Richard Thompson calls Sandy Denny “the greatest British female artist of her generation.” Clinton Heylin names her “perhaps the finest folk singer of the modern milieu.” No need for the qualifications: No one else sounded like her, no contemporary (and […]
Even my daddy said that Benny drank too much. Well, not that he drank too much — according to Honey Wilds’ way of thinking, that was really hard to do. My old man and most of the others on the […]
ROGER, WILCO: Of the many news items coming out of the WILCO camp, the biggest is the departure of drummer KEN COOMER. Taking over behind the kit is GLENN KOTCHE, who has worked with Paul K & the Weathermen, Chris […]
Is it comin’ around again? These “next-big-thing” waves tend to flow in cycles, you know. There was clamor circa 1995, when Gavin magazine’s now-relocated Americana chart made its debut, as did our 32-page first issue, and when Son Volt and […]
Shaver: More to the story Thank you for the fine piece on Billy Joe Shaver [ND #32, March-April ’01]. He is a wonderful man and is most deserving of the cover of your magazine. Working with Billy Joe the last […]
1 Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (Mercury) 2 Dolly Parton, Little Sparrow (Sugar Hill) 3 Emmylou Harris, Red Dirt Girl (Nonesuch) 4 Johnny Cash, American III: Solitary Man (American/Columbia) 5 Shelby Lynne, I Am Shelby Lynne (Mercury) […]
Chicago’s climatic extremes being what they are, the changing seasons can take on the force of metaphor. John Stirratt was raised in New Orleans before Wilco brought him to his now permanent home in Chicago, so it’s easy to understand […]
“I’d never done anything like that before — just wrote a straightforward love song for this woman.” A rare breed indeed is the artist who could make such a statement. Ask the majority of songwriters what the majority of their […]
Clarence Fountain knows just how thin the line is between gospel and rock ‘n’ roll. A word here and a word there, and a song can leap from one field to the other. He and his group, the Five Blind […]
Goodtime Charlie has an ornery streak in him. The same reckless defiance that got Charlie Robison booted from Warner Bros. Nashville while in the midst of recording his mid-’90s label debut turned even more dangerous with 1998’s Life Of The […]
