“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I’m pretty sure the original intent of that comment was directed to relationships. I’ve observed it to be true about almost anything someone is passionate about, though. Step away from it for a while, and when you come back you rediscover what attracted you in the first place along […]
In Their Own Words: Artists Reflect on the Bottle Rockets
On June 11th, we’ll gather at Lucinda’s in New York City’s East Village for Welfare Music: A Tribute to the Bottle Rockets. We asked some of the artists joining us that night to reflect on the band’s legacy. Here’s what they had to say. GET TICKETS GET TICKETS
Futurebirds’ Thomas Johnson on Breaking 2.73 Strings a Show and Nurturing Income Streams
Thomas Johnson of Athens, GA’s Futurebirds talks about retiring the band’s old van “Paco” on the side of a Georgia road, rehearsing in a space that exists only in his imagination, and the TV-repair gig he took without ever being qualified for it.
Eilen Jewell Steps Off the Road, But Not Out of the Song
Photo credit: Damu Malik After two decades of nearly continuous touring, folk-Americana singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell is stepping away from the road—not as an ending, she insists, but as a recalibration. Her “indefinite hiatus” from touring marks a deliberate pause in a life shaped by motion, performance, and the steady accumulation of miles across continents. Yet […]
Monday Morning Video – Bottle Rockets
What better way to start a Monday than with a band that wrote the definitive song about it? This week’s video runs 40 minutes of the Bottle Rockets live, and yes, “Monday (Everytime I Turn Around)” is in there — along with “Dog,” “XOYOU,” “I Don’t Wanna Know,” “Ship It On the Frisco,” “Shape of […]
Now & Then: Joshua Ray Walker’s Ain’t Dead Yet and the reach of Guitar Town
Joshua Ray Walker’s Ain’t Dead Yet and Steve Earle’s Guitar Town are separated by four decades, but they share a clear country music lineage. Both albums come from writers who use traditional country materials without treating them as fixed rules. Earle’s 1986 debut helped open space for country records with tougher guitars, direct storytelling, and singer-songwriter focus. Walker’s new album works in that same lane, with a more personal and present-tense sense of survival.
Readers’ Pick: Joshua Ray Walker – Ain’t Dead Yet
You picked Joshua Ray Walker – Ain’t Dead Yet as your favorite new release for the week of May 29, 2026.
John R. Miller – The Great Unknowing
Way back in my youth there was a TV show called The A-Team. In it, the commander of the band of misfits exclaims, “I love it when a plan comes together,” after some hare-brained, seat-of-the-pants scheme turns out for the good. I think John R. Miller must have uttered something similar when he finished recording […]
The Gang’s All Here: the Bottle Rockets Tribute Lineup
In just over a week (June 11th), we’ll gather at Lucinda’s in New York City’s East Village to celebrate the Bottle Rockets — a band that married Midwestern rock with country and folk, blazing a trail that a lot of great artists have been walking ever since. It’ll come as no shock that we at […]
Grey DeLisle and James Intveld On Singing Telegrams, Rick Nelson, and the Bing Crosby Plan
Grey DeLisle and James Intveld talk about a lesson in how to strum a guitar (James), a successful side hustle (Grey), and being in charge of one’s own destiny (Grey & James).