Sign in Become a member

Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: ‘Listening to Bob Dylan’ Puts Spotlight on the Composition

THE READING ROOM: ‘Listening to Bob Dylan’ Puts Spotlight on the Composition

Will we ever have enough books on Bob Dylan and his music? Every other year, it seems, another thick biography lands on our shelves, filled with exhaustive, and often exhausting, detail. Such books peer under every rock Dylan ever sat upon, turning his song lyrics inside and out, looking to

THE READING ROOM: Interviews Recall Roky Erickson’s Story and Significance

THE READING ROOM: Interviews Recall Roky Erickson’s Story and Significance

Back in January 1966, “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” a single by the Austin-based 13th Floor Elevators, roared through our speakers with a pugnacious spirit; the echoing garage rocker turned Buddy Holly’s hits, the Bobby Fuller Four’s “I Fought the Law,” and Them’s “Gloria” inside out with

THE READING ROOM: New 33 1/3 Book Zooms In on John Prine’s Debut Album

THE READING ROOM: New 33 1/3 Book Zooms In on John Prine’s Debut Album

Bob Dylan once told music critic Bill Flanagan that John Prine’s “stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree.” Almost two years after Prine’s death on April 7, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19, writer Erin Osmon offers her own tribute to the singing mailman

THE READING ROOM: Artists and Insiders Trace the Evolution of Rock Concerts

THE READING ROOM: Artists and Insiders Trace the Evolution of Rock Concerts

One spring night in 1972, six of us piled into a van and headed to the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium to see our first big rock concert. The auditorium even then was creaky and had seen better days. It still featured pro wrestling matches most weekend nights, but the biggest regular

THE READING ROOM: Biography Charts Intensity and Influence of B.B. King

THE READING ROOM: Biography Charts Intensity and Influence of B.B. King

Even though the thrill of hearing the king of the blues live has been gone since B.B. King died in May 2015, author Daniel de Visé hopes to help us recall how King ascended to the throne of the blues world in his new biography, King of the Blues:

THE READING ROOM: Bobby Rush Memoir Recounts Building His ‘Folk Funk’ Sound

THE READING ROOM: Bobby Rush Memoir Recounts Building His ‘Folk Funk’ Sound

Reading Bobby Rush’s memoir I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya: My American Blues Story is a bit like watching him leave it all the stage at one of his shows. On stage, he works the crowd, rolling from one song into another with an effortlessness that comes from playing juke

Taylor Rae Showcases Wide Range on Debut ‘Mad Twenties’

Taylor Rae Showcases Wide Range on Debut ‘Mad Twenties’

Santa Cruz, California, native Taylor Rae’s debut album, Mad Twenties, unfolds cinematically, evolving dreamily as it traverses an emotional landscape littered with the shards of a broken relationship. Rae’s edgy vocals slide easily from tender to tough, from gentle whisper on folk ballads to soaring shouts on the