Twangfest celebrates 15 years in St. Louis. June 8-11. Be there. You've been to the Twangfest SXSW parties in Austin and you've attended Twangfest in the past. Or maybe you've always been meaning to attend but never quite made it. Well, this is your year. Twangfest -- the independent, grassroots festival of great American music -- is celebrating its 15th year of rocking and twanging St. Louis. Presented by 88.1 KDHX , the festival features four nights of amazing music from across the spectrum of country, rock, pop, folk, bluegrass and Americana. This year, headliners include: Hayes Carll, Elizabeth Cook, Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, Robbie Fulks with Nora O'Connor, Chatham County Line, Marah, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 and the Baseball Project (featuring Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, Linda Pitmon and Mike Mills of R.E.M.). Single night tickets and Friends Packs -- including a four-night pass, merch and admission to a house concert with the Baseball Project -- are on sale now at Twangfest.com. Previous years have seen sell-out shows, so don't miss out on the biggest and best Twangfest ever. See you in St. Louis. June 8-11. Twangfest 15 Spotlight: Jill Andrews makes a pop turn on 'The Mirror' Jill Andrews has been singing and writing songs since she met Sam Quinn at a summer camp in Tennessee when she was in her teens. As partner with Sam in the everybodyfields, Jill has always been known for writing country-based, personal songs, often allowing the listener into the pain of relationships gone awry.  After three albums with the everybodyfields and her 2009 debut self-titled EP, Jill is due to release her first full length album on June 7. The Mirror continues Andrews' personal songs with titles like "Cut and Run" and "Sinking Ship" making clear that since getting married and having her first child in the last few years, Jill can still write about pain and life's problems. What's different about The Mirror from her previous work is that often the emotions in the songs are masked by upbeat tempos and happy melodies. Nowhere is this more apparent than the song "Another Man."  With lyrics like "Oh my God / I found another / man to help me lose my way," Jill manages to cover her sadness with a buoyant piano melody and the beautiful backing vocals of her musical partner, Josh Oliver.  The title track is another song that shares more in common with the happy melodies of Sarah Harmer than her former band. Optimism shines through with "I know there is light / even in the shadows / wherever the sun goes / I will follow too."  There's even a beautiful lullaby to her son, "Wake Up, Nico".  But, the centerpiece of the album, "A Little Less," is classic Jill Andrews.  Behind a beautiful acoustic guitar and Oliver's complementary backing vocals, Andrews gives her strongest vocal performance to date.  The Mirror returns Jill Andrews to the personal songs of the past but presents itself with the most pop sensibility of her career. I look forward to seeing what path her music takes from here. Written by Allen Dahm, host of Bittersweet Melody on 88.1 KDHX. Photo by Sara Finke. Jill Andrews appears at Twangfest 15 on June 9. CD Review: The Baseball Project slugs it out on 'Volume 2' The second album from the Baseball Project, Volume 2: High and Inside, continues the mission set forth by the band to bring our nation's pastime to life through a series of rock ballads. You'd be forgiven for being skeptical about an album of songs on the topic of baseball. One imagines a dusty carton of CDs with cheesy cover art on the counter of a gift shop, or perhaps the pet project of a stadium organist. You would not be forgiven, however, for passing on an album featuring the likes of Peter Buck (R.E.M, The Minus 5), Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5, R.E.M., Fresh Young Fellows), and Linda Pitmon (Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3, Golden Smog), regardless of the title or cover art. These four rock veterans have amassed over 140 years of touring experience and dozens of studio albums. With all due respect to stadium organists everywhere, that doesn't exactly put them in the same category as Ernie Hays. Volume 2 is collection of baseball narratives that span over 90 years of the sport's history and includes myriad characters and events, both well-known (Roger Clemens, Suzuki Ichiro) and relatively unknown (Tony Conigliaro, Mark Fidrych, the death of Ray Chapman by fastball to the head). Lyrics are predominantly the responsiblity of Wynn and McCaughey, who do a great job of molding what is not exactly poetic content around well-worn but timeless rock arrangments. "1976" may be the album's best track, with the nostalgic refrain of "it's always 1976" and a melody based on sunny guitar and melancholy organ. "Don't Call Them Twinkies," a love song to the Minnesota Twins, is another highlight. In this Hold Steady-esque anthem, featuring that band's lead singer Craig Finn on vocals, the delivery is so impassioned that it almost made me a Twins fan myself, until I remembered what they did to the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series. "Buckner's Bolero" recounts the unfortunate legacy of Bill Buckner, a solid ball player ill-remembered due to the fielding error that cost the Boston Red Sox the 1986 World Series. The wistful song easily succeeds in making penance for two and a half decades of abuse by sportscasters and fans. Not all songs here are keepers though. "Chin Music" is predictably hokey while "Look Out Mom" and "Twilight of My Career" consist of lyrics too vague to make clear the actual subjects of the narratives. But these weaknesses point out what the rest of the album's songs do so well, which is to weave entertaining plots and characters into the ongoing narrative of two things that we all love, baseball and rock and roll. This album may just barely clear the left field fence, but as any fan will tell you, a home run is a home run. Written by Chris Bay, Twangfest volunteer and host of Gold Soundz on 88.1 KDHX. The Baseball Project appears at Twangfest 15 on June 11.