The Spanish-speaking Southwest is replete with dichos — proverbs — that touch on all aspects of the human condition. One popular dicho, which has many similar iterations, states: “La oracion del padre el hijo la reza.” Or, for the espanol-impaired: […]
In the winter of 1987-88, Lyle Lovett faced some tricky decisions. His first two albums had yielded five top-25 country singles (and would yield two more in the year to come). True, none of those singles had risen above #10, […]
“I think about music a lot,” Mike Seeger says, and there’s a lifetime’s worth of recordings, articles, liner notes, films, concerts, awards and more to prove it. In presenting Seeger with the Ralph J. Gleason Award for “outstanding contributions to […]
If the story of My Morning Jacket’s rise to the middle seems familiar, it’s because you’ve been hearing it, with other bands’ names attached, for years: Five polite young men of occasionally suspicious hygiene, ignored by the hometown hipsters, make […]
Shake Patrick Park’s hand and you’ll likely notice his most peculiar feature — claws. You might not feel them, per se — two years of wearing them has perhaps taught the Los Angeles musician a thing or two about finesse […]
Randy Weeks lives in Santa Monica, four blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Not in some fancy beach house, mind you: “I live in a little shack that they used to keep rakes in but is now fixed up, and myself, […]
Robert Randolph is perched on the edge of the stage at St. Louis nightclub Mississippi Nights, so close to the crowd down front that at any minute the unruly throng might reach up and pull him in, along with his […]
In sorrow she can lure you where she wants you Inside your own self-pity there you swim In sinking down to drown her voice still haunts you And only with your laughter can you win — Joni Mitchell, “Roses Blue” […]
Sam Phillips didn’t invent rock ‘n’ roll; no one person could ever lay claim to such a complex series of events. Phillips, however, comes closer than anyone to actually deserving the title “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Born in hard […]
Shelby Lynne knew exactly what she wanted for her new album. She knew she would write every song. She knew she would record it at home, with just her guitar, her voice and a bass player (adding a few light […]
