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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: Charles K. Coffman’s ‘Clowns in the Burying Ground: The Grateful Dead, Literature, and the Limits of Philosophy’

THE READING ROOM: Charles K. Coffman’s ‘Clowns in the Burying Ground: The Grateful Dead, Literature, and the Limits of Philosophy’

Of the making of books about the Grateful Dead there is no end, and rightly so. The band itself noodled around on stage, “truckin” down the “Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion).” Their extended jams explored the permeable boundaries of space and time, using the spaces between the notes to anticipate

ALBUM REVIEW: Jim Lauderdale Returns As the King of Broken Hearts on ‘Country Super Hits, Volume 2’

ALBUM REVIEW: Jim Lauderdale Returns As the King of Broken Hearts on ‘Country Super Hits, Volume 2’

There’s never been any doubt that Jim Lauderdale is the answer to the old country music question, “who’s gonna fill their shoes?” Twenty years ago, Jim Lauderdale released Country Super Hits Volume 1 (2006), reminding us then, with his warm baritone vocals, his honky-tonk ballads, and his wry

THE READING ROOM: Joe Bonomo’s ‘Play This Book Loud: Noisy Essays’

THE READING ROOM: Joe Bonomo’s ‘Play This Book Loud: Noisy Essays’

When I bought Mountain’s album Climbing! In 1970, I dutifully complied with the instructions on the cover: “This album was meant to played loud!” Maybe I simply wanted to annoy my parents, especially my father, whose distaste for my politics and my music, and my long hair, drove a

ALBUM REVIEW: Trey Hensley Lays Down a Guitar Masterpiece on ‘Can’t Outrun the Blues’

ALBUM REVIEW: Trey Hensley Lays Down a Guitar Masterpiece on ‘Can’t Outrun the Blues’

Several years in the making, Trey Hensley’s new album Can’t Outrun the Blues showcases his triple threat as a singer, songwriter, and guitar player. His intricate rhythms and lead runs provide the foundations for his expressive vocals, and he is as comfortable delivering a fast-paced bluegrass scamper as

THE READING ROOM: Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen’s ‘The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom’

THE READING ROOM: Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen’s ‘The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom’

In her riveting memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream, Ani DiFranco shared the ways that music brought her “deeper and deeper into the world.” For the singer and songwriter, music and poetry created a space that received her and sheltered her from the brokenness of the world around her.

ALBUM REVIEW: Celebrating Life with The Lone Bellow on ‘What a Time to be Alive’

ALBUM REVIEW: Celebrating Life with The Lone Bellow on ‘What a Time to be Alive’

On their sixth album, What a Time to Be Alive, The Lone Bellow captures the joyful vitality of their live shows, as well as the band’s deeply intimate friendship that they share in their camaraderie with their audience. The songs on this album, which were written collaboratively for the

THE READING ROOM: Jonathan Bernstein’s ‘What You Do When You’re Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle’

THE READING ROOM: Jonathan Bernstein’s ‘What You Do When You’re Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle’

The road to literary and musical fame lies littered with the bodies of authors and artists who succumbed to the notion that the path to making great art or music runs through the valleys of suffering, the more torturous the better. On the one hand, the exquisite pain that torments