Interviews
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Squared Roots: Courtney Hartman x Nick Drake
Nick Drake is one of those musical unicorns who achieved amazing posthumous success, though enjoyed very little acclaim while alive. Having recorded and released three albums between 1969 and 1972 — Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon — Drake was working on a fourth prior to his death by overdose in 1974. Drake…
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Five Questions: Dar Williams
Time marches on, even as music stands still… at least in its recorded form. Even so, a certain generation of artists is starting to mark their musical milestones with re-issues, re-imaginings, and more. For Dar Williams, Mortal City represents her breakthrough on the folk circuit. So, for the album\’s 20th anniversary, she\’s taking the show…
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The Color of Thunder: A Conversation with Amanda Shires
It\’s hard to describe Amanda Shires, as a person or an artist. There\’s just something about her that floats above and beyond categorization and calculation. Perhaps it\’s the poet in her that tilts and colors her worldview into a magical, mystical joyride full of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. Her last release, Down…
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Five Questions: Tom Brosseau
Singer/songwriter Tom Brosseau moves through the world and comes to his art at a pace and a pitch unlike most others. Maybe it\’s that he\’s from North Dakota. Maybe it\’s that he\’s an old-school folkie. Maybe it\’s both. Maybe it\’s neither. Doesn\’t matter, really. What he offers up, musically, is something special. His latest release,…
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Squared Roots: BJ Barham x Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen. What, really, is there to write about him that hasn\’t been written thousands of times? He\’s a working-class hero, a thinking-man\’s poet, an activist-artist, a national treasure, and a songwriter\’s songwriter with 18 albums and millions of record sales to his credit. Over the past five decades, Springsteen has witnessed and documented in…
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Five Questions: Glen Phillips
Since bursting onto the pop-rock scene some 25 years ago with Toad the Wet Sprocket\’s third album, Fear, Glen Phillips has established himself as one of the most heartfelt songwriters on the folk-rock block. His solo albums, and Toad reunions, all showcase the work of someone who feels passionately and thinks deeply. Over the past…
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With Headphones on the Floor: A Conversation with Chely Wright
Though singer/songwriter Chely Wright made her name on the country charts back in the \’90s and had a big coming out party in 2010, her new album\’s quiet confidence showcases what is probably the truest side of her: a conscious and caring, creative and compassionate soul rooted in faith and family above all else. Produced…
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Five Questions: Jonah Tolchin
A skinny white kid from New Jersey though he may be, Jonah Tolchin grew up with a love and reverence for the blues that rivals any kid from Chicago or Memphis. That passion was made clear on 2014\’s Clover Lane, but is brought into even sharper focus on his latest release, Thousand Mile Night. Working,…
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The Past Isn't Finished: An Interview with Blind Pilot's Israel Nebeker
For Blind Pilot\’s third record, front man/songwriter Israel Nebeker had no choice but to dig deep, having just come through the death of his father and the end of a relationship. Moments like those tend to make or break a person. Certainly, Nebeker let the whims of the grief that followed bend him, but he…
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Five Questions: Sara Watkins
A lot of roots music lovers have watched Sara Watkins (and her brother Sean) grow up, personally and professionally, over the past couple of decades. As members of Nickel Creek and the Watkins Family Hour band, the two are bound together in many hearts and minds. But they both have solo careers, as well, and…