The largest and most important question to emerge from this year’s Folk Alliance International is not which side are you on, but who’s in and who’s out, whose voices are included and whose are excluded. Numerous conversations focused on the […]
The brothers Alvin ceased playing music together, for the most part, in the 1980s when Dave left the Blasters. Dave forged a rich and acclaimed solo career, while Phil continued with various incarnations of the Blasters, and released two excellent solo […]
I almost wish it had been a breathtakingly cold day because it would have made my mental images of palm trees and black sand beaches even more delicious. As it was, these masters of Hawaiian music – George Kahumoku Jr., […]
I decided to attend this show because I know and love several of the musicians, but also because the idea of musicians who do not normally play country or folk music doing just that appealed to me. And then there […]
Chris Smither World Cafe Live – Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pa 1/10/2017 So, a few years ago, actually quite a few years ago I was dining at Olivier’s Creole Restaurant in New Orleans. Having ordered a cup of Gumbo for openers […]
On February 17th, AJ Hobbs released his new album, Too Much Is Never Enough. Produced by Ted Russell Kamp, the twelve-track project brings honest and intimately personal storytelling and melds it with a soulful sound inspired by Texas country, R&B, […]
Each week in this space, I bring you a few of the most interesting new roots-oriented crowdfunding campaigns looking for your support. I do this primarily by looking at three sites; Kickstarter, PledgeMusic, and IndieGoGo. With some variation, all three […]
Community is the heart of folk music. The songs about land and kinship that grandparents and aunts and uncles teach their children around the family table, the sea shanties that sailors sang to while away long voyages, the protest songs […]
It’s a big week for reviews here at No Depression. Union Station’s most famous conductor, Alison Krauss, has released Windy City, her first solo album in 17 years (how ’bout that?!). Ryan Adams returns with quite the divorce record, Prisoner, […]
The halls, hotel lobby, and hotel rooms are alive with the sound of music here at the 29th annual Folk Alliance International Conference at the Westin Hotel in Kansas City from early every morning to early the following day. Nearly everyone […]
