The Cactus Blossoms vs. the Everly Brothers: Same Sound, Different Duo
The Everly Brothers reincarnated? Or merely reinvented? The Cactus Blossoms could easily convince the pundits either way. This sibling duo sound every bit like their famous predecessors in both their delivery and choice of material. They emulate the Everlys so convincingly, a novice would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.
A Songwriter's Uniform
Johnny Cash wrote an entire song about his iconic wardrobe:
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything's okay
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
Til things are brighter, I'
The Danger of Genius: Bill Monroe and Tony Rice
Genius has within it the seeds of its own destruction. Bill Monroe labored for years to find and develop a musical sound he heard in his head. He experimented throughout his sojourn in the industrial necklace around the Great Lakes with combinations of instruments, tempos, and musical structures, restlessly seeking
The Aptly Nicknamed Happy Traum
He might have been -- no, he was -- given the name Harry Peter Traum at birth, back at the beginning of May 1938 in the Bronx, New York, but Happy Traum goes by a nickname that says it like it is. A more genial and generous soul you'
Something More Than Perfection
Every six months I compile a list of what I consider are the top ten songs and top ten albums released in that period. Each June and December I tend to write something fairly in depth about what I consider the best album release was in the preceding six months.
The Friday That Took Tater: Remembering Jimmy Dickens
It was a Friday night but not just any Friday night. In the moments leading up to the Grand Ole Opry's first weekend episode in the new year of 2015, word came that it had lost one of its own, the 94-year-old balladeer known as Little Jimmy Dickens.