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Nothing to Hide: A Conversation with Dan Layus
After more than a decade at the heart of Augustana, Dan Layus recently released an official solo album, Dangerous Things. And anyone who thinks they are going to get another bunch of roots-rock anthems out of Layus has another think coming their way. The sparsely drawn, country-tinged singer/songwriter set summons Gram Parsons, Woody Guthrie, and…
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Squared Roots: Jonatha Brooke x Joe Sample
Music is full of innovators, some worthy of the word, some less so. Jazz pioneer Joe Sample certainly fits the former. Coming out of Houston, Texas, Sample\’s artistic roots ran deep and wide. And he wasn\’t afraid to let them reach into everything he did, blending blues, soul, gospel, and other forms into one. Sample…
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k.d. lang: Flawless, Fearless
It wasn\’t the first time I heard k.d. lang\’s voice that carved out a forever place for her in my heart. It was the first time I saw a photo of her for, in it, I saw a reflection of who I was or, more likely, who I wanted to be. It was 1990, maybe…
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Five Questions: Courtney Marie Andrews
When you leave home at 16 to pursue music, there\’s no denying that it\’s a calling even more than it is a career. Such is the case for Courtney Marie Andrews who has spent the past 10 years touring with Damien Jurado and Jimmy Eat World, while also making records of her own. Back in…
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Squared Roots: Courtney Hartman x Nick Drake
Nick Drake is one of those musical unicorns who achieved amazing posthumous success, though enjoyed very little acclaim while alive. Having recorded and released three albums between 1969 and 1972 — Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon — Drake was working on a fourth prior to his death by overdose in 1974. Drake…
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Amanda Shires: My Piece of Land
Having Dave Cobb produce an Amanda Shires record was inevitable, considering the superlative work he\’s done on her husband Jason Isbell\’s last couple of albums. Alternately playful and poised, My Piece of Land is the wonderful result of that collaboration. Written and recorded as she stared motherhood right in the eye, My Piece of Land…
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Five Questions: Dar Williams
Time marches on, even as music stands still… at least in its recorded form. Even so, a certain generation of artists is starting to mark their musical milestones with re-issues, re-imaginings, and more. For Dar Williams, Mortal City represents her breakthrough on the folk circuit. So, for the album\’s 20th anniversary, she\’s taking the show…
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Chely Wright: I Am the Rain
There comes a time in all great artists\’ careers when they release their masterpiece. Sometimes, it\’s their debut, as with Shawn Colvin\’s Steady On and Patty Griffin\’s Living with Ghosts. Other times, it comes considerably further into their careers. Rosanne Cash\’s Interiors and Jason Isbell\’s Southeastern both land there, as does Chely Wright\’s new —…
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The Color of Thunder: A Conversation with Amanda Shires
It\’s hard to describe Amanda Shires, as a person or an artist. There\’s just something about her that floats above and beyond categorization and calculation. Perhaps it\’s the poet in her that tilts and colors her worldview into a magical, mystical joyride full of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. Her last release, Down…
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Five Questions: Tom Brosseau
Singer/songwriter Tom Brosseau moves through the world and comes to his art at a pace and a pitch unlike most others. Maybe it\’s that he\’s from North Dakota. Maybe it\’s that he\’s an old-school folkie. Maybe it\’s both. Maybe it\’s neither. Doesn\’t matter, really. What he offers up, musically, is something special. His latest release,…