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Mickey Newbury: Crystal & Stone

With the stubborn integrity he brought to every aspect of his life, Mickey Newbury fashioned an uncategorizable song catalogue of abiding excellence and ensured that his commercial possibilities would always be limited. In Crystal & Stone, biographer Joe Ziemer shows how that was all of a piece with Newbury'

Martha Carson: 1921 to 2004

Her career began in prewar country and gospel, yet Martha Carson reached her peak with a style diametrically opposite to the primitive sounds of her early work -- so much so that that Carson, who retired decades before she died December 16, journeyed far from her roots in rural Neon,

Shooter Jennings - Nevermind the O, here's the W

The cover of Shooter Jennings' debut album, Put The 'O' Back In Country (more on that title shortly), depicts a vinyl LP in a yellowed inner sleeve. To the left of the spindle hole is a stylized letter W, the longtime logo of his dad/mentor, the

Nanci Griffith - If there's no hope at the end of it, there's no point in writing it

Nanci Griffith was sure she wouldn't be around to see the domestic release of her new album, Hearts In Mind -- around meaning on U.S. soil. A singer and songwriter who has long worn her lefty politics on her sleeve and skirt, too, she had sworn if

Josh Rouse - Leaving middle America behind

On my way to interview Josh Rouse, with his songs murmuring in my iPod, I wondered how best to ask the question that was really bothering me: Does this still matter? Not "this" as in Josh Rouse, per se, or Nashville, his well-crafted new album, but "this&

Art Stamper: 1933 to 2005

When fiddler Art Stamper passed away on January 23 after a four-year battle with throat cancer, American string band music lost someone special -- not just a great player, and not just one who embodied the link between old-time music and bluegrass while understanding the difference between the two, but

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets

One of the most creative and energetic forces on the indie-rock scene, Ted Leo broke out with the D.C.-based Chisel in 1990. Following seven years and three discs fronting that mod/punk crew, Leo polished off the decade playing guitar with the Spinanes, fronting the fleeting but powerful