kmx
-
Mindy Smith & Friends Turn It Up for the Human Rights Campaign
Live music is a great gathering tool, pulling people together to celebrate through song. Such was the case on January 9 at Nashville\’s 3rd & Lindsley for the HerHRC benefit featuring Mindy Smith, Maggie Rose, Shelly Fairchild, Bonnie Baker, and Cheley Tackett singing for a room full of gay women and their allies. Tackett got…
-
Let Freedom Sing: When Roots Music Says the Unsayable
As history continues to repeat itself in the race-plagued streets of the United States, and on the war-weary battlefields of the Middle East, people are again turning toward music to voice feelings that cannot be spoken, to comfort hearts that cannot be healed. Music has always been a touchstone for trying moments such as these…
-
Five Questions: Pieta Brown
Anyone writing about Pieta Brown would be remiss to not mention that her father is the incredibly prolific and thoroughly respected singer/songwriter Greg Brown. But for the writing to stop there, would be negligent because the younger Brown has certainly made a name for herself with five albums and three EPs. On her latest studio…
-
Folk Alley's Top 10 Folk and Americana Albums Of 2014
From legends to upstarts, the year in roots music had something for everyone, with highlights ranging from the solo acoustic sketches of Steve Dawson to the orchestra-backed epics of First Aid Kit. One of the threads tying together several of our top 10 albums (chosen by our friends at Folk Alley) was artists who\’d made…
-
The Autumn of Annie Lennox
Although their first album, 1981\’s In the Garden, didn\’t catch on fire, the Eurythmics lit the world all the way up with their second strike, 1983\’s Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). And, for the past 30-something years, Annie Lennox has continued to prove herself worthy of our collective adoration and admiration for her work…
-
Kelly Does Her Best: Top 10 Roots Music Records of 2014
In a year chock full of truly great records, it\’s hard to narrow it down to 10 stand-outs. But what\’s wonderful about the leveling field of music is that newcomers like Jonah Tolchin, Hozier, and Parker Millsap who really deliver the goods can sidle up alongside icons like Ani DiFranco, Rosanne Cash, and Lee Ann…
-
Songs We Love: Lee Ann Womack's "The Way I'm Livin'"
A lot has been said (and written) about the bro-country trend of late. It\’s had a good run, to be sure, but trucks and beer and girls in too-short shorts can only get you so far. At some point, you need more than that. To borrow from Wade Bowen\’s \”Songs about Trucks\”: \”Whatever happened to…
-
Kelly Does Her Best: Top 14 Albums of '14… and Then Some
In 2013, Jason Isbell\’s Southeastern was so stunningly fantastic, that it was impossible not to declare it as my favorite record of the year, even as Brandy Clark\’s 12 Stories, Ashley Monroe\’s Like a Rose, and Holly Williams\’ The Highway all tied for a very, very close second. This year, there were a bunch of records that I liked a whole…
-
Video Premiere: Indigo Girls – "Elizabeth"
Over the past couple of months, the Indigo Girls have released the first seven videos in an eight-part series filmed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles this summer. Those pieces have found Amy Rayand Emily Saliers discussing their personal best songs (\”Share the Moon\” and \”She\’s Saving Me,\” respectively), performing with Joan Baez…
-
A Voice of Dissent, a Sphere of Influence: An Interview with Antony Hegarty
Back in 2006, Antony and the Johnsons partnered with Charles Atlas for a remarkable performance piece called Turning. In it, Antony\’s profoundly meaningful songs were presented alongside an array of women quite literally turning on a pedestal. The troupe toured Europe that year, documenting the travels as they went, resulting in a concert-film of the…