"John Lennon's Been Shot": The Marshall Tucker Band's Ghosts of Christmas Past
When you stand on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium, there’s a feeling that overcomes you. “Every country music artist has stood there,” Charlie Daniels once told me, his voice rising with emotion. “And when you look out, you say ‘This is the mother church of country music. This
Why I Don’t Write About David Bromberg
Once upon a time, I did write about a David Bromberg show, for Huffington Post. That’s been a few years ago now, and – though I’ve heard him many times since – I hold off. Why?
Some of the best advice I got as a graduate student at Princeton was
David Bullock - In the Waking World
There was a time, way back in the Stone Age of music, when David Bullock was an up-and-comer on the folk circuit of Fort Worth/Dallas/Houston, sharing the stage with the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. He loved folk music and
Butchers Blind Talk Shop, and "A Place in America"
Butchers Blind is a band that has been on my radar for quite some time now. Most recently the group has released their record, "A Place in America" via Electric Giant Records. Based in New York City, the group offers up more than your run-of-the-mill
Jazz Singer Mark Murphy (1932-2015), "The Next Sinatra," Did It His Way
Call me crazy, but I see a little of Crazy Horse in Mark Murphy, the magnificent and fearless jazz singer who died October 22 at 83, of complications of pneumonia. More specifically, I see Murphy in the somewhat quixotic Crazy Horse Memorial sculpture, which I was reminded of while searching
James Hunter: An Education from Van Morrison and Many More
Touring for years as Van Morrison’s back-up singer, James Hunter saw many explosive performances by the Irish musical legend. He tells me he learned more, though, from Morrison in just minutes in a recording studio as he and a host of musicians recorded his debut album …Believe What