Live records can be hit-or-miss. Luckily for roots music fans, July 2024 brought us not one, but two outstanding releases capturing live music on tape. Bluegrass phenom Billy Strings kicks off the month’s playlist with his light-speed flat-picking guitar […]
symbiont, the new collaborative album from Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin, isn’t going to sound like anything you’ve heard before. The album, coming Sept. 27 on Smithsonian Folkways, contends with the past, present, and future through the lens of […]
This week’s column features a double dose of the blues: the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon (July 4-7) and the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival in Winthrop, Washington (July 19-21). These two fests have become staples for the […]
After months of intense speculation, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced today the new home for its annual World of Bluegrass conference and festival. After one last hurrah this September in Raleigh, North Carolina, the event’s home since 2013, […]
There’s been buzz and photos from the set and lots of speculation about the new Bob Dylan biopic for months, but the first trailer landed this week, giving us an early look at Timothée Chalamet’s walk in the folksinger’s […]
We’ve hit the middle of 2024, and first-rate new albums seem to be coming fast and furious. Here’s a look at five of my favorites released in May and June, all of which may well end up on my […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: AJ Lee and Blue Summit is No Depression’s Spotlight band for July 2024. Learn more about the band and their new album, City of Glass, in our interview, and watch a video of them performing “Hillside” from […]
This week the column returns to festival coverage by featuring the Briggs Farm Blues Festival, which took place July 11-13 in Briggsville, Pennsylvania, and the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival (WoodyFest), July 10-14 in Guthrie’s hometown, Okemah, Oklahoma. Briggs […]
While I strive to feature a variety of projects in this space, in the end it usually comes down to artists promoting a new album. That’s the core of Kickstarter and Indiegogo’s music crowdfunding platform. But this month I’m […]
In one of the very best kinds of surprises, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings announced a new album today. Woodland, from the duo’s own Acony Records, is coming Aug. 23. The album is named for their Woodland Studios in […]
