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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: Memoirs and Music Books Coming This Fall

THE READING ROOM: Memoirs and Music Books Coming This Fall

Every fall brings another crop of big music memoirs and biographies, and I mean that both literally and metaphorically; Michael Azerrad’s "annotated" version of his 1993 Nirvana bio, The Amplified Come as You Are, totes up almost 700 pages, for example. While these books grow a little

THE READING ROOM: Country’s Evolution Told Through Careers of Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart

THE READING ROOM: Country’s Evolution Told Through Careers of Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart

Like Marty Stuart’s rockabilly guitar licks and Ricky Skaggs’ lightning-fast mandolin runs, music historian and critic Michael Streissguth’s tour-de-force music history, Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music, scampers through the musical landscapes that influenced

ALBUM REVIEW: Vince Gill and Paul Franklin Honor Ray Price on ‘Sweet Memories’

ALBUM REVIEW: Vince Gill and Paul Franklin Honor Ray Price on ‘Sweet Memories’

Much as they did with the music of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard on Bakersfield 10 years ago, country superstar Vince Gill and pedal steel master Paul Franklin now honor Ray Price on Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys, an affectionate tribute to one of

THE READING ROOM: Drummer-Turned-Novelist Nic Brown Ponders Music and Identity

THE READING ROOM: Drummer-Turned-Novelist Nic Brown Ponders Music and Identity

In the introduction to his often hilarious and poignant new memoir, Bang Bang Crash, novelist and drummer Nic Brown gets off a resounding rim shot at his own expense, revealing a glimpse of his own journey from drums to pen and paper and back, momentarily, to drums, and the ambivalence

ALBUM REVIEW: Daryl Mosley Highlights Lessons from the Past on ‘A Life Well Lived’

ALBUM REVIEW: Daryl Mosley Highlights Lessons from the Past on ‘A Life Well Lived’

Daryl Mosley spins reliably comforting stories about various facets of daily life. On his third album, A Life Well Lived, his songs cast a look back at the ways we’re shaped by people and places as well as by the lessons our families, friends, and others have taught us.

THE READING ROOM: The Inside Story of the Allman Brothers’ ‘Brothers and Sisters’ Era

THE READING ROOM: The Inside Story of the Allman Brothers’ ‘Brothers and Sisters’ Era

Alan Paul has done it again. In 2014, he published a definitive oral history of the Allman Brothers, One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. While that book covered much of the history of the band, his expansive and captivating new book, Brothers and Sisters: The

ALBUM REVIEW: Charlie Faye & The Fanimals Deliver Pop-Soul Fun for Families

ALBUM REVIEW: Charlie Faye & The Fanimals Deliver Pop-Soul Fun for Families

Drop this record on the player and let your backbone slip to these exuberant party tunes that soulful Charlie Faye and her band, The Fanimals, deliver with affection and merriment. Backed by the soaring harmonies of her former Fayettes, BettySoo and Akina Adderley, Faye’s shimmering vocals create a just-right