This week’s column focuses on two festivals, Bumbershoot and Appaloosa Music Festival. While at opposite ends of the country, both are held on Labor Day weekend. Appaloosa is hosted by the band Scythian, which formed in 2002 after brothers Alexander […]
As we begin counting down the days to AMERICANAFEST and the onslaught of new roots music releases, this week’s column offers very short takes on five new albums that should not get lost in the shuffle. We also have an […]
It’s hard to know where to begin this column. I think I’d better break with convention and begin with the end: This is goodbye. Mostly. Today is my last day on staff at No Depression, after 11 years of […]
Most musicians recognize the transformative power of music and the ways it can stir up listeners’ emotions. During a concert, a band might play a defiant anthem that has the crowd jeering angrily about the song’s subject; at another moment, […]
After a one-year hiatus, the venerable Philadelphia Folk Festival returned home to the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, Pennsylvania, for its 61st edition Aug. 16-18. The one-year “pause” was necessary for the festival to reduce its financial debt, […]
Music had a front-row seat at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with announced guests and plenty of surprises (including Jason Isbell!) getting the spotlight right alongside the politicians speaking. Another way music was featured was during […]
The curse of Linda Thompson is that she is known principally for the exquisite agony of 1982’s Shoot Out the Lights, the divorce album she recorded and toured behind with soon-to-be-ex-husband, Richard. And for her voice, no small gift […]
This week’s column is dedicated to pickin’ in the backwoods, featuring two roots fests that are held in picturesque rural areas of their respective home states of Indiana and West Virginia. The inaugural Pickin’ in the Backwoods Music Festival was […]
As creatives, it’s no surprise that musicians are often multi-talented, masters not only of their particular instruments or voices but also of other art forms, like painting or jewelry making. This can be a real boon for crowdfunders, as […]
The Democratic National Convention gets rolling in Chicago next week, and besides all the politicking, it’s also a party. And what’s a party without music? Among the musicians known to be performing at convention-related events, according to this roundup […]
