A special edition of the Western Beat Barndance, a weekly event in Nashville, this event coincided with what would’ve been Hank Williams’ 73rd birthday. Jett Williams, Hank’s daughter, kicked off the proceedings by singing “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, […]
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 was only appropriate. On the same the Country Music Association was holding its awards show in Nashville and on network TV, extravagantly celebrating the blandness of mainstream country, the folks at Austin City Limits saw fit to honor their […]
Peter Rowan tells a story about touring Europe as one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. As they were going through customs, an agent stopped Monroe and, looking at his passport, asked his name. “Bill Monroe,” he said. Then the agent […]
Whither Max Johnston? A veteran of latter-day Uncle Tupelo and then Wilco before being dismissed shortly after completion of Wilco’s new opus Being There, the talented multi-instrumentalist recently spent a couple weeks on the road with his sister, Michelle Shocked, […]
Held just outside of Yosemite National Park, the twice-annual Strawberry Music Festival offers great music amidst warm, sunny days and cool, clear evenings in a pastoral green field surrounded by tall pines. The festival is usually held every Memorial Day […]
One of the stated missions of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is education, and it certainly fulfilled that goal with a week-long celebration of Woody Guthrie in late September. A series of seminars, films and other activities was […]
Word was that Pete Droge wanted to record his new album, Find A Door, with the same musicians he would tour with, so as to discourage the impression that he’s some sort of singer-songwriter type backed by a bunch of […]
Ten years ago, Lone Justice anticipated the current twangcore movement with an audacious sound that drew in equal measure from trad country and the visceral rock ‘n’ roll of Tom Petty, whose “Ways to Be Wicked” provided Lone Justice with […]
Halfway through their spirited performance in Cicero’s intimate lower quarters, The Schramms’ chief scribe/singer/guitarist and namesake, Dave Schramm, asked if he was mumbling too much. Before anyone in the small but enthusiastic crowd could reply, Schramm followed with a smirky, […]
