by Terry Roland

There are some days in this life that are simply golden. Contacting veteran country rocker, Richie Furay, for an interview in 2007, led to a series of articles chronicling his continuing legacy over the last ten years. For this writer, being a witness to what followed has been like days of gold.

During a 2010 interview with Richie for a feature article in No Depression, he spoke with a hint of disappointment that old friends Neil…

by Terry Roland

(originally published in San Diego Troubadour)

Great bands often come from great cities and great eras of musical history. L.A., San Diego, New York City, and San Francisco have seen their share of pop music history during the late ’60s in bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, and the Velvet Underground. This turbulent time produced bands that reached for something greater than…

By Terry Roland

(originally appeared in FolkWorks)

Ernest Troost’s music is a perverse and diverse celebration of American folk music.  It’s a vibrant festival of tragedy and comedy, a wind-blown crossroads of American culture where Piedmont blues meets modern literature in the darkest…

Over the last 20 years when a band strikes an original chord and finds just the right note and  lyric with the kind of style that resonates well with Americana audiences, they are compared with either The Band or The Grateful Dead. While the weighty mantle of The Dead kinship have found several worthy standard bearers including Wilco, Yonder Mountain String Band and Phish; there are only a few current bands who can be credibly compared with the magic of the music born in the…

Last October I had the rare opportunity to have a brief breakfast with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the late-great Warren Hellman in Nashville. I expected Warren to be somewhat high-powered and even a bit intimidating, but instead, he was self-effacing, light-hearted and kind. The three of us became like old friends talking about our love for music. He was especially vocal about his love for folk and bluegrass and talked fondly about jamming with Earl Scruggs. He talked with…

by Terry Roland(originally published in San Diego Troubadour)

Ellis Paul holds a unique place in the world of folk music. He brings the relevance, immediacy, and importance of a current topical singer with a universal heart, the vocal passion of an arena rock singer, the soul of the best R&B of the last 50 years, and the poetic insights of American literature.…

By Terry Roland (Originally published at FolkWorks)

If you're a fan of folk, country or Americana, you probably know their famous dads, legendary country singer, Willie Nelson and humorist storytelling folk singer, Arlo Guthrie. But, Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie found in the midst of their friendship they could write some funny attention-grabbing songs while playing ukulele and singing some sweet country…

The American dream is not always obvious in the way it comes true. Sometimes it comes true through nightmares. And from the nightmares dreams come true that serve to change the world Josh White Jr.'s father was seven years when, in 1921, he saw his father murdered. But, instead of embracing hatred, Josh White Sr. embraced music by learning the depths of the street country-Piedmont blues from blind folk singers. He turned the poison of racism into music that eventually gained him…