Let’s face it: Country music today is made by, for, and about white people. This is at least as true of alt as traditional country, as true of Austin as Nashville, as true of bluegrass as Top-40. You could name […]
Let’s face it: Country music today is made by, for, and about white people. This is at least as true of alt as traditional country, as true of Austin as Nashville, as true of bluegrass as Top-40. You could name […]
Spigot’s two primary wheels — vocalist, songwriter, and group firestarter Nann Alleman, and harp player/serial good-guy David Lipkind — are sitting in a booth at Portland’s Laurelthirst pub, sucking down a series of Olympia stubbies. The pair stare intently at […]
Dave Carter, whose work with Tracy Grammer positioned the duo among the rising stars of contemporary folk/Americana, died of a heart attack on July 19 in Hadley, Massachusetts. He was 49. Born in Oxnard, California, and raised in rural Texas […]
Richie Unterberger has uncorked a formidable task, for “folk-rock” is a problematic category. Many have difficulty accepting it as an idiom or movement in and of itself. When the term is adopted, it tends to have a catholic reach, gathering […]
In many ways, the sights and sounds of the 36th annual Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival transpired as if the musical paradigm shift of Newport 1965 never happened. Fans and performers alike have always stood by the strict stylistic purity of […]
Her last album, 10 Song Demo, came out six years ago, and her live appearances since then have been few and far between. But for her published short-story collection and kids’ book, Rosanne Cash has largely been out of the […]
There is an old saying: “Sincerity, once you can fake that you’ve got it made.” Cynical though it sounds, if you replace “fake” with “act”, it rings true for performers. Think about it: It is not B.B. King’s job to […]
“You guys didn’t tell me this was on the set list!” guitarist/vocalist David Lowery called to his bandmates halfway through the second of three sold-out shows at New York City’s Knitting Factory. “I hope you’re OK with that,” bassist Victor […]
Jon Langford already answers to such honorifics as Mr. Mekon, Big Chief Waco, and Pine Valley party chairman. On this sultry Friday night, he added another: Master of Ceremonies. Though he led the Pine Valley Cosmonauts (a group that included […]
Winter is a relative concept for Australians. Call us wimps, compared to northern hemisphere music fans, but don’t say it to the 2000-odd Paul Kelly fans who waited in the cold and rain to see our unofficial national hero of […]
FRESH TRACK: Matt Andersen – “Magnolia”Check it out
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