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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: Get to Know Zilphia Horton, An Activist Who Used Music to Make ‘A Singing Army’

THE READING ROOM: Get to Know Zilphia Horton, An Activist Who Used Music to Make ‘A Singing Army’

Over Labor Day weekend in 1941, photographer Edward Weston and his wife, Charis, the sister of Highlander Folk School’s librarian, Leon Wilson, stopped at the school for a visit. Weston was traveling across the country taking photographs to accompany a special edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

THE READING ROOM: Brandi Carlile Lets Her Story Run Free in Warm, Honest ‘Broken Horses’

THE READING ROOM: Brandi Carlile Lets Her Story Run Free in Warm, Honest ‘Broken Horses’

Brandi Carlile knows how to captivate; she invites us into her songs with her ability to evoke feelings of isolation and loss, forgiveness and hope, love and joy. Carlile entrances us with her stories of people just like us, facing the same challenges and losses, the same comforts and victories,

THE READING ROOM: Jacksonville’s Turn in the Southern Rock Spotlight

THE READING ROOM: Jacksonville’s Turn in the Southern Rock Spotlight

A few years ago, musician Marty Jourard, a Gainesville, Florida, native, made the case in Music Everywhere: The Rock and Roll Roots of a Southern Town (ND review) that Gainesville was the crossroads of rock and roll. In the mid- and late ’60s, a number of musicians, some of them

Jason Ringenberg Rocks Again on ‘Rhinestoned’

Jason Ringenberg Rocks Again on ‘Rhinestoned’

Jason Ringenberg is back, following his 2017 album, Stand Tall, and in top form with a collection of romping rockers. Fueled by his prowling rhythm guitar and his shimmering lead runs, they careen around the corners of social issues, lost love, the wreckage of cities, and the ghosts of the

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Play with Words and Scenes on ‘Hunter and the Dog Star’

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Play with Words and Scenes on ‘Hunter and the Dog Star’

The bright psychedelia of “Sleeve,” the opening track of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ new album, whirls in a circling, spinning dance as the song rockets off on Brandon Aly’s skittering snare shots, floats along Matt Hubbard’s organ and synth, and is propelled by Kenny Withrow’s cascading

THE READING ROOM: Southwestern Ohio’s Turn in the Bluegrass Spotlight

THE READING ROOM: Southwestern Ohio’s Turn in the Bluegrass Spotlight

In February 1947, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys played to an enthusiastic crowd in Dayton, Ohio. Among the over 4,000 people gathered to hear Monroe and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs was 15-year-old Bobby Osborne. The night changed Osborne’s life in many ways, and according to

THE READING ROOM: No Depression’s Best Music Books of 2020

THE READING ROOM: No Depression’s Best Music Books of 2020

While 2020 has been a challenging year for the publishing industry — as it has been for the music business — with sales swaying up and down, sometimes wildly, and with author events being canceled because of the pandemic, there were still a number of great books published this year. Of course,