The Dawn of EmiSunshine
Marty Stuart knows who EmiSunshine is. So do those who have clicked the YouTube video of her singing “Folsom Prison Blues,” last March in Knoxville’s Market Square 1,681,526 times and counting. But, in the greater world of country music, EmiSunshine, a spritely 10-year-old girl from Madisonville, TN,
Beer/Album Pairing: 'Night of a Thousand Candles' by The Men They Couldn't Hang
In my opinion, Night of a Thousand Candles, the 1985 debut of the British folk-punk band The Men They Couldn’t Hang, is one of the greatest albums of all time[1]. Further, if I ever write an article listing the most underrated and the most criminally underappreciated albums[2]
With Nashville in the Rearview, Artists Thrive Elsewhere
Don Forgey was in his mid-20s when he met 18-year-old Kathy Ackerman at Washington state’s Whistlin’ Jack Lodge, a Depression-era hostelry in the woods east of Mount Rainier that’s named for a giant, noisy squirrel (the hoary marmot). Forgey, now 62, had just finished touring Canada with a
Novelty Songs: Benny Bell, Dr. Demento and The Art of Laughter
Last week I was sitting in a chilly room with about a dozen guitar pickers and as is the protocol for this particular song circle, each person took their turn at presenting a tune and leading the group through it. There were traditional songs, some blues and the now-standard Sixties
Akron Sound Remains Strong With Sarah & Jayson Benn
Patrons of the Music Box venue packed the main floor’s Supper Club to hear Shivering Timbers, another little band from Akron, Ohio, with two polished entertaining sets Saturday night as part of the club’s Lucky Seven Concert Series. Although the husband and wife team of lead singer/upright
Josh Rouse's "Under Cold Blue Stars" Revisited
On Under Cold Blue Stars, Josh Rouse’s third album, he became a truly accomplished songwriter – the kind who helps us see in the dark, illuminating the hidden corners of everyday life, and of the psyche.
As the old cliché says, time flies. It’s been 13 years since that