Maybe it’s the harmonies. Maybe it’s the seemingly effortless picking by some of the best players in country music. Maybe it’s the beautiful high soprano, or maybe it’s the excellent repertoire. Maybe it’s all that and more. Alison Krauss & […]
It’s not so much that Pinetop Seven is like nothing you’ve ever heard, although that’s likely true. It’s more that they’re like everything you’ve ever heard all at once: Schoenberg scores honky-tonk on a 12-tone scale; Mingus plays a carousel; […]
According to Billboard magazine, 29,429 albums were released in 1995. Alas, none of them were by Jeffrey Dean Foster’s band, the Pinetops. That also goes for this year, every other year, and every other band Foster has ever been in. […]
The year is 1982, on the Sunday before Labor Day; the place is Cat’s Records, on West End Avenue in Nashville. A thousand people have packed the store’s parking lot to see Jason & the Scorchers, who in the past […]
Sunday, September 15, 1996. One year ago today was the official debut date of this magazine. Oddly enough, this anniversary evening began when I sat down in front of the TV to watch — okay, I’ll admit it — a […]
Five years ago, Jack Logan was dividing his time between repairing pool motors by day and constructing enough songs with his musician friends to fill a 90-minute tape in one session by night. Today, after two albums and enough glowing […]
Saw a cool band back in October — four nights in a row. It was all a big blur. Let me see if I can remember …. There was Jeff Tweedy, Ken Coomer, John Stirratt, Max Johnston, Jay Bennett, Mike […]
The morning after this show, I got an e-mail from Bad Livers bass player and spokesperson Mark Rubin, apologizing for an “off night” in what he felt was a “road-weary” performance. After expressing my regret at having chosen the Livers […]
A promotional tour for Nashville: The Other Side Of The Alley, Bloodshot Records’ third compilation of “insurgent country,” this show was like a good old-fashioned guitar pull with a stellar backing band. Songwriters Tim Carroll, Duane Jarvis and Lonesome Bob […]
On a warm September evening, at the base of a manicured green hillside, the Bottle Rockets took the stage amidst a strange mixture of odors: human perspiration, beer, the sizzling grease of $9 steak sandwiches and the repulsive stench of […]
