When Claire Holley was a child in Jackson, Mississippi, she used to take her mother’s ukulele to church with her so she could sneak out to the car and practice. Her grandmother had financed her piano lessons, but Holley says […]
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The urge for transcendence. I’ve written about it in these pages before — any number of times. The theme runs through my writing like a nervous tic, or at least through the best of it. In some ways it’s all […]
Audrey Auld was floored when her second solo LP, Losing Faith, was listed recently among the Americana radio chart’s top 5 most added records, debuting at #66. “Lucinda’s number one, y’know,” says Auld, laughing heartily. “This is the chart to […]
Vocalist/pianist Big Al Downing considers himself neither a trailblazer nor a pioneer. He understands that as an African-American artist whose music is predominantly country, and whose career stretches over parts of six decades, he is widely viewed as having zero […]
CORNSHUCKS CLASSICS: In the wake of last issue’s cover story about Mildred Jorman, a.k.a. Little Miss Cornshucks, the French record label Melodie Jazz Classic has announced plans to release Little Miss Cornshucks: 1947-1951, a compilation of recordings Cornshucks made for […]
1 Lucinda Williams, World Without Tears (Lost Highway) 2 Norah Jones, Come Away With Me (Blue Note) 3 Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around (American/Lost Highway) 4 Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music (American/Lost Highway) 5 White Stripes, Elephant (V2) […]
The politics of celebrity: An Earle fan’s dual views I picked up your most recent issue just a few days after attending Steve Earle’s Orlando concert earlier this month, and felt compelled to write. Like many others, I abhor many […]
“This was a mistake,” my co-editor wrote in the e-mail that prefaced his Drive-By Truckers cover story for this issue, referring to his decision to tackle a 6,000-word feature during the same few weeks he and his wife Susan welcomed […]
The Merlefest organization has taken what’s so far a one-time step and brought out live highlights of last year’s extravaganza on the DVD MERLESFEST LIVE: THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY JAM. As might be expected, it’s a disc full of highlights, worthwhile […]
I’ll never forget the 78 I found at a house sale 30 years ago. It was one of those maroon and gold label Kings, the kind you’d see by the Delmore Brothers or Moon Mullican. This one bore the name […]
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