THROUGH THE LENS: 'Old Trails, New Tracks' at MerleFest 2022
More so than at any other festival I attend every year, something happens at MerleFest that spurs me to thinking about tradition: what it is, what it means, and where it's going. Perhaps it is no coincidence that those thoughts, and the festival, occur during spring, when all
SPOTLIGHT: Brennen Leigh Teams Up With Asleep at the Wheel for ‘Obsessed With the West’
EDITOR'S NOTE: Brennen Leigh is No Depression's Spotlight artist for May 2022. Look for more about Leigh and her new album, Obsessed With the West, out this Friday on Signature Sounds, all month long.
When Brennen Leigh was a teenager, she stumbled upon an old wedding
ALBUM REVIEW: Lola Kirke's 'Lady for Sale' Highlights the Return of Sparkle Country
A new era of sparkle-country is upon us, and Lola Kirke is here to usher it in in a glittery blaze of pedal steel and synth. With a shiny new label (Jack White’s Third Man Records) and an even shinier new sound, Kirke’s sophomore album Lady for Sale
ALBUM REVIEW: On ‘The Blue and The Gold,’ Ndidi O and Trish Klein Honor the Women of Blues Music
“The Blue and the Gold” is a loving tribute to the pioneering women of the blues created by Ndidi O and Trish Klein, two highly respected veterans of the Vancouver, British Columbia, roots music scene.
Ndidi is a Northern British Columbia native of Nigerian extraction whose singing reflects a truly
ALBUM REVIEW: Seratones Find the Right Code on ‘Love & Algorhythms’
In a way, the Shreveport collective known as Seratones have had a similar effect to the chemical they’re nearly named after (serotonin): They brighten one’s disposition, increase arousal, and even heal wounds. With two varied full-length albums (2016’s Get Gone and 2019’s Power), the band’s
JOURNAL EXCERPT: Five Festival Veterans Explain the Magic of MerleFest
EDITOR’S NOTE: As MerleFest gets rolling this week in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, we thought we’d share part of this story from our Spring 2022 “General Admission” journal about its history and why it’s so important to the performers who come back year after year. To read the