Fresh LINKS

more

Drama is unfolding behind the scenes of Crazy Heart in a battle over the estate of the songwriter Stephen Bruton, who co-produced the soundtrack and tutored Jeff Bridges on guitar for his role as an aging country singer seeking love and redemption.    More at The New York Times

The eccentric musician, arranger and songwriter who has collaborated with the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Ry Cooder and many more is returning to the road to tour for the first time in 25 years.    More at The San Francisco Chronicle

Singer Sade Adu returns after a ten year hiatus with the release of her new album, Solder of Love, this Tuesday.    More at The Wall Street Journal

Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America, a 90-minute VH1 Rock Docs film celebrating the 40th anniversary of the culturally influential music show premieres Saturday on VH1.    More at USA Today


Past Print

more
By Ian Whitcomb, Oregon Festival of American Music
Originally Published: 01/01/2006

Young and restless England, stirred up by rough sounds from gramophone and fairground loudspeaker, was waiting breathlessly for Bill Haley to come and take their forlorn, stooped, war-weary country by storm...

   More

Shelf Life

more
Buy It From Amazon

Los Angeles is for all intents and purposes the center of the rock & roll universe. And for those who know anything about the history of the city's great love affair with those who like to rock, they know that Laurel Canyon has a gravitational pull.

   More

Bentley's Bandstand

more
The Sojourners
Black Hen Music
Buy It From Amazon

Gospel music will always shine. A centerpiece of American sounds, it carries the ability to inspire all those within its sweep. Even for listeners beyond the beliefs at gospel's rousing center, the songs rarely fail to raise the roof everywhere they are performed.

   More

VIDEO VIDEO

more
Artist: The Monkees
Year: 1966
Sure, a lot of music snobs look upon the Monkees with a degree of derision, but it's an unfair assessment. Yes, the albums were heavily packed with studio musicians — although the same could be said of a lot of the Monkees' contemporaries — and other than Michael Nesmith, the Monkees weren't top-tier songwriters.
   More

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

more
American VI: Ain’t No Grave
By Roberta Penn
Buy It From Amazon

Ain't No Grave is a funeral for fans of Johnny Cash. It's not the kind of service in which a minister prays for salvation, mentioning the high points of a life along the way.

   More

Boomerangst

more
By Roy Trakin

Maybe it was the three orders of buffalo chicken wings, or the Lay's sour cream and onion chips and matching dip. Perhaps it was the glut of commercials from corporate America, knowing the country is on the edge of economic chaos.

   More

ON THE CORNER

more
Waylon Jennings
By Binky Philips

The Fall of 1974. I am meeting friends at the Bottom Line for a Waylon Jennings show. Yes, for a New York City boy, I was Country before Country was cool.

   More