THE READING ROOM: Southwestern Ohio’s Turn in the Bluegrass Spotlight
In February 1947, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys played to an enthusiastic crowd in Dayton, Ohio. Among the over 4,000 people gathered to hear Monroe and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs was 15-year-old Bobby Osborne. The night changed Osborne’s life in many ways, and according to
Yasmin Williams’ Fingerstyle Guitar Cuts Through Current Climate on ‘Urban Driftwood’
Yasmin Williams’ second LP, Urban Driftwood (out Jan. 29), is a meditation on 2020 and the events of the last four years. Multi-instrumentalist Williams finished most of the songs during the COVID-19 lockdowns last year and as Black Lives Matter protesters called for change and justice.
“I began feeling drained
Compassion Guides Ani DiFranco’s Fight on ‘Revolutionary Love’
For Ani DiFranco, the personal and the political aren’t merely intertwined; they’re the same thing. If there’s a throughline that can be traced across her 30-plus years as a feminist and DIY icon, it’s that just merely existing, thinking, and emoting are political statements.
That message
The Bright Siders Explore All Sides of Kids’ Emotional Lives on ‘A Mind of Your Own’
“Why write a song, why create such a thing / When you could just speak what you’re trying to sing?”
The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter poses that question in a rap in the bridge to “The Song About Songs,” the opening track to The Bright Siders’ new album,
Matthew Sweet and His Guitar Take the Reins on ‘Catspaw’
After four decades of making music and 14 studio albums, you would think there is little left to be discovered by an artist, little left to reinvent. But not for Matthew Sweet. His 15th studio album, Catspaw, is in some ways his debut as a solo artist.
A guitar-centric outing
THE NEW NORMAL: The House of Songs Shifts Collaboration Mission to the Virtual World
EDITOR’S NOTE: “The New Normal” is an occasional series of stories that look into how the coronavirus has affected artists, listeners, and the music business. Find other stories in the series here.
The door to the House of Songs first opened when its founder, Troy Campbell, was in the