Auburn is a strange town about 40 miles east of Sacramento in the foothills. It's a working class town where you get the sense that the Great Recession has had a particular impact on its people.   In 1849 a group of French gold miners arrived and camped in what became known as the Auburn Ravine. By 1850 the towns population had grown to 1500 people and Auburn was chosen as the seat of Placer County.  It was also the final stop for the Pony Express.   This rural whistle stop…

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Where to start reporting about what has become the largest free concert on the face of the planet…Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 11?  The most obvious place to start talking about this year’s three day concert is with Hazel Dickens.

 

Most of No Depression’s readers are undoubtedly aware of Hardly Strictly and probably know something about its history.  In case you are new to the genre or living in a cave,  Hardly Strictly is the brainchild of Warren Hellman, San Francisco…

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The evening of Friday, April 22nd was remarkably dry in the Bay Area.  It was the opening concert of the season at the Greek Theater in Berkeley and, like all over the country,  the weather has been unpredictable.  I grew up in Berkeley and have attended concerts at the Greek since I was in high school.  I saw presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy  speak at the Greek. I saw Miles Davis throw down sheet music that Gil Evans had laid out for a set.  I cringed when a crowd booed Charlie Mingus…

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For some reason every time I head out to Hardly Strictly I’m nursing the effects of too much Saturday night . This year, after five weeks of finagling, my photographer, Brandt Williams, and I were able to get a backstage pass through an artist’s agent to interview some of the performers at the Rooster Stage for No Depression. The process was more difficult than the Salahi’s trying to crash a White House dinner.



Hardly Strictly is an… Continue