It should be evident by now that Americana isn’t limited to, well, America. For decades, artists from such far-flung environs as Europe, Australia, and the U.K. have demonstrated their affinity and appreciation for the traditional roots rock regimen, a sound […]
“We’ll start with a spooky one” said Kentucky-based singer Joan Shelley of the traditional folk ghost tale “Little Margaret” with which she started her set. Unaccompanied at first, even by her own guitar; the room was motionless and ready. Her […]
My familiarity with Paula Cole’s music extended only to her mega-hits ‘Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?’ and the theme from the television show, Dawson’s Creek, but knew that I could not miss the opportunity to see her perform in […]
When Annalisa Tornfelt sings, she sounds like the voice in the back of your head – the voice of your best self, whispering in your ear, letting you know that, as scary or awful as whatever’s next might be, everything’s going to be just […]
Pinch me. There are many different adjectives to describe the buzz or adrenaline leading up to attending a concert. Having the opportunity to see an artist for the first time just pushes that meter of expectations to nuclear levels. Saturday was […]
Steeped in history, Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom is known as the “Home of Bob Wills.” From 1935-42, Wills and his Texas Playboys regularly broadcast their Western swing from this stage out across the country on AM radio’s KVOO. March 6, 2015, was […]
West Plains, Missouri, has seen more than its share of trouble. The town was burned to the ground during the Civil War. It’s had a string of dance hall explosions, failed banks, and tornadoes ever since. It’s the kind of […]
Songs come to me like dandelion puffs. “Oh there’s one, where did that come from?” I pick up my guitar, my hands play with some sort of muscle memory from years of bending my fingers into chord shapes. My foot […]
“Forest City” is the sprawling, moody closing track of Daniel Lanois’ late-2014 album Flesh & Machine. It opens slowly and quietly, a solid wall of sound building from nothingness over the first couple of minutes. The occasional flicker of sound from another source is […]
Don Forgey was in his mid-20s when he met 18-year-old Kathy Ackerman at Washington state’s Whistlin’ Jack Lodge, a Depression-era hostelry in the woods east of Mount Rainier that’s named for a giant, noisy squirrel (the hoary marmot). Forgey, now […]
