I know this is completely irrelevant and probably irreverent as well, but the first thing I did when I pressed play on H.C. (Heather) McEntire’s Lionheart was sing “I fell in the pit / you fell in the pit” along […]
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What is even wrong with you, 2017? I mean, I’d thought 2016 was rough. For one, my estranged dad died. He was a monstrous clod of a man, a selfish beast with awful habits like showing up at karaoke in […]
There are some bands and musicians that simply cannot be covered. Sure, I try to keep myself open to exceptions here, but more often than not something integral is lost in translation. Songs by Sigur Rós, the Beastie Boys, St. […]
There are plenty of musicians who play impressive renditions of old, old songs. There are plenty of people, too, who can tell you exactly why these tunes continue to resonate. In Richie and Rosie, the folk duo of accomplished banjoist […]
Turnpike Troubadours’ 2015 self-titled hit me right where it counts. It was one of those “where has this been all my life?” albums that simply demanded to be played at top volume. It was anthemic and intimate, often at once, […]
Bluegrass just didn’t make any sense to me as a kid. On paper, you’d think it would. I grew up in backwoods rural North Carolina, in an economically disadvantaged county with a single stoplight (today it has two). Yet bluegrass […]
In the midst of touring and playing reimagined folk songs at FreshGrass with Harmony, Bill Frisell released something in a different vein. On Sept. 15, Hurricane Harvey Relief dropped on the inventive jazz guitarist’s site. All proceeds, including the royalties […]
“Let Bill sing!” someone shouted from the audience, and Bill Frisell smiled. He, cellist Hank Roberts, baritone guitarist Luke Bergman, and vocalist Petra Haden had just reemerged on the Carrboro ArtsCenter stage for an encore. It’s true, Frisell had a […]
“Where were you when / we lost the twins?” is the first thing David Ramirez sings on We’re Not Going Anywhere. So I think about it. The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was in my college dorm room, my […]
For the past few years, Billy Bragg has been working on a book about the birth of guitar-driven British pop. He says the moment can be pinpointed to January 1956, when Lonnie Donegan’s version of “Rock Island Line” became a […]
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