The news came in late April. Yonder Mountain String Band is proceeding with a new lineup: Ben Kaufman, Adam Aijala, and David Johnston are the band now, along with some “special guests” for this year’s tour. A permanent lineup is promised for 2015. […]
It’s been 40 years, with the 41st on the immediate horizon, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival just keeps on rolling. Most years, Sam Bush asks the crowd, “How many people have been here all four days?” in remembrance of the years when it was a […]
Hank Williams was the king of country soul My daddy took me to see him in Lubbock but he didn’t show Now the people got mad and they all went home The first thing we did was put his records […]
Sideshow Love takes all the pretty paper off the gift of love. Or, if we take the carnival metaphor a step further, it’s love as the opposite of a roller coaster, the fun part first, hands up in the air, […]
“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It’s a waste of time and besides it annoys the pig.” Robert A. Heinlein Every year about now, I get tempted to engage in some porcine education. From my lofty perch as […]
I’ve had the liner notes for Great Days, The John Prine Anthology, in my briefcase for a while, thinking that when I had the opportunity, I’d read them. I mean, I’m only 20 years late in doing so. The record […]
Kelly Joe Phelps has just returned from California, having played his first show since the diagnosis of ulnar nerve damage, eight months ago. At the end of the week he picks up where he left off last January, touring Great Britain for […]
“One of the great advantages of being raised Catholic is that you’re taught to take myth seriously and let it operate on your life in terms of mythic motifs.” I’m quoting the grand-daddy of world mythology, Joseph Campbell. But, coming […]
The calling It’s coming up to a year since I pitched Portrait of Lincoln With the Wart, a radio documentary on the evolution of Americana as a musical term and, ultimately, a musical ethos. The idea came after my sister […]
