BONUS TRACKS: Remembering Malcolm Holcombe

Malcolm Holcombe, a songwriting hero to many songwriters, died this week at 68. According to a social media post from his wife, he died from respiratory failure, though he’d suffered from ill health, including cancer, for a long time. While remembrances are pouring in from musicians who called him a friend and inspiration (including the family of Justin Townes Earle and Jason Isbell, who said he was “the most punk rock singer songwriter I ever saw”), I think this story from our archives, written in 2008 by the late, great Peter Cooper, shows Holcombe’s life and outlook most clearly. You could also, of course, listen to any of Holcombe’s songs, his rough voice telling the truth as plainly as he knew how to tell it.

This week we’re also mourning the loss of Karl Wallinger, a singer-songwriter best known for his work with The Waterboys and World Party. He was also the musical director for the score of iconic ’90s film Reality Bites, and contributed to the soundtracks of Clueless and other hit ’90s movies. Wallinger died Sunday at his home in England at the age of 66. Read this obituary in The New York Times to learn more about his sound, considered somewhat of a throwback in the 80s and 90s because of its folk leanings, and his life in music.

Beyoncé’s new album with its much-discussed country theme is coming March 29, but we’ve still only heard the two singles she released the night of the Super Bowl: “Texas Hold ’Em,” with Rhiannon Giddens featured on banjo, and “16 Carriages.” But this week there was a tantalizing rumor about another song. In an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, Dolly Parton said she suspected that her song “Jolene” might make an appearance on Bey’s album, titled Cowboy Carter. The two superstars have been in touch over the years, Parton told the newspaper; that’s a group text I’d very much like to be part of. Parton previously congratulated Beyoncé on the album and its rise to the top of the Billboard Hot Country chart, saying in a social media post that “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album.” Read more about Parton’s hunch about a “Jolene” cover in this story from CBS News.

In an effort to boost the finances of musicians across genres, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Jamaal Brown of New York last week introduced a bill to the House of Representatives titled the Living Wage for Musicians Act. The bill, created in partnership with the United Musicians and Allied Workers union (UMAW), would create a new streaming royalty that ensures artists get at least one cent per stream, rather than the fraction of a penny that is the norm in the industry now. The bill proposes that the new royalty be funded via a 10% tax on streaming platforms’ non-subscription revenues, plus a 50% fee tacked on to the price of subscriptions (which would come out to between $4-$10 a month). That money would go to a nonprofit collection and distribution fund that would pay artists according to their proportion of monthly streams. Whether the bill will get taken up for debate or a vote in the House, or find a sponsor in the Senate, remains to be seen. But even if it’s just a bill (yes, it’s only a bill) sitting there on Capitol Hill, it brings attention to the dire need for some modernized laws regarding fair pay for musicians in this age of streaming, and that’s a step in the right direction. Read more about the bill in this coverage from Vulture, and find the full text of the bill here.

Festival posters are flooding in now that spring is right around the corner, and a lot of thought goes into what order and in what size font each artist is listed. Festival organizers want to communicate their event’s brand and show off the top acts they paid top dollar to book. But artists are in on the negotiations too, and always want their name billed biggest, so it’s a delicate balance. Could you do it? The Washington Post created a quiz based on posters from four real festivals to see if you’d make the same call festival organizers did for their posters. Play along here.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

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

Folk Alley’s Irish Stream (find it here)
The Tennessee Freedom Singers – “Tennessee Rise”

Laufey – “From the Start”
Adeem the Artist – “One Night Stand,” from their new album, Anniversary, coming in May
Shelby Lynne – I Am Shelby Lynne
Alison Brown and Steve Martin – “Bluegrass Radio”

Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones in the Road
Madeleine Peyroux – “Please Come On Inside,” from her new album, Let’s Walk, coming in June
Gangstagrass – “Good at Being Bad,” from their new album, The Blackest Thing on the Menu, coming in June