When Merle Haggard returned to the stage of the refurbished Ryman Auditorium for the second time in 13 months, he probably had all the immortals who had stood there before him in mind. To the delight of the many blue-collar […]
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“This town is so depressing. This is the most depressing town we’ve ever been in.” Those were the first words Shane MacGowan slurred to the large and sweaty First Avenue crowd at his first appearance in Minneapolis in many, many […]
A performer receiving a standing ovation is something that happens all the time. But how many performers get a standing ovation for simply walking out onstage? That was the reception Steve Earle received from more than 1,200 wildly enthusiastic fans […]
From Tuscaloosa to Athens to Minneapolis, Marlee MacLeod has covered a lot of ground in recent years. The road has made her music stronger for the wear: Like the frequent relocations of fellow singer-songwriters such as Lucinda Williams (Los Angeles, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 — […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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