It’s a gathering of royalty, but you won’t find this bunch up on thrones. With juke joints as the dream team Memphis Royal Brothers’ palaces, stages are about as elevated as they get. But the music takes it higher, to […]
It’s a gathering of royalty, but you won’t find this bunch up on thrones. With juke joints as the dream team Memphis Royal Brothers’ palaces, stages are about as elevated as they get. But the music takes it higher, to […]
One might be tempted to say that the My Black Country album, released in conjunction with Alice Randall’s memoir of the same name, is timed well. Close on the heels of Beyoncé’s first foray into country music with the release […]
Ain’t nothing wrong with celebrating your 90th birthday all year long, especially when you’re Willie Nelson. The party started April 29-30, when dozens of popular music’s biggest names — and some well-chosen lesser-knowns — gathered at the Hollywood Bowl in […]
Over the years, Leon Russell’s fans, which have included some of the biggest names in every corner of the music world, cared more for his legacy than he did. Russell spent most of his career moving forward, not disowning the […]
Black Keys guitarist-vocalist Dan Auerbach is a blues curator. But unlike collectors and disseminators of obscure folk and blues like the Lomaxes, who recorded artists in their native habitats, Auerbach summoned his finds to Nashville to record with him for […]
After traipsing all over the countryside hanging around out-of-the-way juke joints and knocking on doors trying to run down obscure local or regional performers and record them, most field recording collectors want to share their findings with the general public. […]
Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos is a collection that celebrates those who sat a piano or hunkered over a guitar with a paper and pen, scrawling, singing, strumming, and pounding until inspiration hit, either at home or […]
You don’t really need a reason to celebrate Doc Watson’s legacy. He’s one of the most important artists in roots music history, with an influence that spans generations. That’s worth a tip of the hat on any occasion. But with […]
If you are not an ethnomusicologist and/or from West Africa, you may well read the title Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and the Gambia and wonder, “What on earth is an ekonting?” The collection, and its extensive, […]
Dubbed king of the honky-tonk piano players, Aubrey “Moon” Mullican’s output was an eclectic mix of styles and genres. The rowdy pianist called his sound East Texas rock, but it’s a bit more complicated than that, a jumbled-up collection encompassing […]
FRESH TRACK: Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore – “We’re Still Here”Check it out
SPONSORED BY Yep Roc Records