Trouble the Water: The Birth of the Spirituals
Editor's Note: Santi Elijah Holley has been awarded one of two No Depression Reporting Fellowships to write four in-depth features on a topic deeply impacting roots music today. The Reporting Fellowships kick off with this historical piece introducing spirituals as a foundational form of American roots music
BONUS TRACKS: FreshGrass Foundation's Porchside Jubilee, Folk Alliance International's Conference Announcement, and More Roots Music News
The FreshGrass Foundation, the 501(c)(3) organization that publishes No Depression, announced the FreshGrass Porchside Jubilee, taking place at the Porches Inn in North Adams, Massachusetts on October 3. Bluegrass groups Della Mae and East Nash Grass co-headline the half-day event with support by Mafer Bandola and
ALBUM REVIEW: Chris Pierce Battles Despair and Injustice on ‘Songs for the Heavy Hearted’
Yes, things are bad these days. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the unending tide of awful news, the folks who speak out against despair and inequality can help raise the spirits. Chris Pierce is one. More than two decades into a career grounded in plainspoken folk-pop,
SPOTLIGHT: Sera Cahoone Returns to Center Stage With Patient LP 'I've Missed You All These Years'
Editor's Note: Sera Cahoone, whose new LP titled I've Missed You All These Years is due out August 28 via SubPop Records, is No Depression's Spotlight Artist for August 2026. Read on to learn more about the percussionist and singer-songwriter and stay tuned
ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Reel 2 Reel 4 Real' Is Ray Wylie Hubbard as He Was Meant to Be Heard
Ray Wylie Hubbard’s latest album is alive.
While the Texas music icon says it may be his last, throughout Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, chords shift and reshape, like restless muscles; rhythms snap, like bones into place; steel slithers and slinks, something awakening, yawning, stretching under the meat of
ALBUM REVIEW: Brennan Wedl Makes Room for the Mess
Brennan Wedl has been making music for a long time, but it feels right that only now is she finally releasing a self-titled album. Her debut for ANTI-, Brennan Wedl, is an amalgamation of the sounds that have shaped her musical coming of age, consciously or not, but it’