BONUS TRACKS: Remembering Mojo Nixon + More of the Week’s Music News

It’s hard to imagine a voice like Mojo Nixon’s ever being silenced, but here we are. Nixon, 66, died Wednesday from a “cardiac event” aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise, according to a statement from his family. Nixon merged the speed, loudness, and brashness of punk with roots music for songs like “Elvis Is Everywhere,” which MTV loved, and “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child,” which MTV emphatically did not. He dabbled in acting and later landed in radio broadcasting, including a current run as a host at SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel. Read more about Mojo Nixon’s life, music, and loud way of living in this remembrance from Variety. And rest assured that, according to his family, Nixon died after living just the way he liked: “after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners + a good breakfast with bandmates and friends.”

I wouldn’t call myself a stamp collector, exactly (and I definitely wouldn’t go anywhere near the word philatelist), but I’m not one bit ashamed to tell you that there are some REALLY cool stamps available from the US Postal Service. In recent years, I’ve stocked up on Pete Seeger stamps as well as a book of stamps themed around Western wear. But now I’m going to need more excuses to send letters: On March 15 the USPS will issue a bluegrass “Forever” stamp featuring a guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin (sorry, bass players). The stamp will have a dedication ceremony that evening at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame before a concert by Ricky Skaggs. Learn more about the stamp, designed by Antonio Alcalá and Heather Moulder, and the ceremony here.

Nominees for the JUNO Awards recognizing Canadian music and artists were announced this week, and Allison Russell and William Prince are among them. Both are nominated in the Songwriter of the Year category and for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, Russell for The Returner (ND review) and Prince for Stand in the Joy (ND review). Also nominated for Contemporary Roots Album are Good Lovelies, Julian Taylor, and Logan Staats. Russell is also nominated, along with Ethan Tobman, for Music Video of the Year for “Demons.” Russell was nominated for four Grammys in American Roots/Americana categories last weekend, winning the award for Best American Roots Performance for “Eve Was Black” (ND story).

Last week I told you about NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, which is now taking submissions for 2024. It all stems, of course, from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, which have bloomed into something very big indeed. This story from The Associated Press traces the concert series’ history, including its start as a way to highlight a folk artist who’d been drowned out by the crowd at 2008’s SXSW. Intended to be a one-time thing, it kept going and growing, expanding into new genres but always centered around good music. And, of course, a tiny desk.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

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

Marcus King – “Mood Swings,” the title track from his new album, coming in April
Jon Muq – “Shake Shake,” from his new album, Flying Away, coming in May
Crow and Gazelle – “Take It Away,” from their debut album, As Above Now So Below, coming in April
Darin and Brooke Aldridge feat. John Jorgenson – “Price I Pay” (Desert Rose Band cover)
Kate Nash – “Change”
Jeremy Ferrara – “Reason”
Lil Dicky – “Going Gray”
AC Sapphire – “Chaparral Bottoms”
Billy Strings and Chris Thile – “Wild Bill Jones” and “I’ve Been All Around This World” on CBS Saturday Morning