Much of my 2011 was dedicated to travelling to various locations around the world and seeing as much music as I could. As a result, I saw a lot of music, and tried to write about as much of it as possible, but of course a number of great shows fell through the cracks for various reasons - laziness, distraction, or simply not knowing what to say at the time. The end of the year is a perfect time to revisit some of the "ones that got away." Now their stories can be told ... Hazel Dickens, March [...]
In 2008, Matt Bauer released The Island Moved In The Storm , one of our favorite records of that year that has continued to hold its weight in rotation since. Earlier this year Bauer released The Jessamine County Book Of The Living , a continuation of greatness which demonstrates Bauer's a firm grasp on the songwriting craft. If you live in Austin be sure to catch Matt Bauer at Waterloo Records at 5pm this Wednesday and later that night at the Mohawk . Both [...]
For a blog going by this name, the death of multiple Grammy award-winning producer and pioneering sound engineer Roger Nichols is particularly noteworthy. The school mate of Frank Zappa was crucial in the development of Steely Dan's sound, from the West Coast rock of Can't Buy A Thrill to the jazz-tinged material on Aja and the comeback album Two Against Nature.It's his hand on the back-cover of Countdown To Ecstasy. Actor Tim Robbins' parents were folk singers. Gil Robbins was a member of the pioneering folk group The Highwaymen; he died on 5 April; his wife Mary passed [...]
Hazel Dickens, a folk singer and bluegrass musician who advocated for coal miners, has died. She was 75. Dickens died Friday morning at a hospice in Washington, D.C., of complications from pneumonia. Her death was confirmed by Ken Irwin, a founder of Rounder Records, her label for about 40 years. Dickens became a fixture in the bluegrass circuit in the 1960s and '70s with her musical partner, Alice Gerrard. The duo performed as Hazel & Alice. They were among the first prominent female bluegrass performers. Dickens' music was later featured in the Oscar-winning 1976 [...]
:: Folk/bluegrass musician Hazel Dickens passed away Friday morning at the age of 75. :: Some Arcade Fire members got to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during a Cubs game . :: Nicki Minaj continues to amaze me . And not just because of that rear. But also because of it. :: The Nation lists the top 10 protest songs of all time . Sure, I get that Get Up, Stand Up could be at the [...]
Hazel Dickens, the Hazel in Hazel And Alice, has died . Born in West Virginia in 1935, the then-novel radio had exposed the young Hazel to a wide range of country music styles and her family had always encouraged her to sing. As the coal industry became increasingly reliant on machines, her family and their lifestyle started to slide into obsolescence, persuading Hazel to leave town. She headed for Baltimore, working as a housekeeper and brefriending Alyse Taubman. Taubman's open-house music sessions introduced Dickens to the local music scence and grew her confidence as a public performer. [...]
The Sweetback Sisters will released their new album, Lookin' for a Fight, on May 31st via Signature Sounds Records. The album is a delightful nod to vintage Western swing, honky tonk and classic Nashville country. Covers of songs originally recorded by legends like Patsy Cline are interspersed several new originals that fit right in. The [...]
I mentioned Monday that Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was populated by many ghosts, and nowhere was that more evident than during Hazel Dickens' set on Sunday. Hazel sings a lot of songs of loss and tragedy to begin with, but those of us who don't pay a lot of attention to the news also heard about the August death of Mike Seeger for the first time from her. (All things considered, a better way to find out than in the newspaper.) Mike Seeger did a hundred men's worth of [...]
Everyone's favorite "occasionally blugrass" festival kicks off today in San Francisco. Check out the full three-day lineup and stage times over at Hardly Strictly's official site or enjoy some MP3s from some of this year's highlights. Friday: John Prine - "The Great Compromise" Lyle Lovett - "Record Lady" Saturday: Gillian Welch - "The Devil had a Hold of Me" Steve Earle - "Ellis Unit One" Laurie Lewis - "Who Will [...]
Everyone's favorite "occasionally blugrass" festival kicks off today in San Francisco. Check out the full three-day lineup and stage times over at Hardly Strictly's official site or enjoy some MP3s from some of this year's highlights. Friday: John Prine - "The Great Compromise" Lyle Lovett - "Record Lady" Saturday: Gillian Welch - "The Devil had a Hold of Me" Steve Earle - "Ellis Unit One" Laurie Lewis - "Who Will [...]
In the liner notes to Bob Dylan's 1993 record, World Gone Wrong , he gives a play-by-play look and commentary into it's ten songs. Well, sort of. In a few pages of a CD booklet he divulges his sources and interprets the meaning of the songs - mostly traditional folk and blues tunes, all old, and for the most part pretty dark - all the while riffing a free association into a look at something that Greil Marcus called "the old, weird America." Here's a sample. Dylan's talking about a Civil War ballad, called "Two [...]
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