In 1994, I was lucky enough to pick up the self-titled debut by a trio from Oxford, Mississippi, called Blue Mountain. Released on their own 4-Barrel Records, it was an unassuming but highly impressive little collection of hopelessly catchy blues- […]
The San Francisco country scene is a misnomer. Yes, a growing number of bands play their own blend of country-rock/hillbilly-folk/ alternative-twang, but the idea that these bands belong to some sort of badge-carrying Bay Area alternative-country collective and sit around […]
Earl Brooks of Seattle band the Crop Circles did what any self-respecting musician would do. He dropped an advance of his bands first CD by the radio station in his hometown in Idaho. And after a few days, he called […]
A few years back, rock n roll survivor Jon Langford transplanted himself from Leeds, England, to Chicago for love and money. His past and present band, the Mekons, have been around for more than 15 years and occupy a musical […]
I have to tell you about the bizarre thing that happened while I was talking to Ryan Adams for this story. It was at a monthly show called the Songwriters Alliance Series at the Berkeley Cafe. A guy here by […]
Those unforgettable words first rang out of the radio in 1968, with songwriter Jimmy Webb’s majestic melody gliding on the wings of Glen Campbell’s sweetly aching, longing croon into the No. 3 spot on the Billboard charts a few weeks […]
Catchin’ an all-night station Somewhere in Louisiana It sounds like 1963 But for now It sounds like heaven. –“Windfall,” Son Volt It’s a warm, incandescent, comforting burnt-orange blur. The slim needle of the AM radio dial in that old Chevy […]
The Northwest has always been awash in a sea of music. Bing Crosby, Ray Charles, The Wailers, The Sonics, Jimi Hendrix, Queensryche, Nirvana, Pearl Jam. These musicians have been ahead of their times and underappreciated on their home turf — […]
By now you’ve heard some of the buzz words, the catch phrases everyone has tried to come up with for this “alternative country” thing that’s been picking up steam for the past couple years. Americana. Western Beat. Twangcore. Countrypolitan. Insurgent […]
Somewhere along the deep green and brown back roads of North Dakota, where the country radio DJ regularly sent songs on out to the men down in the silos (not the kind that mark off space along the skyline), two […]
