THE READING ROOM: More Books That Tell the Country Music Story
Last week, I provided a short list of books that offered readers a little guidance in digging deeper into the topics covered in Ken Burns’ PBS series, Country Music. As with all series like this, Burns can hit the high notes, but seldom has time or space to tease out
Jack Klatt’s Impassioned ‘It Ain’t the Same’ Celebrates Living in the Moment
Roy Orbison would have loved the music of Jack Klatt. The same passionate yearning that gave “Only the Lonely” and “Crying” such deep resonance infuses the excellent third album by this big-hearted Twin Cities native. It’s not hard to imagine Orbison turning in his usual dramatic tour de force
Every Song Counts on Dori Freeman’s Sparkling ‘Every Single Star’
Teddy Thompson has produced albums by both Dori Freeman — all of hers, in fact —and a more established twangy redhead, Allison Moorer. The latter woman's song, "A Soft Place to Fall," was the centerpiece of a scene in The Horse Whisperer in which Robert Redford and
Billy Strings Melds Tradition and Experimentation on ‘Home’
Compounded by generations of unwavering respect to the music and self-imposed rigidity, bluegrass continues to be highly wary of change. The genre often is stagnant to the point of self-parody. Tradition is rich and reverent, but it’s also stifling to creativity and risk.
But there are searchers in the
50 STATES OF FOLK: The Great Bluegrass State of California
Unless you live here, and honestly even if you do, California probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think about bluegrass. Kentucky would be a more likely candidate; they’re so confident in their claim to the throne that they made it the official state
Brothers, Sisters, and Music for All People on Brittany Howard’s ‘Jaime’
A little more than halfway through Brittany Howard’s album, a clarifying moment comes with the song “13th Century Metal.” The song opens with Robert Glasper’s funky little synthesizer riff, a hypnotic, repetitive phrase that recurs throughout the song as it lays the foundation for Howard’s stunning and