Nashville. Austin. Laurel Canyon. Muscle Shoals. All places that come to mind when you think about roots music. The well-worn stories of artists packing up their dreams and heading to Nashville persist, though modern technology has rendered that journey […]
On Tom Lehrer’s live album, when introducing “A Christmas Carol,” he noted it wasn’t really the season for it but said “I’m informed by my disc jockey friends, of whom I have none, you have to start plugging it […]
The first modern era crowdfunding campaign is widely agreed to be from British progressive rockers Marillion, who, after their label refused to fund an American tour in 1997, got their fans to pony up in advance and bring the […]
If you’ve read this column over a period of time, you’ve probably noticed that I theme most of my biweekly selection of campaigns. In part, this is to help me weed through the dozen or so possibilities I have […]
In case you haven’t heard the news, Bandcamp Fridays are back for the remainder of the year. For those unfamiliar, Bandcamp is a site that caters to independent and small-label artists, and Bandcamp Friday is an idea that began […]
Most weeks, this column has a theme. It isn’t always meant to. It just happens that I look at the dozen or so albums I’ve got bookmarked for consideration and similarities come out. Not this week. So I’m taking […]
AmericanaFest just released its daily schedule for its annual September gathering, and, as always, the conflicts are murder. As I tried to work out my own viewing preferences, it set me remembering just how far things have come since […]
In my time doing this column, I’ve gotten to talk to a number of artists about crowdfunding, either in person or by email. Sites like Kickstarter have become something that’s just expected as part of a young band’s growth. […]
At its core, roots music is all about minimalism. The image of a couple of people sitting on a porch with a guitar and banjo is an enduring, if a bit stereotypical, depiction of roots music for most casual […]
When I was a young journalist, I would often write “Best Female Artist”-type listicles. I did this because everyone did it and, when you’re starting out, you’re a bit like a cow — your instinct is to follow the […]
