine years since Blue Mountain has played a show. For their 30th anniversary, they’ve reunited for two special performance – one in Oxford and one in Waverly, Alabama for the Fall Boogie at the Standard Deluxe.

It’s been a good year for reunions in the genre. I recently wrote about Slobberbone and Centro-matic reuniting for Shoals Fest, as well as Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell sharing a bill for the first time since Isbell’s departure from the former in 2007.

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September 9, 2021 · 9:26 pm

VIDEO PREMIERE: Janet Simpson – “I’m Wrong.”

Birmingham’s own Janet Simpson released Safe Distance in March. The record is her solo debut after years of collaborating as part of other bands and with other artists. I spoke to Janet about the album upon its’ release.

Today, she debuts a video for “I’m Wrong” right here. The record is available everyone now via Cornelius Chapel Records. Check out the new video above.

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August 9, 2021 · 1:50 am

The Menzingers learn what it’ll be like when they get old.

The Menzingers have been playing punk rock songs about hanging out and drinking beers with their friends for more than 15 years. Not unlike a lot of punk bands, they’ve always wondered what things would look like when they all grew up. The 2019 release Hello Exile was the closest that has come yet to being realized.

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August 5, 2021 · 3:17 am

S.G. Goodman’s old Kentucky home.

Hickman is at the far western point of Kentucky, on the Mississippi Delta. That’s where S.G. Goodman grew up before settling in Murray after college. She’s proud of her home state, and she has no intentions of leaving it for the bright lights of Nashville. She released her debut album, Old Time Feeling, during the summer of the pandemic. She also just released a cover of “Lungs” by Townes Van Zandt which was recorded in Muscle Shoals at FAME.

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August 4, 2021 · 2:42 am

Katie Toupin makes her first stop in Birmingham as Katie Toupin.

Katie Toupin left Houndmouth in April of 2016 and released her solo debut, Magnetic Moves, in 2019. She’s since learned a lot about herself and who she was all along; self-examination that was aided by sobriety, which Toupin has successfully maintained for four years now.

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