Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute - Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN)
It hasn't been remarked on much, but a chorus of voices that had been sidelined or diminished for a good while were uncannily renewed in time to rise for this occasion, for the singing that needed to be done -- not just Rosanne's, a voice that
Elliott Smith: 1969 to 2003
"I never really heard Nick Drake," Elliott Smith said back in 1996, just before the frenzy of stardom glanced by. "I mean, I had heard a Nick Drake song after I'd recorded the last record, and I thought it was cool."
Inevitably, however, Smith&
Don Gibson: 1928 to 2003
That Don Gibson deserved Country Music Hall of Fame membership long before his 2001 induction was a given. But when he died November 17 at age 75, wire service obits mainly cited his three best-known compositions: "I Can't Stop Loving You", Sweet Dreams", and "
Lisa Marr Experiment - Beyond the Vancouver Underground & Neko
If her former life as the queen of cuddlecore taught Lisa Marr anything, it's that there's no joy in being pigeonholed. From 1992 to 1997, the Canadian-born bassist toiled in the indie trenches with Cub, a Vancouver trio that started out as incompetent as the Shaggs
Jack Emerson: 1960 to 2003
Jack Emerson, the pioneer, pillar, and international exporter of Nashville's rock 'n' roll/Americana community, passed on to his reward at his home November 22, 2003. Emerson, who died of a heart attack at age 43, leaves behind a legacy far richer than those who sold
Kinky Friedman - Sold American
Kinky Friedman has been getting by on the same punchlines for 30 years now. But back in the day, they were some disturbingly funny punchlines. And long after his mystery novels have gone out-of-print, what is likely to linger in the cosmos is 1973's Sold American -- the