“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” Aside from the national anthem, perhaps no other lyrics are as broadly known as those ten words. That hook paralleled a subtle change in popular songs that no one mastered better than Kris Kristofferson. He certainly wasn’t the first writer to make the protagonist of […]
Monday Morning Video – Kris Kristofferson
Another country legend is gone with the passing of Kris Kristofferson this weekend. Kristofferson first established himself as a songwriter, writing such notable songs as “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (most notably recorded by Johnny Cash in 1970) and “Me and Bobby McGee” (made famous by Janis Joplin). He then embarked on his own highly successful […]
Monday Morning Video – On the Road Again
Another day, another week, another month without live music to sustain us. The Willie Nelson classic has never been as relevant as it is today. Here’s Billy Strings performing “On the Road Again” just last year and Willie, along with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, closing out a show with it back in […]
Mayer’s Playlist for February 2016, Part 1
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH Heavy Hearts, Hard Fists by Nikki Hill We’re gonna call this the best 2015 album that slipped by me last year. Better late than never, right? Hill’s sophomore release, the aptly titled Heavy Hearts, Hard Fists, hits like a punch in the gut. While her sound is rooted in old-school R&B, […]
Americana 2015: The Sounds, Part 2
JOSH RITTER Ritter and his Royal City Band always put on energetic performances but they seemed particularly excitable as they celebrated the impending release of their new album. They won over the crowd right out of the gate by opening their set with the longtime fan favorite “Me and Jiggs.†DONNIE FRITTS Muscle Shoals legend […]
Monday Morning Video: John Prine with Kris Kristofferson and Joan Baez
It occurred to me that we haven’t written much, at least lately, about John Prine. Well, I went searching for a good song to share and stumbled across this incredible video. It features Kris Kristofferson and Joan Baez singing alongside Prine on the his classic “Hello In There.” ‘Ya gotta love Baez’s comment as she […]
John Prine – The Singing Mailman Delivers
Forty years. It has been forty years since John Prine released his first, self-titled album, with such classics as “Paradise,” “Angel From Montgomery,” and “Spanish Pipedream.” That first album was one of the few true folk albums included in Rolling Stone‘s 500 greatest albums (a bogus, arbitrary exercise to boost circulation for sure – but John Prine was on […]
Merle Haggard, with Kris Kristofferson – Live at Mountain Winery
Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up. There we were, all 1800 of us, singing along with Joan Baez, that darling of the counterculture, “We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy, like the hippies out in San Francisco do. And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee.” The occasion was the […]
Curtis Harvey – Box of Stones
Many great artists produce music that is inspiring without being technically gifted vocalists. Kris Kristofferson and Ryan Bingham have produced two of the year’s best albums while displaying vocals that few would term “smooth”. The largely acoustic solo debut from Curtis Harvey (Myspace), Box of Stones (FatCat), successfully showcsaes the same ability to move the […]