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Erin Rae: Putting on Airs
It\’s not as easy as it seems to make a record that stands the test of time. Great songs and classic sounds play their part, as do brilliant performances. But the key lies in the obvious restraint such an undertaking demands in the moment and rewards only in hindsight. Timeless albums are only timeless because…
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The Dead Tongues: Unsung Passage
When most people think of the banjo, they think of bluegrass banjo, with rolls and runs that don\’t always make the most soothing sound. But the banjo has so much more to offer than that, including deep, dark tones that evoke other worlds, geographically and metaphorically. That\’s the kind of banjo artists like Valerie June,…
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Gretchen Peters: Dancing with the Beast
American culture has a bad habit of dismissing the voices of its elders. Hit 50 and, as far as many are concerned, you might as well drift out to sea on an iceberg. Except that icebergs are melting, and mature voices should always be considered relevant because they have, indeed, been there and done that.…
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Ben Glover: Shorebound
Music, by its very nature, is a collaborative experience. Both giving and receiving are required for it to exist, if not demanded by it. Even when an artist writes, plays, and records every single note on an album by themselves, the collaboration begins once someone else hears their work. For when we listen, we overlay…
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Katie Herzig: Moment of Bliss
Katie Herzig’s new album, Moment of Bliss, starts with a simple question: “How do you talk about a feeling, when you don’t know where it lives inside?” With that satisfyingly simple dream-pop gem, Herzig invites you into a song cycle that asks you to feel something the whole way through. Fair warning: With this collection,…
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Bluegrass Underground: Brandi Carlile Rocks the Rock
For nearly a decade, Bluegrass Underground has invited artists and fans to experience the joy of music together … underground. The Caverns, located at the foot of Monteagle Mountain in Pelham, Tennessee, plays host to both the Emmy Award-winning PBS program and other shows from March to December. Todd Mayo, owner of the Caverns and creator of Bluegrass Underground,…
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Will Dailey: Golden Walker
Songwriters, by their very nature, move through life not only from the inside out, but also from the outside in. They look and listen at the worlds within and around them, pulling it all in and pouring it all out in melody. The barriers between personal and political, fact and fiction, us and them do…
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Ben Glover: Shorebound
The opening cut of Ben Glover\’s Shorebound is unlike any others in his discography. With a steady acoustic strum keeping the song\’s pace, a sly slide guitar lays down a laid-back riff, and “What You Love Will Break Your Heart” casually swaggers on its way. That cut, and all that follow, are more multi-layered, so…
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Gretchen Peters: Dancing with the Beast
There\’s a bittersweet beauty to the passing of time — the changes it brings are just as often heartbreaking as they are heartwarming. The inevitable tension that arises from that sway is Gretchen Peters\’ most trusted muse. “The years go by like days. Sometimes the days go by like years. And I don\’t know which…
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Brandi Carlile: The Work, In Progress
“A lot of times, as artists, we don’t write about what we’re good at; we write about what we struggle with,” Brandi Carlile confesses, then adds with a laugh, “I think I tend to write a lot about forgiveness because I’m quite judgmental. I’m a work in progress.” As evidenced in that thesis statement and…