James King: Still More Stories to Tell
James King was a man with great musical talent and a voracious appetite for life. Those two things fed each other and helped him to emerge from the picker's field to become one of the most popular and beloved bluegrass singers, from his major recording debut in 1992
There’s a Tear in My Beer: Alcoholism in Country Music
If there’s one song in the booze-soaked history of country music that tells it how it is, it’s Merle Haggard’s 1966 hit, “Bottle Let Me Down.” The song describes the tragic moment when the alcoholic bottoms out and admits the booze just doesn’t work anymore. Haggard,
Advice for Bluegrass Bands: Be an Effective Self-Publicist
My wife and I have been traveling to bluegrass festivals up and down the East Coast, with occasional forays into the Midwest, for about a dozen years now. As we've come to know and value increasing numbers of musicians, there's one plaint we hear with increasing
When The Final Line Unfolds - Guy Clark (1941-2016)
On paper Guy Clark sounds like a thorough eccentric. You know. He was famously perfectionist; so unwilling to let others mess up his songs to the extent that in the latter part of his career he recorded all the instrumental parts himself, separately, then ran them together. He made guitars
Guy Clark-Let Him Roll, Let Him Roar
When I woke up this morning and read the news of Guy Clark’s passing, the feeling slowly imploded inside my emotions. I tried to say, “Guy Clark is gone,” out loud. I couldn’t get through even saying his first name. I never knew him. We never met. I
Rolling Stone Magazine's 44th Best Progressive LP Is by an English Folk-Rock Band!
There is a place for music between Procol Harum and The Moody Blues -- and that place is solidly owned by two English bands. They are Barclay James Harvest (who have existed and continue to perform and record to this day since 1966) and Strawbs -- who started out as