THROUGH THE LENS: The Newport Folk Festival – The Highwomen, Dolly Parton, Our Native Daughters, and More
This week is a first for the Through the Lens column: the Newport Folk Festival. From Pete Seeger to Bob Dylan to Brandi Carlile, the festival has always been not just a showcase of the music that binds us, but also a platform for social change.
Women made big statements
Roots Music Becomes a Major Player in Video Games
Red Dead Redemption 2, the hit Western-inspired video game from Rockstar Games, is easily the most beautiful video game I’ve ever played. I stop to look at vast mountain vistas, then ride off to explore them on horseback. I ford storming rivers, worrying that I might lose my horse,
EASY ED'S BROADSIDE: Porter Wagoner in Black and White
Like a lot of other families back in the 1950s, we owned a black-and-white television that sat in our parlor in front of the old red couch. It had a tiny little screen built into a large walnut cabinet and it was where I watched my favorite cowboy and Western
Ian Ferguson Goes Underground for Well-Rounded Debut
July can be a sleeper month for new music, but you will regret it if you sleep on Ian Ferguson’s debut record, State of Gold. A greasy, soulful, psychedelic romp of an album, State of Gold is equal parts groovy and dreamy, with Ferguson’s singular vocals guiding us
Joe Pug Brings Simple Beauty to Life on ‘The Flood in Color’
As Joe Pug’s new record, The Flood in Color, opens, the listener is quickly reminded of the minimalist beauty that has painted the singer-songwriter’s career for more than a decade. As he repeats the heartbreaking truth, “No drink is strong enough,” near the beginning of “Exit,” Pug lays
THE READING ROOM: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Delbert McClinton
Early in April 2014, Delbert McClinton was headed down to play a show in St. Augustine, Florida. He’d just returned from Austin, where his son, Clay, lay in a coma that doctors had induced to heal the brain trauma Clay had suffered in an auto accident. Initially reluctant to