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Henry Carrigan

The Real Roy Orbison Story

The Real Roy Orbison Story

Roy Orbison once said, “people often ask me how would I like to be remembered and I answer that I would simply like to remembered.” If Orbison could look back these almost-30 years now after his death (on Dec. 6, 1988), he’d discover that he’s been more than

Billy Bragg Explores the Roots and Reach of Skiffle

Billy Bragg Explores the Roots and Reach of Skiffle

Whenever skiffle comes up in a conversation, folks mention Lonnie Donegan — and maybe Van Morrison — as if just the sound of the name should be the end of the conversation. Thankfully, Billy Bragg decided that a proper history of skiffle — including its influence on him and his own music — needed

Prime Prine

Prime Prine

On Sept. 23, 1978, John Prine rolled into Chicago’s Park West for an evening of rollicking rock and roll. Although the night’s performance was captured on tape, the recordings languished, lost in Prine’s basement, for the next 40 years. On Record Store Day in April 2015, Oh

Yonder Mountain String Band Dances in the Moonlight

Yonder Mountain String Band Dances in the Moonlight

A little more than halfway through their new album, Yonder Mountain String Band launches into a slow, sensuous version of the old King Harvest chestnut “Dancing in the Moonlight.” King Harvest’s original kicks off with a twinkling electric piano whose recurring chords float under the singer’s gravelly voice

Searching for a Perfectly Good Guitar

Searching for a Perfectly Good Guitar

The first time Pete Townshend smashed a guitar on stage, every guitarist not only cringed and got a little pissed off at Townshend for destroying an instrument that turned him into a great musician but also mourned the death of the music that would never more flow from that instrument.

Jim Dickinson May Be Dead, But He's Not Gone

Jim Dickinson May Be Dead, But He's Not Gone

When I heard the news that Gregg Allman died, I immediately pulled out his album Laid Back and listened to it over and over, especially the songs “All My Friends,” “These Days,” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” I’d never again see Gregg Allman play and sing those songs,

Peter Cooper on Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride

Peter Cooper on Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride

Peter Cooper, the Senior Director, Producer, and Writer at the Country Music Hall of Fame, hits home runs every time he steps up to the plate. When he was covering music for the Tennessean, you could count on Cooper to deliver humorous, perceptive tales of country musicians and their foibles.