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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs' Highlights Intimate, Complicated Beatles Relationships

THE READING ROOM: 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs' Highlights Intimate, Complicated Beatles Relationships

On shelves already groaning under the weight of books on The Beatles (not to mention books by and about former Beatles), there is always space for one more exploration of the teetering highs and staggering lows of a band lurching from the summit of rock stardom to the valley of

THE READING ROOM: Geoffrey Himes Posits The Opposite of Outlaw Country in New Book 'In-Law Country'

THE READING ROOM: Geoffrey Himes Posits The Opposite of Outlaw Country in New Book 'In-Law Country'

What do Brian Ahern, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, Rosanne Cash, and Guy and Susanna Clark have in common? What unites them musically, or at least brings them together for songwriting rounds and guitar pulls and trading places in one another’s bands? What was it is about the

ALBUM REVIEW: Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters Bring the Light on 'Good Morning, Sunshine'

ALBUM REVIEW: Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters Bring the Light on 'Good Morning, Sunshine'

The title of Portland, Oregon-based Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters’ second album, Good Morning, Sunshine, is perfect. Like their rocking predecessors in the 1970s band Fanny, Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters deliver joyous, high-octane performances, and the 11 songs on this collection overflow with ebullience and energy. The bright title

ALBUM REVIEW: Lola Kirke's 'Trailblazer' Blends Down Home Country and Rock 'N Roll

ALBUM REVIEW: Lola Kirke's 'Trailblazer' Blends Down Home Country and Rock 'N Roll

This has been a good year for Lola Kirke. In January, she released her memoir Wild West Village (Simon & Schuster), and she appeared in the movie Sinners, which hits IMAX theaters in April. And this week, Kirke released her third full-length album, Trailblazer, a swirling blend of country and

THE READING ROOM: Mike Campbell’s ‘Heartbreaker: A Memoir’

THE READING ROOM: Mike Campbell’s ‘Heartbreaker: A Memoir’

These days, most music memoirs tend to be bleary-eyed and bloated chronicles in which artists recount who-slept-with-whom and tote up the quantity of the most mind-expanding, or mind-numbing, drugs swallowed or injected on tour. There’s a requisite tale of childhood, sometimes amidst ragged poverty and uncaring parents and sometimes

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