BONUS TRACKS: Americana’s Latest Lifetime Achievers + More of the Week’s Music News
In addition to Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and other annual awards to be bestowed at the Americana Honors & Awards show during AmericanaFest in September, the Americana Music Association will also honor several folks for lifetime achievements — and they’re not keeping us waiting on those.
Poet, Provocateur, and Would-Be Politician Kinky Friedman Dies at 79
Both Texas and tall tales are a little bit smaller today, with news that Richard "Kinky" Friedman has passed away.
Friedman had Parkinson's disease, according to the Texas Tribune, and died at his home in Medina, Texas, at age 79.
“Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow
THE READING ROOM: In Memoir and Conversations, John Cowan Reflects on His ‘Newgrass Odyssey’
John Cowan admits that on Feb. 9, 1964, the cosmic balance of the universe shifted: “A comet slipped through the ether from the bonds of the galaxy (or was it Liverpool?) and into the side door of the Ed Sullivan Theater, depositing four humanlike beings onto Ed’s stage and
ALBUM REVIEW: The Felice Brothers Populate ‘Valley of Abandoned Songs’ With Characters and Craft
What do a doomed heiress chanteuse, a devoted New York City bellhop, a prostitute in pastel tights, a dead man’s guitar, and a wistful railroad traveler have in common? Each appear vividly in songs on the latest album from The Felice Brothers, Valley of Abandoned Songs, the band’s
ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Songwriter’ Resurrects Johnny Cash Demos From Early 1990s
In maybe the best news of the year, the Man in Black returns, more than 20 years after his death, with new music on Songwriter. These 11 songs, which he wrote mostly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, capture the richness and purity of his voice, and the clarity
A Postcard From Evan Honer
EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to No Depression’s brand-new “Postcard From” series, where we ask artists for a dispatch from their daily lives on the road, in the studio, or anywhere in between. We’re kicking things off with Evan Honer, whose new album, Fighting For, came out earlier this