Those of you playing along at home may have noticed that the music that’s been featured here lately has been sad bastard music-ish. Not even sad bastard, really. More like thoughtful bastard, or musing bastard. Eff that noise, though. I…
I recently shot the breeze (virtually) with gifted songstress Andrea Tomasi. Learn more about her approach to songwriting and our shared love of the Hudson Valley below! The Hudson Valley has been a haven for artists since the turn of…
The other night I watched the American Country Awards because I… a) am a masochist b) had two 90-minute lesson plans to create for an increasingly hostile class c) wanted to see what was going on in lamestream country d)…
I got a rather pointed e-mail the other day. It read “Why do punk rockers think they can play country music?” from none other than Doug Carrion of the Descendants and Circle Jerks, among others. It’s a good question, though.…
I gotta say, lesson planning takes time and I just spent the last 6 hours preparing two extremely badass lessons about South Africa and Nelson Mandela. So unfortunately I’m going to have to give Dig! The Guilt shorter shrift than…
Josh Erwin and Michael Paynter, the fine gentlemen of Sans Abri, took a break from writing brilliant songs to answer a few of my queries. The music of Sans Abri is clearly very different from the bluegrass you guys normally…
Ken and Brad Kolodner’s skipping stones taught me a sobering lesson about judging a book by its cover. I looked at their press release and saw “father son duo.” Okay. Then I kept reading and saw “Appalachian old time music.”…
It’s refreshing to hear about a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn who’s actually from Brooklyn. Solebello is best known for her work with the bluegrass trio Red Molly. Her fourth solo album, however, leans more heavily on folk. Bostonians beware: Steel and…