2019’s Like the River Loves the Sea was a pivotal release for Joan Shelley. Recorded in Reykjavik, adeptly produced by James Elkington, and benefiting from the violin and cello contributions of Icelandic sisters Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir and Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir, […]
To record an ode to her home state of Kentucky, Louisville-based folk singer and songwriter Joan Shelley decamped to Iceland. Like the River Loves the Sea (the album title a play on the Si Kahn song “Like Butter Loves Bread”) is Shelley’s sixth […]
As radio show Mountain Stage begins its 35th season this coming weekend, it’s an opportune time to look back at this past season, some highlights, and one significant event. (Here’s a link to a previous column devoted to the show’s history.) […]
The reason I do this list late in the year is a sentimental one. I like to mull them over, and think about what I was doing, where I was, the colors of their eyes, when I first heard their […]
That photo is a beauty, isn’t it? Wish that old jukebox was mine, but it’s just a stock photo I found somewhere in space and snatched for this week’s column. The plan was to write an update on the Doug Sahm […]
Joan Shelley lets her music speak for itself. Ask her to draw any grand conclusions about the real-life inspiration behind her songs, and she’ll politely avoid the question. Ask her if she sees any common threads running through her latest […]
The beauty of Joan Shelley’s voice and music cascades like an ever-flowing mountain waterfall. Sprinkle in her poetic lyrics, and it’s easy to understand why the Kentucky-based singer-songwriter, who begins a 17-date tour with Patty Griffin on Oct. 30 at […]
I can no longer call the Nelsonville Music Festival the best kept secret in Southeast Ohio. While it remains modest in size — and way more comfortable and friendly than some larger festivals — music aficionados have discovered this laid back, musically […]
