Inside Mike Compton’s ‘Rare & Fine’ Collection of Bill Monroe’s Unreleased Songs
EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked mandolinist Mike Compton about his lifelong obsession with bluegrass forefather Bill Monroe and how it led to his latest project, Rare & Fine: Uncommon Tunes of Bill Monroe. Below are Compton’s reflections, along with some songs from the project, which came out March 4.
ALBUM REVIEW: Ray Wylie Hubbard Back for More Fun With Friends on ‘Co-Starring Too’
Ray Wylie Hubbard had such a good time making his last album, Co-Starring (ND review), that he came back for more, and hell if he doesn’t party ’till his wheels fall off on this roaring, rocking, swampy collection of songs. On Co-Starring Too, his “co-stars” include Willie Nelson, Jaimee
The Literary Inspiration Behind Andrew Bird’s New Single, ‘Atomized’
We’ve all likely felt a bit scattered lately, but there aren’t a lot of songs to soundtrack that.
But Andrew Bird has just the thing with his new single, “Atomized,” inspired by Joan Didion’s essays about the “atomization” of life in 1960s America, which she saw as
ALBUM REVIEW: Colin Hay Keeps Optimistic Contemplating ‘Now and the Evermore’
For all new wave outfit Men at Work’s impact, which includes releasing several defining hits of the ’80s, they spent precious little time atop the charts. The band had its last top-ten hit in 1983, a mere two years after they unleashed “Down Under” and became international stars. More
ALBUM REVIEW: Restored Recordings on ‘Forever on My Mind’ Show Son House at His Most Reflective
He looks like he's having a seizure, flailing his guitar like a man possessed, trying to beat the demons out of his instrument. Videos of Son House performing “Death Letter” are a frightening spectacle. Wailing like a lost soul, House delivers a chilling narrative of viewing his former
ALBUM REVIEW: Danielia Cotton Makes Us Believe in a ‘Good Day’
On the title song of her new album, Good Day, Danielia Cotton makes a big promise: “I’m gonna give you a reason to wake up believing it’s gonna be a good day,” she sings over a buoyant, Motown-ish groove that drives home the song’s upbeat message.
The