There are plenty of examples where a musician’s geographical home bears no resemblance to the music they’ve made their own. City boys playing outstanding country music or kids from Minnesota inhabiting the sounds of musica Norteña from Mexico, for example. In the case of western Colorado-based, string band Birds of Play, the relationship seems to […]
Teddy Thompson on Food Deserts and the End of Royalties
Singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson talks about his fruit and vegetable fund, working at a hair salon, and the meaning of “JFP”.
Monday Morning Video – Clay Pigeons
Blaze Foley was a songwriter’s songwriter. As John Prine says in his introduction to his cover of the classic “Clay Pigeons”, “I heard him sing this song here and it blew me just right out of my chair, I thought ‘”‘my God, that sounds like I should have stayed awake and wrote that some night.’”
Bonus Monday Video – The Meadowlark Festival
Our friends at The Meadowlark Festival have something special cooking. Let’s start with the setting – the Stone Ridge Orchard and Farmers Market in New York’s Hudson Valley. Pick some apples (and maybe grab some cider…) as you enjoy a wonderful and eclectic weekend of music. Among their featured performers are renowned folk/blues singer-songwriter Chris […]
Monday Morning Video – Robertson, Rodriguez, and O’Connor
It’s been a rough couple of weeks in the world of the music. The passing of Robbie Robertson, Sixto Rodriguez, and Sinead O’Connor have taken from us three artists who, each in their own way, made an indelible mark on audiences around the world. Here is a brief video playlist that features just small pieces […]
Newport Folk 2023 – Sunday
Every year I am lucky enough to attend Newport Folk Festival, and I have attended six, there’s a moment where the music takes on a full sensory experience. Time stops. When Gregory Alan Isakov took the Quad Stage, that moment occurred. Gregory Alan Isakov and his band including banjo, fiddle, keys, and percussion. Isakov’s new […]
Newport Folk 2023 – Saturday
In its 64th year, the 2023 Newport Folk Festival boasts the longest and most distinguished history of any currently running music festival dating back to 1959. With all that history, the festival has stayed relevant with its place as one of the most trusted venues for Americana, folk, rock, singer/songwriter, and everything in between. With […]
Nathan Mongol Wells on His Favorite Day Job and Playing Battles of the Bands
Dallas singer-songwriter Nathan Mongol Wells talks about improvising on stage when he breaks a guitar string and why it’s fine to not know everything at the start of a career in music.
Beth Bombara – It All Goes Up
I’ve seen Beth Bombara perform a few times and always really enjoyed it. She’s not just a good singer-songwriter, but she has a stage charisma that quickly warms up the audience. I was looking forward to her new album, but in a twist on the old “don’t judge a book by its cover”, I realized […]
Dale Watson – Starvation Box
On his new album “Starvation Box” Dale Watson has gone in a new direction. Not to worry though, he hasn’t sold out and gone mainstream. He is not going Bro-Country or releasing a Luke Bryan covers album. In actuality, he has gone the other direction. Watson has descended deeper into his roots than ever before. […]