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My Case Against AI
I think a lot about what technology costs us… psychologically, environmentally, communally, and financially. I can’t get past the idea that, if the chat bots don’t convince us to end our individual lives, then their data centers will certainly do their part on us, collectively. And then there’s the AI music absolutely swamping streaming services…
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Brandi Carlile Retraces Her Steps
It started with a poem. Written on a plane. A year ago this month, actually. With the Hollywood Bowl Joni Jam checked off the to-do list and only herself to reckon with, Brandi Carlile embarked on her next adventure… an open horizon into which she flew and an empty page on which she wrote. And…
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One Hot Minute: Amythyst Kiah
Amythyst Kiah’s voice is powerful. It booms out to fill every corner of every room she enters with its warmth, wit, and wisdom. It’s the kind of voice that cuts into your core even while it wraps around your heart. You feel it from both the outside-in and the inside-out with every cell of your…
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Brandi Carlile and the Art of Kintsugi
I’ve long suspected something about Brandi Carlile, but it wasn’t until I read her new memoir, Broken Horses, that I fully knew it to be true: She is the scrappiest mystic this side of G.I. Gurdjieff, if not Joan of Arc. For the past 13 years, my suspicion was rooted merely in watching her, both…
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In Conversation: Kelly McCartney with Rissi Palmer
When Holler asked me to interview Rissi Palmer about the beautifully non-stop career ascension she is currently enjoying, I told them it wouldn’t be a normal Q&A between a journalist and an artist. It would absolutely lack any and all objectivity because, at this point, our fates are pretty tightly bound, Rissi’s and mine.
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In Conversation: Valerie June
Singer, songwriter, Memphis native, meditator, dancer, dreamer… those are some of the many monikers attached to Valerie June, and yet they all, individually and collectively, fail to capture her truest essence. She\’s elusive that way, existing with both her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds as a magical conduit between the…
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In Conversation: Elizabeth Cook
Back in the early 1970s, the original outlaw country movement started in reaction to Nashville\’s lean into formulaic writing and slick production that artists like Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Jessi Colter, and Tanya Tucker considered sacrilegious. Looking back from now, they likely had no idea how formulaic and slick…
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Cuts the Deepest: Brandy Clark
Since moving to Nashville, Brandy Clark has drawn in millions of listeners across the world with her honest and authentic songwriting. Whether it be when writing for rising star Hailey Whitters, international badass Miranda Lambert or simply for herself – Clark’s songs possess all the wit and wonder to make you feel warm, empowered, like…
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Kelly Does Her Best: Top 25 of the 2010s
As we hit the end of the decade, it\’s worth looking back to survey the musical landscape. From debuts to breakthroughs, the 2010s saw a whole new vanguard emerge in roots music, including Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, and Alabama Shakes. Some of these artists released more than one truly brilliant record during the…
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Kris Delmhorst: “Horses in the Sky”
Grief is a beast. Whether it\’s losing a life, a love, a dream, or anything else, the associated emotional trauma must be reckoned with on its own terms and timeline. But treading that ocean of sorrow is also an opportunity to hold onto, albeit in a bittersweet way, the buoyant joy that once was. Their…