NIGHT 1 of 5 Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 On any given night, Nashville can an embarrassment of riches when it comes to entertainment options. And this week AmericanaFest compounds that “problem” for fans of roots-rooted music. Take opening night for […]
If you were to Weird Science the prototype for a technically perfect, ethereal female singer, you’d come up with someone like Mikaela Davis. Petite, young and blonde, she’s a harpist with a high, dreamy, limber voice who boasts an affinity for […]
There’s a difference between honoring your roots and getting mired in nostalgia. Just ask Jerry Douglas, whose Flatt & Scruggs-inspired Earls of Leicester straddles the gulf between those two concepts with poise and apparent ease. Despite the fact that they’re […]
Welcome to the front door of my website Roots Music and Random Thoughts where each week (or in complete candor, whenever I feel like it) I curate, aggregate and update news, events, images, ideas, sounds, odds and ends. Nothing fancy, but simply a […]
The life and death of horns in Americana music produced by Caucasians can be traced back to two classic rockers, Bruce Springsteen and Glenn Frey. Watching Springsteen on his River tour last month in Seattle, Jake Clemons—succeeding his late uncle […]
Branded Man. Outlaw. Okie. Poet. The Working Man. Hag. Merle Haggard defies labels. But he has been tagged with many. Kris Kristofferson namechecks him in the superb song “Wild American,” a tribute to people who show courage, conviction and individualism […]
Welcome to a brand new No Depression column looking at Americana radio and the people behind the microphones who pick the music we hear. I’ve been in and around radio for many years and have met a lot of DJs […]
Over the last few years, some of the biggest bands in rock history have been celebrating milestone anniversaries. 2012 found The Rolling Stones celebrating 50 years as a band, while The Who followed suit in 2013. Finally, 2015 found the […]
How many Slim Harpo recordings do you know? Perhaps you’ve heard “Raining in My Heart” (not the Buddy Holly tune), which made it to No. 34 on Billboard’s pop chart in 1961; “Baby, Scratch My Back,” which reached No. 16 […]
Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real – live at the Hard Rock Café, Vancouver Canada. From the very first time I heard Lukas Nelson play guitar in his dad’s band more than a decade ago, I was hooked […]
