Max Hightower likes a good rhythm section. Hightower is a harmonica ace who captures a primal sound that echoes decades of gruff, growling bluesmen that probably started with Howlin’ Wolf. Hightower, who hails from South Carolina, says he’s been enthralled with the Blues since he heard a Muddy Waters cassette when he was 12. By […]
Jake Blount on a Chicken Named George and Why You Should Let Some Opportunities Go
Jake Blount talks about rehearsing as an apartment dweller, including renting rooms at Providence’s JamStage, where he might be playing in a room next to a dad band covering Linkin Park. He shares advice on staying hydrated on the road and discusses the benefits of a livable income stream outside of music. The fiddler, banjo player, and guitarist is pursuing a Ph.D. in Musicology and Ethnomusicology at Brown University.
Monday Morning Video – Dallas House Show Preview
Twice a year we gather in a Dallas backyard on a Sunday afternoon to eat, drink and hear a few great songwriters up close. If you’ve been to one of our previous Socials, you know how special they are: magical performances with the vibe of a casual party. On Sunday, October 25th we welcome Jeff […]
Now & Then: Margo Cilker’s Little White Cross and the reach of The Last of the True Believers
The strongest connection between Margo Cilker and Nanci Griffith is their attention to people whose lives rarely become the subject of a song. Work brings their characters together; circumstances test how long those connections last. On Little White Cross, Cilker approaches that tradition with a particularly sobering view of American life. Griffith’s The Last of the True Believers offers a useful predecessor, showing how country arrangements and closely observed stories can give ordinary lives lasting significance.
Readers’ Pick: Margo Cilker – Little White Cross
You picked Margo Cilker – Little White Cross as your favorite new release for the week of October 9, 2026.
John R. Miller on a New Year’s Eve Gig and Putting the Robots to Work
Nashville singer-songwriter John R. Miller remembers playing a New Year’s Eve gig at age 15, recalls time spent working in restaurant kitchens, and talks about one reason he started a career in music.
Monday Morning Video – de la Cour & Mayfield Show Preview (Boston/NYC)
Two of our favorite albums of 2025 came from Ben de la Cour and Joelton Mayfield, and this month we get to put them on the same stage. De la Cour calls his songs “night songs,” and on New Roses he plays nearly every instrument himself. Mayfield’s Crowd Pleaser, his first full-length, was close to […]
Now & Then: The Suitcase Junket’s To Go On and the reach of Bone Machine
Matt Lorenz’s homemade instruments make The Suitcase Junket easy to recognize. His songwriting gives you a reason to stay. On To Go On, written following the death of his sister and longtime musical collaborator, Kate Lorenz, that distinction matters. Tom Waits’s Bone Machine offers a useful predecessor: a record whose unconventional roots arrangements make room for mortality and tenderness alike. Lorenz’s stated affection for Waits makes the connection more than a critic’s convenient pairing.
Readers’ Pick: The Suitcase Junket – To Go On
You picked The Suitcase Junket – To Go On as your favorite new release for the week of October 2, 2026.
A Few Words with Abe Partridge
Café Wha? opened in 1959 in a MacDougal Street basement in Greenwich Village, and it has long been an early stop for artists still building their audiences. Bob Dylan first played the room in January 1961, Jimi Hendrix worked through multiple sets a night there as Jimmy James in the mid-1960s, and Bruce Springsteen did […]