LSD: (L)ucinda Williams, (S)teve Earle, (D)wight Yoakam in Nashville
The thing one notices about Nashville these days is the confusing amount of construction and the cranes that litter its skyline. So it was quite a juxtaposition to drive into a town with near empty streets, deserted by any reasonable standard. Yes, I know the public schools had just replenished
The Poetry of Democracy: Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson, and Aretha Franklin
“When American leadership boasts of exporting democracy,” a regal and majestic Jesse Jackson, wearing a three piece suit behind an ornate pulpit declared, “They do not talk of Jeffersonian democracy.” Any system that includes the enslavement of citizens with a certain skin pigmentation, the subjugation of women, and the disenfranchisement
The War and Treaty Rises with 'Healing Tide'
The War and Treaty, husband-and-wife team Michael and Tanya Trotter’s onstage nom de plume, made their entrée into the music scene last year with their Down to the River EP. The seven tracks of Southern blues-folk moved the couple away from the ’90s-inspired R&B of their 2016
Liz Cooper & the Stampede’s Stellar Return
Monsters, the 2014 EP from Liz Cooper & the Stampede, was a six-song calling card, introducing Liz Cooper as a gifted songwriter, singer, and guitarist. Grant Prettyman on bass and Ky Baker on drums asserted themselves as a rhythmic force, integral to a sound that draws from various strands of
Is Classic Rock Dead?
What is classic rock? Who gets to define the phrase, and who decides what bands or artists fall into the category? Did those of us who spent our youth listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Ten Years After—to name a few—believe that
Rhett Miller on How to Do Magic: Songwriting Made Simple
Songwriting is magic.
When you sit down, there is nothing but silence and empty space. When you stand up, there is a song. Something from nothing. The rabbit from the proverbial hat. Only it's better than any rabbit. It's a living, breathing song.
The craft of