Kevin Oliver on No Depression

Though Don Dixon has passed through Columbia, South Carolina several times over the last couple decades, his wife Marti Jones' last performance here was in 1987, so she was long overdue.

In the cozy confines of an on-campus cafe space at the all-female Columbia College, Jones be… Continue

WPA
September 16, 2009
The White Mule, Columbia SC

With their brand spanking new album only a day old, the first official tour of the Works Progress Administration promised to be something special, and it lived up to its billing as a meeting of talent from three different directions. The touring unit of the WPA consists of fiddler/singer Luke Bulla (Lyle Lovett), guitarist/singer Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), and guitarist/singer Glen Phillips (Toad T… Continue

South Carolina singer-songwriter Danielle Howle has a new CD out, Swamp Sessions, that's as stripped down and acoustic as it gets--recorded in just six hours in a solar-powered house in a Carolina swamp, it's a field recording that comes awful close to the kind of powerful performances Howle… Continue

Whatever Happened To The Great American Bubble Factory, the new Drivin' N' Cryin' album, is due out at the end of the month. From the MC5 and Stooges-inspired "Detroit City" to the sentimental ode to homesickness, "I See Georgia," (complete with a Deacon Lunchbox reference, cool...) it's the best set of songs Kinney and company have come up with in years, and to hear Kinney talk about being inspired by Bobby Bare Jr and the Drive-By Truckers (band… Continue

The first piece I ever contributed to the print version of No Depression was a CD review of Anarky, Tennessee, the debut of punkabilly honky-tonker Hick'ry Hawkins. I mention this because Hawkins (Currently based in Charlotte, NC) is still out there playing his unique brand of traditional country propped up with punk rock, and because I lucked into catching an unusual solo set from him last night at The Mill Loun… Continue