During a talk with NPR’s Ann Powers, Kristen Hersh said that when a performance goes especially well with a receptive audience it’s “extrapolating creativity into the fingerprints of others.” That pretty much sums up the Big Ears Festival, which […]
About a year ago, celebrating Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl with an all-star cast of dozens, I was reminded how much Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow have contributed to popular music over the past few decades. […]
“It ain’t about the past,” the Drive-By Truckers proclaimed this week in announcing a tour to revisit their 2001 Southern Rock Opera double album. That’s because so many of those songs still speak to the state of the South […]
Since 1939, The Blind Boys of Alabama have been riding up and down the gospel highway in the US, “wrecking houses” — channeling the Holy Ghost through their music and rousing congregations to leap, run up and down and dance […]
The 16th edition of the Cayamo cruise set sail from Miami on March 1 for a week of roots music at sea. Promoted by founder Sixthman as “A Journey Through Song,” the floating festival once again delivered on its […]
In crowdfunding, there’s something to be said for a cohesive idea. Sure, “Help us make our new album” is a fine, and often accurate, description of a crowdfunding campaign. But with that pitch, you’re wholly dependent on your fans […]
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. […]
Which came first, baseball or roots music? While that may be somewhat of a trick question, in this week’s column we get the best of both worlds: a report from two roots music festivals in Arizona just as Major […]
Ever wanted to attend an indoor winter roots music festival that’s all under one roof? If so, the Wintergrass fest in Bellevue, Washington, is for you. This year held Feb. 22-25, Wintergrass features four performance stages in the Hyatt Regency, […]
Whether a Black pop star is “allowed” to make country music is a subject of fierce debate in some corners of the internet lately, and probably in some dark, ugly places in real life, too. But the fact is […]
