The Bottle Rockets - "Bottle Rockets" / "The Brooklyn Side"
In 1994, St. Louis' Bottle Rockets sang about that “angry fat man on the radio (who) wants to keep his taxes way down low” in “Welfare Music,” one of the band's finest songs. Almost 20 years later, that radio guy is, if anything, fatter and angrier, and
A Close Look At Bob Dylan's 'I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine'
‘I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine’ is a gem: a beautifully controlled and nuanced piece of writing, delivered on record with both power and restraint. Its spare and apparently straightforward language is woven around an ultimately mysterious core. We are left unsure just what we supposed to glean from the
Gay Traditions: Ashleigh Flynn's Western Mythos
We helped Portland songwriter Ashleigh Flynn to get out her latest album, A Million Stars, after falling in love with her songs that rewrote the standard Wild West narrative from a feminine perspective. Knowing that she identified as gay, I was curious to know more about how the characters she
Twenty Years with The Bottle Rockets: A Conversation with Brian Henneman
It’s hard to believe twenty years have passed since a little band from Festus, Missouri by the name of The Bottle Rockets released their very first album. Yet, despite the passage of time, in our troubled times The Bottle Rockets’ hard-rocking songs of beat up cars, small town
Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Marcia Ball, Kat Edmonson . . . and a Partridge in a Pear Tree: The New Holiday Movie "Angels Sing"
A dad who doesn't like the commercialization of Christmas and resists decorating the house. A ten-year-old longing to spend the holiday with his singing grandpa. The memory of a fatal ice-skating accident. A mysterious, benevolent, white-bearded man who bestows gifts and wisdom and has
Van Morrison – Moondance Deluxe Edition (Review)
Van Morrison had already attracted some attention with Them, scored a hit with “Brown-Eyed Girl” and produced the incredible Astral Weeks by the time he delivered Moondance in 1970. But this was the album that made him a star.
It didn’t happen overnight. The record rose no higher