James McMurtry - Live in Aught-Three
Perhaps partly because of his bloodline, James McMurtry enjoys (or endures) a reputation as the most writerly of Texas singer-songwriters, one whose material highlights literary qualities such as an eye for detail, a strong sense of place, a shifting narrative perspective and a keenly calibrated irony. Along the way, he
Floyd Tillman - I Love You So Much It Hurts
Floyd Tillman's obituaries last summer discussed his groundbreaking 1949 cheating song "Slippin' Around", which pioneered treating adultery without the usual moral conundrum. In truth, his legacy was nearly as complex as the man himself.
Tillman was a major force in laying the foundation for the
Jay Farrar - Stone, Steel & Bright Lights
Jay Farrar's appeal has always been as much in his sound as his songs. It's a sound that has remained remarkably consistent through several bands and settings. Over his career, the musical backdrops have varied from traditionalist country to naked acoustic folk to raging, feedback-drenched rock.
Dave Dudley: 1928 to 2003
For 40 years, Dave Dudley was the accidental voice of truck-driving music. After an injury to his pitching arm forced Dudley to sideline his dreams of a professional baseball career, he financed the 1962 recording session that produced "Six Days On The Road" with the insurance settlement from
Riley Baugus - Down from Cold Mountain
"As an old-time musician, I hope to take old-time music to a much broader audience," Riley Baugus says. "If you notice, everyone who ever hears a banjo or fiddle stops and listens, usually tapping their foot and smiling. Most people like it I think, but it just
Grey DeLisle - A remembrance of things past
Grey DeLisle has a dream: She is performing with Loretta Lynn when Wanda Jackson comes onto the stage. Somehow a plastic "Roy Rogers type guitar from the '50s" materializes in DeLisle's hands and her first thought is to find a marker so Jackson can autograph