How Music Fans Can Help Working Musicians
Music and the people who create it give me a great deal, especially these days when the country is filled with far too much hate and greed. They give us hope, heart and lots of joy. Frankly, I don’t think I can make it through the Trump administration without
Reliving the Tour that Had People Giving Away their Dylan Tickets
As I walked toward the entrance of Hartford’s Bushnell Memorial Hall in May 1980, I was quite surprised to see ticket holders offering their $15 tickets for $5 each. I thought it was sacrilege for so many people in Connecticut to be disinterested in seeing Bob Dylan in a
You and Me, Cassidy
The first time I ever heard the words "Grateful Dead" were in the same breadth as Workingman's Dead. I was a nerdy nine or ten year old but curious and quizzical with a tendency to ask others older than me what they liked. Maybe I was
Lavish Expansion of 1968 and 1970 Woody Guthrie Tribute Concerts
Bear Family’s lavish three CD, two book set collects material from two live tribute shows, featuring performances by Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan (his first appearance after his motorcycle accident), Odetta, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Jack Elliott, Country Joe McDonald, Tom Paxton and Earl Robinson, along
Bird in the Belly Premiere New Song "Horace in Brighton"
Poetry is often a source of inspiration for songwriters, offering up perspectives on rythym and imagery that aren't necessarily found in traditional songwriting. For British folk group Bird in the Belly, that inspiration is integral to their own songwriting, so much so that their new song "Horace
Sousa Saw it Coming
My wife Annie sent me an interesting column, written by Kat Eschner for Smithsonian.com. It was about none other than the fantastic military marching music maker himself, John Philip Sousa. The inspiration of the Sousaphone (which everyone knows is the hybrid of a tuba and helicon -- what the heck