Singer-songwriter Bob Frank’s website characterizes him as “one of the most obscure songwriters on the face of the planet,” a prime example of his self-deprecating humor. After releasing his self-titled debut album on Vanguard Records in 1972, Frank toured to […]
It’s hard to find history in a patch of hot dirt, weeds, and cracked asphalt. Yet just such an abandoned vision of former honky-tonk glory is exactly what you get if you come to Bakersfield in search of the Blackboard, […]
Minneapolis can get depressingly cold in the winter. Touring bands stop coming through, local bands get sick of moving gear in the freezing rain, and music fans try and stay warm in their apartments, hopefully with the help of their […]
Depending on how you reckon it, You Ruined Everything is either the third Two Dollar Pistols album, or the first. Ask frontman John Howie, and he’ll lean toward the latter. At the very least, You Ruined Everything is a statement: […]
“All these [records] were milestones, each one fried my brain a little further, especially the experience of the first few listenings….The whole purpose of the absurd, mechanically persistent involvement with recorded music is the pursuit of that priceless moment.” –Lester […]
1 Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch) 2 Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (Mercury/Lost Highway) 3 Flatlanders, Now Again (New West) 4 Patty Griffin, 1,000 Kisses (ATO) 5 Norah Jones, Come Away With Me (Blue Note/Capitol) 6 Tom […]
Solomon Burke: Not giving up on him I was disappointed with the tone taken by Bill Friskics-Warren in his review of Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up On Me CD [ND #40, July-August 2002]. It appears he likes the recording, but […]
At some point in the early 1980s, right about when MTV went from high-risk investment to cultural landmark, magazine publishers decided that words were bad. Well, a few words were OK, so long as they were suitably adorned with colorful […]
CONTINUING CIRCLE: It’s the third time around for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with an October 1 release date set for Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. III. Co-produced by Randy Scruggs and NGDB, the collection will follow the previous […]
In 1997, at age 82, Alan Lomax signed a contract with Rounder Records that called for the release of over 100 albums of his life’s work. Rounder planned to methodically digitize, organize and release Alan’s field recordings, made from the […]
