In recent months, I’ve heard from a number of folks who want to tell me how they think contemporary bluegrass music lacks the soul that was present in the work of the early bluegrass pioneers. I find myself baffled by […]
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Some voices effortlessly embody the diversity, unity and passion of American music. In her voice, in the way Aireene Espiritu sings her original songs, she is at once a rare breed of artist, a soul singer, a folk troubadour, a blues […]
I doubt that anyone could have missed the news this week that, 40 years ago, Bruce Springsteen released his Born to Run album. Somebody somewhere was working hard behind the scenes, getting the word out. Stories popped up all over major television networks […]
I’ve talked about house concerts quite a bit in this column. I believe they are the modern singer-songwriter’s saving grace. You can’t beat a venue where the audience is on your side from the get-go and most of the door […]
There has been extra fun stuff to do in town ever since I got back, and I was extra excited to get the call that my friend Tom Morello was firing up an August edition of Firebrand Fridays at Genghis Cohen. These […]
It ought to be clear by now that our British cousins have a handle on America’s homespun traditions. We need only look at how the Stones and Led Zeppelin refurbished the blues, or the way Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and […]
“Take this Hammer” coated the walls of the church, at times right up to the ceiling. Willie Watson’s eyes were tightly closed under his brimmed hat. The vibrato was more apparent on the words he decided to stretch. It’s an […]
It’s not easy for Elliott Murphy to pick the best concert he has ever seen. “I was born in 1949 and started playing guitar and getting into music when I was 12, so that makes over 50 years of historic […]
Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music by Barry Mazor (Chicago Review Press, 2014, 340 Pages, $13.49/28.96) is a must-read for anyone interested in the development and popularization of roots music, not only from the US but from Latin […]
American Aquarium have been called the hardest working band on the planet, and it is a designation they’ve earned well, in their ten years of relentless touring. They rolled into Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley for a Nashville Sunday Night show, closing […]
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