There is a subtle difference in the nominating categories for the Americana Honors & Award Nominations from the rest of the awards in the music industry. Most give a ranking, which usually begins with ‘best.’  No where in the nominations…

"You don't make music for immortality, you make music for the moment, capturing the sheer joy of being alive on planet Earth... Everybody should live it that way."    Ray Manzarek  

In the summer of 1967 The Doors played the Anaheim Convention Center. I was 12 years old. I was completely transfixed by the band. Having an older musician brother, playing the Sunset Strip, signed to United Artist Records and playing frequent live gigs, made me no stranger to live…

With a career as diverse as the emerging genre we call ‘Americana,’ Jim Lauderdale continues on the same track toward collaboration, generosity and an imagination fused with the influence of Country and Bluegrass traditions. His December, 2012 release with musical cohort, Buddy Miller, is a collection of songs, some covers and some originals, that focuses on the tight harmony vocal approach eschewing style over the feel and soul of the song. It’s a…

Last June, with what felt like a last breath of grief, my brother, sister-in-law and I drove down the Abilene Highway that runs between Dallas and Abilene, Texas. With the hot summer wind on our backs, we rolled toward a small town, Winters, where my mother’s casket waited for burial between my 46 year-old brother and 34 year-old dad. It was a lonely trip.  At one point, these words came through the car stereo:

 ”Yes I understand every life must end, uh…

From the earthy opening fiddle strains on White Swan to the final song's sweet homage to Appalachian singer-songwriter Jean Ritchie, it's clear this is not an album to listen to once and put away.  Susie Glaze and The Hilonesome Band have made an album that is a ride through a wide range of Americana meadows and valleys. From skilled instrumentation bluegrass jams, Appalachian vocals, sweet high lonesome harmonies and old-time folk influences, White Swan sings with the…

There are those voices that ring in our memories. Some are singular and scream with passion that demands to be heard. Elvis, Jim Morrison, and Bruce Springsteen can be counted among these. Then there are the interchangeable harmony singers whose voices weave around each other in a way so seamless, the voices carrying each strand of harmony and melody become one. The Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel are just a few who…

To the Gypsy for Willie 20 years later

When Carla Olson was a young girl growing up in Austin, Texas her musical role models were Mary Travers and Jackie DeShannon.  It's not hard to imagine why.  With her rich vocal talent, long blond-hair and the music of the golden era of folk, rock, and country breezing through the Texas airwaves there would be little else to captivate her. But, her own musical vision would not be complete until she heard the folk-rock of The…