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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: ‘Pretend We’re Dead’ Recalls Women Who Rocked and Changed American Music

THE READING ROOM: ‘Pretend We’re Dead’ Recalls Women Who Rocked and Changed American Music

In the 1990s, numerous women rockers emerged on the popular music scene, flooding the airwaves of college and independent radio stations with alternative feminist rock and momentarily elevating these women in the rock pantheon. As Tanya Pearson, founder of the Women in Rock Oral History Project, illustrates in her buoyant

ALBUM REVIEW: Mike Farris Delivers Soul from Muscle Shoals

ALBUM REVIEW: Mike Farris Delivers Soul from Muscle Shoals

Mike Farris was born to record in Muscle Shoals. If you close your eyes when you’re listening to Farris’s new album, The Sound of Muscle Shoals, you’d swear you’re listening to Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, or Joe South. Drenched in the bone-shaking power of soul and

THE READING ROOM: Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell is Part Memoire, Part Critique

THE READING ROOM: Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell is Part Memoire, Part Critique

The songs of Joni Mitchell saved novelist Paul Lisicky’s life. In his loving ode to Mitchell and her music, Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell (HarperOne, February 25), the novelist declares that in these reflections he “wanted to give to others what

ALBUM REVIEW: The War and Treaty's 'Plus One' Explores the Power and Promise of Love

ALBUM REVIEW: The War and Treaty's 'Plus One' Explores the Power and Promise of Love

On their fourth album, Plus One, The War and Treaty transport us into the sonic stratosphere from the album’s opening track, “Love Like Whiskey,” and never let us down as they carry us through the yearnings, the dashed expectations, and the promises of love. In their exuberant vocals, the

THE READING ROOM: Charlie Peacock's Memoir 'Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music' is Both Literary and Engaging

THE READING ROOM: Charlie Peacock's Memoir 'Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music' is Both Literary and Engaging

Many years ago, a friend of Charlie Peacock’s daughter Molly came to visit her. She noticed the records hanging on the wall and a few trophies displayed here and there and asked Molly, “Is you dad famous?” Molly replied, “No. Just well-known.” As a Grammy-Award winning producer who’s

ALBUM REVIEW: Joel Timmons' Debut Solo Album, 'Psychedelic Surf Country' Offers a Musical Kaleidoscope of his World

ALBUM REVIEW: Joel Timmons' Debut Solo Album, 'Psychedelic Surf Country' Offers a Musical Kaleidoscope of his World

By turns hauntingly-atmospheric and raucous, Joel Timmons’ debut solo album Psychedelic Surf Country lives up to its name, swerving from layers of head-tripping synthesizer symphonies to Dick Dale guitar boogies. “Just a Man,” a story song that’s an ode to Timmons’ father opens with a cascade of synths and

THE READING ROOM: Eddie Huffman Illuminates Doc Watson in 'Doc Watson: A Life in Music'

THE READING ROOM: Eddie Huffman Illuminates Doc Watson in 'Doc Watson: A Life in Music'

As the twenty-first century dawned, Doc Watson looked back over his life and declared—in his typically humble and understated fashion—“If I had planned to do a certain thing and then done it, it’s that I’ve played music that I loved and I did my best to