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Five Questions: Liz Longley
Following the lead of so many of her contemporaries, singer/songwriter Liz Longley turned to Kickstarter when she was ready to make a record. After raising nearly $55,000, the Berklee School of Music graduate made the record she wanted to make with guitarist/producer Gus Berry. Longley also relocated from Boston to Nashville and signed on with…
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Alabama Shakes: Sound & Color
On their second time at bat, Alabama Shakes swing for the fences and knock it clear out of the park on the fierce, funky, and fantastic Sound & Color. The album fulfills the vision that Brittany Howard and company always had for their bluesy and soulful Southern rock band, but just didn\’t have the time…
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Stacking the Deck: Joan Armatrading at City Winery
When an audience offers up a standing ovation just for an artist walking onstage, the night is surely going to be a good one, right? Well… yes and no. Stopping in Nashville on her first-ever solo tour and last-ever world tour, legendary singer/songwriter Joan Armatrading was humbled by the greeting she received from the City…
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The Magic of Melancholy: An Interview with Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard
It\’s a complicated thing, an artist\’s relationship with their art — let alone their fans\’ relationship to it, as well. And, when you lead a band that has meant so much to so many over the years, the heat is really on. For the past 17 years, Death Cab for Cutie has provided the soundtrack…
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Ten Out of Tenn at Ryman Auditorium
It\’s a rare and beautiful thing to see artists support each other so readily and joyfully as the members of Ten Out of Tenn do. The Nashville artists\’ collective founded by singer/songwriter Trent Dabbs and his wife, marketing maven Kristen, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year — part of which included an encore screening…
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High Rolling: An Interview with Trent Dabbs
Trent Dabbs is a true, musical renaissance man. First and foremost, he\’s a singer/songwriter with his own solo career, as well as a duo project — Sugar + the Hi-Lows — with Amy Stroup. But he\’s also a visionary. Along with his wife Kristen, Dabbs founded the Ten Out of Tenn artists\’ collective and Ready…
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Allison Moorer: Down to Believing
In listening to Allison Moorer\’s Down to Believing, a Wim Wenders quote comes to mind: “My advice is, don\’t spend your money on therapy. Spend it in a record store.” Here, Moorer puts her own spin on that. Whether or not she spent any time in therapy to get through the dissolution of her marriage…
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Five Questions: The Weepies
Deb Talan and Steve Tannen (aka the Weepies) have had quite a go of it lately. Over the past five years, the husband-wife duo has stayed at home in Iowa raising three kids, beating breast cancer, and recording an album — Sirens. The name is a tip of the hat to both sweet-voiced muses and…
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The Way She's Livin': An Interview with Lee Ann Womack
To really understand the Lee Ann Womack story, you have to start at the beginning, in the small East Texas town of Jacksonville and with the music that was on country radio at the time — including the station where her father worked as a DJ. It was the era of “real” country music from…
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Five Questions: The Honeycutters
Based in Asheville, North Carolina, the Honeycutters live the roots life all the way through… even releasing their upcoming Me Oh My LP on Organic Records. With singer/songwriter — and, now, producer — Amanda Platt at the helm, the group puts their own spin on an old form. Sure, there\’s a timeless quality to honest…