Don't laugh at Harry Belafonte, the incomparable American/world roots folk musician and popularizer, for being caught on tv asleep or meditating last week. Laugh with him during his appearance with Steven Colbert  which he amazingly turns…

Aoife O'Donovan was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule (and as you will read, I mean BUSY) to share some of her most memorable experiences with her band, Crooked Still, as well as share some news of a few things she already has in the works.

With her band officially now on hiatus, and with a staggering number of projects in the works, it seems like the perfect time to discuss some of Ms. O' Donovan's past achievements with Crooked Still, as well as get the…

Ryan Adams

Ashes & Fire

(Capitol)

Even a year without a new Ryan Adams seems an eternity, especially when measured by a prolific prowess that found him sometimes releasing multiple albums within the same year. Indeed, since the disbandment of Whiskeytown over a decade ago, there’s rarely been more than a few months that have gone by without a new Adams offering. The fact that he’s chosen to take time off after dissolving his steady backing band the…

A couple of years ago, I was watching a singer-songwriter somewhere when I had a sudden flashback to my teenage years. The young man's delivery and story telling made me harken back to an LP that my elder brother Brian owned in the early 70s and I went on to play to death. The record in question was The Compleat Tom Paxton and had been recorded at the Bitter End Club in New York in 1970. I’d previously been force-fed Brian’s collection of hippie folk singers and…

Various Artists - "CLOSE KIN"

Mountain Roads Recordings

Released: November 2011

Starting this review has been very…

..."10 year band member Becky Buller, makes a career change for next season. She seeks more opportunities to write, studio record and play other music. I have for the past 2 years been training an artist and only pray that you will help her grow by reaching out to her. I love Becky and I wish her the best."   - Valerie Smith...

Becky Buller, 10-year member with Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike has decided to go it alone for awhile.  She talked with us about her thoughts…

As we were wrapping up our interview at the Frothy Monkey in Nashville during last week's Americana Music Association Music Festival, Kym Warner asked me where I lived.  When I told him Jackson, Mississippi, he mentioned that his only trip to Jackson involved Hayes Carll, a burning van and a Greyhound bus ride back to Texas, about 10 years ago.  Mr. Warner and Carol Young played a bit as Hayes Carll's band back in the early days, even going on the road with him.  Mr. Carll proudly showed up…

Mulberry Mountain is one of the most beautiful places to hold a festival and what a festival it was! I’ve taken a break from my ongoing “Defining Roots/Amercana Music” blog to cover this very cool event, the Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival, located twenty some odd miles north of Ozark, Arkansaw, nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. This festival had something for everyone from old codgers like me to the tiniest music fan like this young lady.

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There was a 'Support Local Music' button image going around on facebook. "Calling all musicians and bands". I pointed out that if they wanted SUPPORT they should have mentioned the AUDIENCE, not just themselves. Plenty of inbreeding in the performance need gene as is. Some weren't happy, some just didn't Get It.
The 2nd group is the one I feel bad for.

Just wanted to let the ND community know that I'm about to give away a bunch of CDs on my blog-- my husband and I cleaned out our music collection to get rid of 'doubles'-- and the first one up is Whiskeytown's Pneumonia. I love that CD with a passion-- from the twangy, relaxed "Ballad of Carol Anne" to raw, unedited joy in the last yelp of "Bar Lights". I'm happy to be able to give one well-loved copy away. 

To enter, just check out…

Dolly Parton

Live at Hard Rock Live

Hollywood, Florida, October 18, 2011

Call her what you will – a showbiz chanteuse, a down home diva, or simply the epitome of American superstardom – Dolly Parton is a brilliant entertainer, as suited to the stage as any individual icon of the modern era. She proved that repeatedly on the final night of her latest Stateside jaunt, which took her to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood…

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Reviews by Doug Heselgrave

Sometimes, there’s a disconnect between an artist’s creative output and the product they produce that finally makes it to the market.  The music business is so carefully managed and manipulated today that it’s difficult for most of us to remember a time when singers and players regularly put out more than one record a year. For example, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ and ‘Bringing it all Back Home’ both came out in 1965 – ‘Blonde on Blonde’…

Yes, the suits were a factor. There were those who turned out for the semi-novelty of it all and to check out the sharp-dressed men. Even the floor plan was well thought out. The band’s two vocalizing songwriters, Scott Miller and Mic (Mike, in the early days when vowels were flourishing) Harrison, were positioned stage right and left respectively, flanking bassist/young-Andy-Garcia lookalike Paxton Sellers. It was a straight line of navy blue, with bedrock drummer Jeff Bills behind and…