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Sweet Freedom: Jason Isbell Hits His Stride
Although its neighbors to the north in Tennessee get more ongoing acclaim, the upper reaches of Alabama have a deep, rich musical history tucked within their borders. The Muscle Shoals scene alone shaped the sound of artists ranging from Aretha Franklin to Lynyrd Skynyrd, from Bob Dylan to Wilson Pickett. Somewhere in the middle of…
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Rayland Baxter: Imaginary Man
Some might insist that comparing Rayland Baxter to Paul Simon is inappropriate, the likening of a go-kart to a Mercedes. But that would be overly reductive and dismissive of Baxter\’s burgeoning talent. Baxter isn\’t a carbon copy of Simon, to be sure, but how can anyone listen to “Mr. Rodriguez” and not hear the similarities…
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The Thread of Me: Brandy Clark Weaves Songs and Self
It\’s hard to not be charmed by Brandy Clark. Whether it\’s her sly smile, her casual conversation, or her tremendous talent that gets you, you\’re going to get got. People who love the country music they grew up on love her music. Even folks who don\’t love country music at all love her music. Some…
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Getting Better with Age: An Interview with Leigh Nash
Singer/songwriter Leigh Nash grew up in rural Texas with country music and mariachi bands filling her ears and her heart. Though those influences are hardly evident in her pop work with Sixpence None the Richer, Nash\’s new album, The State I\’m In, puts them center stage. The set is a mix-and-match collection of original tunes…
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Karmen Buttler's Path of Passion
Sacramento native Karmen Buttler grew up in, essentially, the Partridge family — minus the bus. Her grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles… everyone had musical inclinations, if not outright talent. So it seemed quite natural that a 9-year-old Buttler would join the school band and, eventually, start writing songs as a young teen. Buttler marked another major…
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The Artist's Way: An Interview with Rayland Baxter
If Wendell Berry and Paul Simon were to somehow have an offspring, odds are he would be a lot like Rayland Baxter. An easy-going and contemplative musical poet, Baxter brings a light touch to his life and his art. He grew up in and around music — his father being multi-instrumentalist Bucky Baxter, who has…
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Still Truckin': Patterson Hood Looks Back on Over a Decade of Drive-By Truckers
**Editor\’s note: This past spring, Kelly McCartney sat down with Patterson Hood to talk about his buddy and former bandmate Jason Isbell. She wanted to dig into Isbell\’s time in the Drive-By Truckers, for a long feature that appears in the 2015 issue of No Depression in print. She got some great info for that, but also wound up…
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Michelle Malone: 30 Years On
As part of the Atlanta music scene that yielded the Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins, Sugarland, and John Mayer, singer/songwriter Michelle Malone has come a long way, musically speaking, since making her 1988 debut. “When I started, we all did it because it was a stepping stone to the next level,” she recalls. “Amy [Ray] and…
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Squared Roots: Ruby Amanfu x Bill Withers
To escape the wilds of West Virginia, a young Bill Withers joined the Navy, where he worked as an aircraft mechanic. After his service, he landed a job in an airplane parts factory, but soon realized he could get girls by singing, so he decided to give it a shot. He taught himself guitar, wrote some…
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Five Questions: Kevin Gordon
Singer/songwriter Kevin Gordon grew up in the northeast corner of Louisiana, in a town called Monroe. He played in the school band, probably fished in Black Bayou, and went to football games at what was, back then, Northeast Louisiana University. Although Gordon has left Louisiana, Louisiana has never left him … or his music. The…