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Henry Carrigan

THE READING ROOM: New Janis Joplin Biography Brings the Focus Back to the Music

THE READING ROOM: New Janis Joplin Biography Brings the Focus Back to the Music

In June 1967, a young singer and her band took the stage at the Monterey Pop Festival. It was Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s first large-scale public performance, but her performances riveted the crowd and introduced to the world a blues singer who pulled every

THE READING ROOM: More Books That Tell the Country Music Story

THE READING ROOM: More Books That Tell the Country Music Story

Last week, I provided a short list of books that offered readers a little guidance in digging deeper into the topics covered in Ken Burns’ PBS series, Country Music. As with all series like this, Burns can hit the high notes, but seldom has time or space to tease out

Brothers, Sisters, and Music for All People on Brittany Howard’s ‘Jaime’

Brothers, Sisters, and Music for All People on Brittany Howard’s ‘Jaime’

A little more than halfway through Brittany Howard’s album, a clarifying moment comes with the song “13th Century Metal.” The song opens with Robert Glasper’s funky little synthesizer riff, a hypnotic, repetitive phrase that recurs throughout the song as it lays the foundation for Howard’s stunning and

Sharing the Stage: Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill on Four Decades of Friendship

Sharing the Stage: Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill on Four Decades of Friendship

This month, longtime friends and musical collaborators Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill release new albums within a week of each other. Each album takes its title from the singer’s home state: Crowell’s Texas is out today and Gill’s Okie lands Aug. 23. We used this occasion to

THE READING ROOM: Songwriters Celebrate Ray Wylie Hubbard

THE READING ROOM: Songwriters Celebrate Ray Wylie Hubbard

A few years ago, Ray Wylie Hubbard reflected on his life and the evolution of his songwriting and music in a humorous, candid, and cinematic memoir a life … well, lived (Bordello Records). He told the now-famous story — which he repeats in the introduction to The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of

THE READING ROOM: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Delbert McClinton

THE READING ROOM: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Delbert McClinton

Early in April 2014, Delbert McClinton was headed down to play a show in St. Augustine, Florida. He’d just returned from Austin, where his son, Clay, lay in a coma that doctors had induced to heal the brain trauma Clay had suffered in an auto accident. Initially reluctant to

SPOTLIGHT: Buddy and Julie Miller Make One for the Team

SPOTLIGHT: Buddy and Julie Miller Make One for the Team

Although it’s been 10 years since their last album, Written in Chalk, Buddy and Julie Miller didn’t have any special plans to make a new album. Their new record, Breakdown on 20th Ave. South, out on New West on June 21, took them both a little by surprise,