BONUS TRACKS: Adding Accessibility to Concerts, A New Season of ‘Cocaine & Rhinestones,’ and More

There’s been a lot of talk in this pandemic era of forging some new kind of normal — going back to doing the things we love but finding ways to do them better. Concerts most definitely are something we want to return to, but there’s plenty of room for improvement, particularly for music fans with disabilities. Vice spoke to music fans with physical, mental, and other challenges about the barriers they’ve faced at concerts in the past and how they’d like to see venues adjust for a better future. Many hope livestreams — which eliminate many of the barriers disabled music fans face when attending shows in-person — will still have a place on artists’ performance schedules. Livestreams also help fans who live far from cities or who can’t attend shows because of work or child-care considerations experience music from their favorite artists, which is another form of accessibility. What a wonderful opportunity to build back better.

As the country music history podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones gears up for its long-awaited second season, GQ gets to know its creator and host, Tyler Mahan Coe, son of David Allen Coe. Learn why the second season, which zooms in on the life and times and music of George Jones, was so long in coming, the lessons Tyler Mahan Coe did and didn’t learn from his famous dad, and what goes into the making of the podcast. New episodes of the podcast land next Tuesday.

Poco co-founder Rusty Young died Wednesday from a heart attack at age 75. His steel guitar work helped give Poco its signature sound, which many consider foundational to what would later be called Americana, and he wrote many of the band’s songs, including “Crazy Love.” He released a solo album, Waitin’ for the Sun, in 2017, the same year Poco celebrated its 50th anniversary. Read more about Young and his long career in Variety.

Hey, remember a thousand years ago (actually, it was just back in February) when Phoebe Bridgers smashed her electric guitar at the end of her performance of “I Know the End” on SNL and the internet lost its mind? She put that guitar up for auction recently to raise money for LGBTQ support organization GLAAD, and it sold for more than $100,000. Here I assumed that guitar came to a bad (if sparkly) end, but apparently it still had more good left to do. Read more about the sale from Digital Music News.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Parker Millsap – Be Here Instead
Acoustic Syndicate – “Sunny”
Waxahatchee – ivy tripp
Silvio Rodriguez  – Al Final de Este Viaje
Hiss Golden Messenger – Heart Like a Levee
Arlo Parks – “Cola”
Tom Odell – “Heal”
Elizabeth Cook – Aftermath
Greensky Bluegrass – “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” (John Prine cover)