Fred Neil, one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the early folk-rock era, died in his sleep on July 7 at the age of 65. Known to most listeners solely as the author of “Everybody’s Talkin’”, Neil had not released […]
Fred Neil, one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the early folk-rock era, died in his sleep on July 7 at the age of 65. Known to most listeners solely as the author of “Everybody’s Talkin’”, Neil had not released […]
In rebelling against the rebellion, and seeking a return to America’s musical roots, the first generation of so-called country rockers was responsible for rock’s first real retrenchment, looking for a map of the future in the recordings of the Carter […]
Record companies face innumerable obstacles to survival. Surviving (much less prospering) for 50 years with the same person in charge is unprecedented. Ahmet Ertegun beat those odds by turning a small, independent label into one of the world’s major record […]
One of my favorite gospel bands makes use of actors and dancers who stage stories of the Bible during breaks in the music. Though the acting can seem a bit hokey — imagine illustrating Cain and Abel through dance — […]
Johnny Dowd has something to say. “I’m the alternative to alternative country,” he drawls. Lest there remain any confusion, he adds, “I’m Emmylou Harris…if she couldn’t sing and was a man.” While there’s obviously something flippant in his delivery, Dowd […]
Buck Owens has put his mixed feelings about the Big Apple right out there. He called the city’s residents the best live audience he’d ever seen on that famous Carnegie Hall show record, but only a few years later informed […]
The last time Stompin’ Tom Connors was in Regina, in October 1998, he played the relatively posh Saskatchewan Centre of Arts, a soft-seat auditorium built in the 1970s to accommodate symphonies and operas. The largely rural crowd that Connors is […]
One of Kentucky’s — and the festival circuit’s — best-kept secrets is the Master Musician’s Festival near Somerset, Kentucky. Now in its eighth year, the MMF is situated on a flat rise in the shadow of three mountains in the […]
“And if I were like lightning/I wouldn’t need no sneakers/I could come and go whenever I would please…” Tough words from a Texas troubadour. But Lyle Lovett was no match for the electric storm that whipped through Red Rocks Amphitheater […]
“I can’t think of another band that creates as much of a commotion without an electric guitar,” a friend is fond of saying. It’s hard to gauge whether the Gourds could have out-commotioned the train that roared by Fowler’s Gourmet […]
FRESH TRACK: Matt Andersen – “Magnolia”Check it out
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