Sid Selvidge   1943-2013.  A Short Appreciation

SID SELVIDGE  passed away today and tonight I am thinking about his legacy, and how much I liked almost everything I ever heard from him. 

As a recording artist, Sid was a fine interpreter of songs and you can tell that he chose his songs with care.   My Ipod library has half a dozen of his sweet songs. 

Like me, Sid was born in the Mississippi Delta and we both shared a lifetime’s love for folk and Americana…

Continue

Luther Dickinson is a prolific artist, songwriter, and performer that is clearly not content with just investing himself in any one of his musical projects. He is a member of the North Mississippi Allstars, South Memphis String Band, The Wandering, and is a high caliber solo artist in his own right.

On May 8th, Luther Dickinson released three new albums: an all-acoustic solo recording called Hambone's Meditations, a new SMSB record called Old Times There, and…

Continue

Even though she’s lived and worked in Memphis since 1999, singer-songwriter-actress Amy LaVere isn’t tied down to one place or, for that matter, one career.

No wonder she came up with the name for the fascinating fivesome called the Wandering.

The ambitious side project invented by another overachiever, Luther Dickinson of the…

Continue

It's been a while but here's Twang Nation Podcast #5 and it's a beaut.

This episode features cuts from upcoming albums by  Ray Wylie Hubbard, Chelle Rose and Joe Pug and great cuts from The Damn Quails, The Steel Wheels , Hiss Golden Messenger and Jim White.Mr J.R. Cash concludes the episode to…

Continue

Not much to say in the episode. I'm dealing with a mass exodus of all my files from Mevio to Libsyn. But this episode is filled with amazing music. Enjoy!

Download this episode HERE

Music in this weeks episode:

- Women & Work AND Juniper by Lucero

(from Women & Work)…

Continue

The show is returning strong for 2012. But we can't forget all the great music from 2011. So, we're listening to the bands in my list of Top 24 of 2011.

Download this episode HERE

Music in this episode:

– Keep It Coming AND Trouble Won't Last Always by Glossary

(from Long Live All Of…

Continue

Yeah, yeah. It's that time of year again. Everyone is doing it, and so am I. My top albums of 2011.

This was a really tough list to gather. 2011 was crammed with amazing music, so that just made the decision making that much harder.

34 people e-mailed and messaged me with suggestions of what my final top number should be this year. Suggestions ranged from "Top 10" to "Top 53"! That wasn't going to happen anyway. But the most common number suggested was "Top 24".

I didn't…

Continue

Steve Cropper, of Booker T. and the MGs and Stax Records fame, has trouble picking any one moment on his upcoming star-studded project Dedicated as his favorite. So, we went further back into his legendary soul-soaked career.



“I can tell you it was a lot of fun,” Cropper says of his new 429 Records release, due in August. “To be… Continue

Jesse Winchester

The Belcourt Theater

Nashville, TN

17 November 2010



There is no one more charming than Jesse Winchester. Nor gracious, romantic or wry. With a soft singing tone that’s as pillowy as the world’s softest down bed, an intoxicating drawl and his seamless way of playing that lone acoustic guitar he brings onstage, he exudes a warmth that draws the audience closer to.



Not that the 66-year old guitarist/songwriter is about pyrotechnics or massive… Continue

I started my week at home in Nashville. Drove to Jackson, Mississippi. Spent the night with friends, did some quality running, played shows at Holmes Community College and Millsaps College. Flew to Santa Ana, California. Made it to Laguna Beach, where I did some more running, this time on sand, with Pacific waves crashing on the shore. Did a little hotel room recording. Played with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band at Verizon in Irvine, California. Did some more beach running. Flew to Las… Continue

Spend any summertime in the lowland South and it won’t be long until some Cracker Barrel Confucius allows as how it ain’t the heat, it’s the humidity, yessir, it surely is. As in, we tolerate foot-blistering temperatures most every day here, but today it’s the essential air that clutches at your heart, the atmosphere itself that sucks out your breath as you listlessly tread water walking the streets. It’s that damp, febrile atmosphere that… Continue

After last night’s Eddie’s Attic show in Atlanta, I was crazy tired. Wrung out, like an old dishrag. I’m sure I looked just like that dishrag. My vocal cords were shredded. I went and ate a salad with some chicken in it at an anonymous fern bar. Sitting alone and eating like a starved man, my mind seemed to be racing and empty of thought at the same time.



Do they call this exhaustion?



I slept late, or what passes for sleeping… Continue

Shows have been really well attended lately. Something’s in the water besides just light sweet crude. Thanks for coming to gigs. I will keep trying to make them worth your while. If you had told me back in the Spring how busy Summer would be, I might have told you to dream on. But since April, I have been running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. A good thing, to be sure. Especially these days, and I am thankful to the… Continue

We all had a great time with 35,000 of our closest friends on the beach at Gulf Shores yesterday. I found it particularly pleasing to be onstage with Allan Toussaint and Jesse Winchester, along with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. It was a good day during a tough time for the Gulf of Mexico.

You can watch the new special version of "When The Coast is Clear" from the Gulf Coast concert here: http://bit.ly/aiDyJW

• WILL KIMBROUGH Award-Winning Guitarist & AMA Nominee for Instrumentalist of the Year! Watch His weekly "Lick Of The Day" series featuring a new video post EVERY WEDNESDAY. This Week: Focus on STEVE CROPPER best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band Booker T. & The MG's and backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor.… Continue

Here I am in Galveston on my 46th birthday. Thanks to Tony for putting me up in this happening beach house. Thanks to Wrecks and Richard Dobson for a great night at the Old Quarter. I played an opening set and then enjoyed hearing Richard (I’ve played his “Chuck the Chuckwagon” with Rodney quite a few times over the years). He has some great songs.The Mucky Duck show in Houston was wonderful. I love to play there and vow never to let so much time pass before I get back. Thanks to Teresa and… Continue

Welcome to the Class of 2010 - Six Young Performers To Keep On Your Radar



These days young musicians are rediscovering formerly forgotten musical themes while others are taking musical elements from past generations and reassembling them into entirely new formats. There is a lot of competition for your attention and it's never been harder for a young band or performer to stand out and get noticed. Just like Bob Dylan threw out the rulebook 45 years ago when he plugged in an… Continue

Ted Russell Kamp is no stranger to astute No Depression readers. Although best known for his role as bass player in outlaw country-rock band Shooter Jennings and the 357's, Ted Russell Kamp has also established himself as a songwriting and solo artist worthy of note. His previous effort 2007 album "Divisadero" notched an impressive top 40 americana music chart appearance and was given well deserved praise in the March 2007 ND issue by reviewer Michael Berick. The latest release "Poor Man's… Continue