No Depression's 5 Best Albums of 2026 So Far
The first half of this year flew by in a whirl of chaos and really good music. Among No Depression's writers and editors, opinions about which albums are the gems of this year are remarkably disparate – a sure fire indicator of the high caliber of albums put out
ALBUM REVIEW: GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite Stage a Chicago Summit on ‘Blues Now’
Blues music has always bridged the generation gap.
The genre’s democratic forms help. Its calls cry out for response, within songs and down successive generations. The conventional 12-bar provides a sturdy, collective structure to which all can add personal expression without overpowering the whole.
Blues also has intergenerational
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SPOTLIGHT: John R. Miller - Living and Dying on The Road in America [ESSAY]
Editor's Note: John R. Miller, whose new LP titled The Great Unknowing came out July 17 via Rounder Records, is No Depression's Spotlight Artist for July 2026. Read more about Miller's fifth album here and watch an exclusive, acoustic performance of one of his
THE READING ROOM: Timothy D. Tyson and Mary D. Williams’ ‘Mahalia Jackson, Moving on Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer’
Before Martin Luther King, Jr., rose to deliver his now-iconic speech at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, Mahalia Jackson riveted the quarter million attendees congregated on the Washington Mall with her stirring performances of “I’ve Been Buked and
Street Style: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova on The Art of Busking and the 15th Anniversary of ‘Once’
Editor's Note: This feature originally appeared in the Spring 2022 "General Admission" issue of No Depression. We're sharing it now in tribute to Glen Hansard, frontman of the Irish folk-rock band The Frames, solo artist, and co-star of the film Once, who
THROUGH THE LENS: The Blues Rule at the 2026 Briggs Farm & Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festivals
This week’s column features a double dose of the blues: the Briggs Farm Blues Festival, Briggsville, Pennsylvania (July 9-11, 2026) and the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival, Winthrop, Washington (July 17-19, 2026).
These two fests have become staples for the column. While ND photographer Jim Gavenus was