The ballads of mountaineers, descendants of the Irish, Scottish and German immigrants who began settling in the Appalachian mountains in the 1700s, provide the central focus of Songcatcher. Apparently, they felt the East Coast was already too full of folk; […]
Gram Parsons: Grievous grievances A little iconoclasm is no bad thing, but I hope No Depression isn’t going down the road of so many inferior music magazines by seeking to trash its former heroes for merely sensational reasons. First there […]
1 Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (Mercury) 2 Old 97’s, Satellite Rides (Elektra) 3 Rodney Crowell , The Houston Kid (Sugar Hill) 4 Dolly Parton, Little Sparrow (Sugar Hill) 5 Jimmy LaFave, Texoma (Bohemia Beat) 6 Delbert […]
TOWNES TRIBUTE: September 11 is the release date for POET: A TRIBUTE TO TOWNES VAN ZANDT The 15-song collection is a joint venture between Freefalls Entertainment and Pedernales Records, the latter label a partnership between country legend Willie Nelson and […]
An unlikely source turned me on to country music twenty years ago while I was living in Nashville. In May 1981 Elvis Costello, my musical hero, came to Music City to record Almost Blue. This might not seem surprising now, […]
The history of country blues is rife with vagabonds and troubadours. From Robert Johnson to Jimmie Rodgers to Woody Guthrie, musical hobos have brought regional sounds to the world in a much more beautiful and eloquent way than the internet […]
If there’s an official formula for sibling music-making, it goes something like this: Brothers are raised harmonizing as soon as they can speak; appear on talent shows dressed in retrospectively embarrassing matching wardrobe; gain acclaim and fame for their sympathetic […]
When he was growing up, Duane Jarvis’ family lived in an assortment of places up and down the West Coast — the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland. His professional music career began in Portland, just after he graduated from […]
“I’m the granddaddy of this band,” laughs Mic Harrison, feeling a bit elderly these days. At 35, Harrison has almost 10 years on the other members of the Faults: bassist Paxton Sellers (a fellow former V-roy), guitarist Robbie Trosper, and […]
Because I work at home, and my wife will tell you I’m not a tidy fellow, I tend to schedule business meetings at coffee shops. Or maybe it’s a final nod to my old hometown, Seattle. Or perhaps I just […]
