LOS LOBOS It doesn’t get much better than Los Lobos. Seriously. They’ve shared more than 50 years of great music and performances with the world, and they ain’t done yet. Their introduction at the NPR day stage spoke volumes: “Whoever your favorite band is, their favorite band is Los Lobos.” They were even brought back […]
SXSW 2026: The Sounds, Part 1
JON DEE GRAHAM AND WILLIAM HARRIES GRAHAM News broke last Friday night that Jon Dee Graham had passed away that morning. What was already a SXSW performance highlight suddenly felt like something more. Jon Dee had battled serious health issues for years, making his reflection on the experience and performance of “I Can See Clearly […]
SXSW 2026: The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for the annual event. With upwards of 1,000 artists and tens of thousands of attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music […]
Monday Morning Video – Jon Dee Graham (1959 – 2026)
Jon Dee Graham, who passed away last Friday, was a paradox — gruff exterior, heart of gold. I’m pretty sure he liked it that way. He sang about the broken and the struggling, but he always managed to find a glimmer of hope somewhere in the story. The gruffness of his voice and his guitar […]
Folk Alliance Int’l 2026 – Shawn’s Favorites
Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
Folk Alliance Int’l 2026 – Mayer’s Picks, Part 2
Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
Folk Alliance Int’l 2026 – Mayer’s Picks, Part 1
Folk Alliance International isn’t your typical music conference. Held this year in New Orleans, days include industry panels, seminars, and public showcases in hotel ballrooms, but the real magic happens late at night when up to 100 hotel rooms transform into intimate “private showcases”—artists who normally fill 500-seat theaters performing for 20 people at a […]
2026 Folk Alliance International Conference
From gold-plated toilets in the White House to $5000 burgers, society’s pendulum is clearly swinging well into the conspicuous consumption range. For a respite from all that money can buy, I heartily recommend the annual Folk Alliance International conference. Held a couple of weeks ago in the downtown Sheraton in New Orleans, it’s a haven […]
Studio Spotlight/Rancho Deluxe, Jesse Wilson
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jesse Wilson from Rancho Deluxe where he and partner Nicki Bluhm work, and who’s most recent release shares the name of said studio. Location: Madison, TN on the north east side of Nashville. It is the detached garage next to our home. Our property is 28 […]
Chip’s Best of 2025
As seems to be the case every year, selecting a top 25 was difficult task for 2025. There are so many good albums not on the list, that I liked almost as much as what was included. However, selecting the top album was not hard this year. Wednesday – Bleeds was an obvious choice to […]