Joan Baez's Amazing Grace
Joan Baez sings and plays with such understated beauty and elegance that any song she interprets sparkles with glimmers of her just-right vocal phrasing and her cascading guitar work. Her newest album, Whistle Down the Wind, comes a decade after her 2008 Grammy-nominated Day After Tomorrow. Baez’s commitment to
Kenny Stinson & Perfect Tym'n Save the Day
Kenny Stinson & Perfect Tym’n is a relatively little-known bluegrass band that comes from Frankfort, Kentucky. Composed of three family members and two additional sidemen, they present a picture of a hard-working, blue collar band who earn their fee every time they play. They were one of two featured
How to be a Fan at the Folk Alliance International Conference
I had the opportunity to spend a fantastic four days holed up in a hotel with several thousand musicians and music lovers at the Folk Alliance International Annual conference in Kansas City. My wife and I were two of the only 181 fans out of over 2,700 hundred attendees.
Beauty in the Distance: The Songs and Prayers of John Condron
James Lee Burke, one of the world’s best novelists, wrote that “the most important battles are often fought in places no one has heard of.” In a paradoxical America that is increasingly fractured and fragmented, and yet productive of a singular culture where technology and mainline media erase regional
Rehab Church and Recovery Hymns
My return to church last summer was at least unintentional if not quite accidental. I’d been to two services in 30 years; one Christmas Eve mass and one United Methodist Mother’s Day. Meditation and Buddhist teachings suit me. I’m not a diehard follower, but I appreciate the
Americana Lost and Found: Doo-Wop Music
I'm not sure that the twangy contingent of the roots music intelligentsia will agree with me on this one, but I've been thinking a lot lately about the vocal group harmony style that emerged out of African American communities in the late ’40s, and how it