Late last summer, Clodhopper visited the Tractor Tavern in Seattle to open for the Red House Painters. My lasting impression turned out not to be from he headliner, but rather the opening act, which energized the crowd with their take […]
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Invisible Republic is the 275-page accompanying booklet to a Bob Dylan box set that doesn’t exist. The subject of Marcus’ scholarly examination is a body of performances known collectively as the Basement Tapes. In the summer of 1967, having left […]
The second novel from Richard Currey, by day a New Mexico physician, traces the life of a West Virginia banjo player named Sapper Reeves, his trio, and the second trio his wife and son complete, from 19471997. Currey has fashioned […]
“I didn’t know what country was until I got my heart broken.” Jesse Dayton is explaining the unambiguously traditional country, but decidedly not retro, nature of his new CD on Justice. Track after track of Hey Nashvegas, due out August […]
Well I came down to Nashville in 1993 ‘Cause my friend Jimmy said Nashville Had money growin’ right on the trees So I thought I’d go pick some And I don’t mean musicalese Now it’s three years later And I’m […]
Bobby Bare Jr. was just 7 years old, but he remembers the last night the Ryman Auditorium hosted the Grand Ole Opry: “It was dark, and there were tons of people everywhere.” He was onstage, singing his duet, “Daddy What […]
The last song on Buttercup’s first album, Gold, is a suitable microcosm for what the band seems is about. “That Shirt” backs you into the corner of the ring and just socks you one with a hook that’ll knock you […]
LIBERTY, NORTH CAROLINA — In the glorious “Mama’s Opry”, Iris Dement tells of her mother’s closeted desire to sing at the Grand Ole Opry. Like countless other backyard singers, Dement’s mama never made it to the Ryman stage, but her […]
White Hassle is what some folks call White Castle, the northern cousin of the southern Krystal — both home of the miniature square oniony burgers favored by those too young for heartburn after a night of drinking and spending all […]
A wry smile crept almost imperceptibly across his face as the casually imposing figure stood onstage — head bowed, his acoustic guitar poised for a solo performance. Over a room crowded with fans of headliner Guy Clark, the club’s announcer […]
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