Songs of Hope
A playlist to perk you up: Aretha, Louis Jordan, Bob Wills, Howlin' Wolf, Derek Trucks, Little Feat, Devo, etc.
A Brief History of American Roots Music
From W.C. Handy to The Black Keys: A quick look at how American roots music evolved in the 20th Century. Footnotes available upon request.
Amos Milburn
I think I grew up in the wrong era. Toss me in a time machine and set it for 1946, Central Avenue, Los Angeles… and give me some greenbacks too, because I’ll need a sharp zoot suit with a [...]
You Rascal You
Just got back from Nashville, where I got to see nephew Dan work his magic in the studio with a couple of artists – country rocker Nikki Lane and Hanni El Khatib, who’s a little harder to pin [...]
Vintage Video Madness, Round 1
Couldn’t write much this week. Too busy taking side bets on my March Madness brackets. When you know as little as I do about college basketball, you have to be fairly resourceful in filling [...]
Jumpin’ the Blues
Another big, sprawling topic – more than one post can handle. And another cheap excuse to share a few of my favorite examples of the form. But what is jump blues, exactly? Some would describe it [...]
Little Walter, By the Book
Greetings from Carefree, AZ… where they like to point out “it’s a ‘dry’ heat.” I’m using this brief respite from the Rubber City as an opportunity to read yet [...]