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Restoration and Revival: An Interview with Wynonna Judd
To hear (or read) the name \”Wynonna Judd\” instantly elicits a reaction from pretty much everyone. And, rightfully so. For the past 30+ years, the country superstar with the big voice and brash style has topped charts and made headlines with every move she\’s made. But, forget what you know — or think you know…
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Squared Roots: Lissie x Bobbie Gentry
Bobbie Gentry is one of those artists whose legend all-too-often overshadows her artistry. With the surprise — and massive — success of \”Ode to Billie Joe,\” Gentry made a name for herself in multiple music circles. The chart-topping, Grammy-winning song — like so many in her catalog — drew its inspiration from the hard-scrabble lives of her Mississippi homeland.…
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Nashville Ballet Teams Up with Bluebird Café for 'Attitude'
The Nashville Ballet has never shied away from an artistic challenge. Quite the opposite, really — they continually seek out new paths to blaze, often incorporating the work of local musicians. For the past few years, their Attitude series has been at the forefront of that particular movement, turning to artists like Matthew Perryman Jones…
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Dylan LeBlanc: Cautionary Tale
Like Jason Isbell and so many others before him, singer/songwriter Dylan LeBlanc hit bottom a few years back and emerged with a brilliant recounting and reckoning in the form of his new Cautionary Tale. Produced by John Paul White (formerly of the Civil Wars) and Ben Tanner (of the Alabama Shakes), the early \’70s-inspired album…
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Five Questions: The Cactus Blossoms
As their new album starts to make the rounds, the Cactus Blossoms — aka Page Burkum and Jack Torrey — have been garnering more than a few comparisons to the Everly Brothers. The duo\’s honey-sweet harmonies and yonder-days vibe certainly warrant the invocation, but this is just as much a band for — and of…
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Five Questions: Sierra Hull
When bluegrass giants like Alison Krauss, Ron Block, and Béla Fleck take an artist under their wings, the talent must be off the charts. Such is the case with Sierra Hull, the young roots music phenom who branches out on her fourth record, Weighted Mind, under Fleck\’s watchful eye. Like many of her contemporaries, Hull…
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Five Questions: Birds of Chicago
Birds of Chicago — the duo of JT Nero and Allison Russell — have never made big splashes with their music. They prefer small ripples… the kind that undulate out as far as the eye can see. Their subtle brand of artistry was put into the hands of producer Joe Henry and came out all…
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Sarah Dashew: A World of Music
Somewhere between sailing around the world as a child and living in Austin as an adult, Sarah Dashew found her musical voice. And, as evidenced on her new album, Roll Like a Wheel, that voice draws its water from myriad wells. “I started singing in a gospel choir in college,” Dashew says, attempting to organize…
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Squared Roots: Sam Lee x Alan Lomax
In his work collecting field recordings and documenting oral traditions of roots music, Alan Lomax captured the history of a nation — of a world, really — as it was happening. Lomax learned the trade from his father, John, and carried the torch forward, moving in circles that included Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Burl…
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Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires: For the Love of It
As has been proven time and again over the past few years by both critics and charts, Jason Isbell\’s star is on the rise. In October, he sold out four nights at Ryman Auditorium, so to catch one of his two (also sold-out) performances at the much-smaller City Winery was a rare treat. The scaled-back setting afforded…