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Squared Roots: Joan Osborne x Mavis Staples
According to Wikipedia, “Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with the Staple Singers, her family\’s band.” While that is true, it doesn\’t come close to describing who Mavis Staples is. Mavis began singing with Roebuck \”Pops\” Staples and her siblings — Cleotha, Yvonne,…
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Rocking the Roots: An Interview with Jackie Greene
Sacramento is known for a lot of things, but music is not really one of them. San Francisco? Absolutely. Los Angeles? Sure. Sacramento? Nope. But that’s the town singer-songwriter Jackie Greene called home as a kid. When he was a teen, Greene hit the bars and open-mics, eventually moving over to San Francisco to launch…
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Shawn Colvin at City Winery
There are some artists who should lean their catalog toward cover songs rather than original compositions. Shawn Colvin is not, however, one of them. As wonderful as she is as an interpreter of others\’ works, she\’s even better as a writer of her own. But, having recently recorded a second installment in her Cover Girl…
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Come a Long Way: An Interview with the Indigo Girls
The Indigo Girls — Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — have been making music together for over 30 years now. From their first single in 1985 to their newest release, One Lost Day, the two have continually pushed their music forward, switching up styles and sounds as their muses demand — because, despite their activist and…
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Been There All Along: An Interview with Chris Stapleton
Chris Stapleton is one of those guys that has been around for long enough that, even if you don\’t think you know his music, you probably do. As a songwriter, he\’s had a bunch of cuts and a handful of hits, courtesy of artists like Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, and George Strait. As a band…
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Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell at City Winery
With a stellar backing band, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell took the stage for the first of their sold out two-night stand at Nashville\’s City Winery last night. There\’s a deep familiarity shared by the two legendary artists who have been friends for 41 years, and that casual air defined their performance. It was one…
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A Record of Time: An Interview with the Weepies
Maybe not quite to the level of Johnny and June or Sonny and Cher, but the Weepies\’ Steve Tannen and Deb Talan are a much-beloved husband-wife duo who have been making delightful folk-pop records for the past dozen years or so. All told, their four albums have sold over a million copies … a million…
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The Turning of the Tide: An Interview with They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh
It\’s a little bit crazy to think that John Linnell and John Flansburgh have been making music as They Might Be Giants for more than 30 years now. And, in some ways, they are just getting started. This year, they circled back to their roots and reinstated their iconic Dial-a-Song program which features a new…
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The Waterboys Carry On: An Interview with Mike Scott
Though the Waterboys may not be a thoroughly household name, they are certainly a time-honored, time-tested musical brand. Founded in 1983 by Scotsman Mike Scott, the band\’s revolving door has included more than 70 musicians from all over the United Kingdom and the United States. Scott looked to the latter region when it came time…
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Where There's Folk, There's Fire: An Interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie has been singing truth to power for more than 50 years now. From her start in the early 1960s onward, Sainte-Marie has written about the tough issues of war, addiction, governmental abuse, and cultural genocide in songs like “Universal Soldier,” “Cod\’ine,” “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” and “Now That the Buffalo\’s Gone.”…