From Sonny and Cher to George and Tammy to Ike and Tina, husband-and-wife teams have made all sorts of remarkable music over the years. Add to this distinguished list Albuquerque’s Handsome Family, the handiwork of spouses Brett and Rennie Sparks, […]
I’m probably the last person on the planet to discover that Desert Island Discs wasn’t merely a feature in Tower Record’s free monthly Pulse magazine, but a 76-year-old radio show on BBC Radio 4. The idea for the program came from Roy Plomley, […]
Last week the Americana Music Association released its year-end list of songs that got the most airplay on Americana radio, and in the next few weeks No Depression and other like-minded music websites and mags will publish their own music […]
This week, we’re turning our spotlight on a handful of artists whose music centers around excellent songwriting. First up is fiddler/poet Amanda Shires, who’s always had a knack for lyrical excellence, and her latest effort, My Piece of Land, is […]
The elemental, organic, homespun music of the Handsome Family occupies a place somewhere between Nick Cave’s and the Band’s. Timeless and sepia-toned, deep and dark, it seems to inhabit a parallel dimension of Americana, one with its own legends and […]
I don’t live in David Lynch land, I just live in Belfast. That ‘weird America’ thing doesn’t happen here. Generally. The Handsome Family’s latest offering managed to land me right in the middle of weird America last week though. I […]
The summer may be over, but there is plenty of dancing in the street that will greet this fall’s outstanding slate of releases from a variety of folks. A couple of legends, a couple that should be legends by now, some […]
Last year I did an article on five artists not to miss at the Americana Music Association Festival. Try as I might, this year with over 200 artists performing over six days at fourteen venues I find it impossible to narrow it […]
When I began this column two months ago there were no instructions, no guidelines, no restrictions. The only directive was to feature invigorating photos by our outstanding photographers. This week, some random Thanksgiving thoughts. Until it was pointed out, I […]
