Rose Cousins: “The Benefits of Being Alone”
Sad songs, friend. They are the salve that soothes the soul. And some artists are so synonymous with sad songs that they are, quite literally, part of their brand. From … Read More
The Avett Brothers: Closer Than Together
Political songs are a tough beat. They can’t be too preachy nor overly earnest or else they’ll fall on deaf ears. The best ones, it seems, tie the political to … Read More
Michaela Anne: Desert Dove
Country music has long leaned into the un-simple aspects of life, like cheating on someone you love with someone you don’t, for example. That’s because being human is an un-simple … Read More
Andrew Combs: Ideal Man
There’s a Pampers commercial that hinges on the line, “Having a baby doesn’t just change your life, it changes everything.” Not sure there’s a parent around that would argue that … Read More
Molly Sarlé: Karaoke Angel
Whether paradoxes or purgatory, liminal states of existence make people uneasy. Most folks like their status quo binary world of black or white, not black and white or, for heaven’s … Read More
Pieta Brown: Freeway
Good art draws you into its world, fully and intentionally, to the point that, even upon completing your immersive cycle, you don’t yet want to leave. Film and television have … Read More
Kim Richey: Long Way Back
“I started off that record scared to death,” Kim Richey recalls of making Glimmer with producer Hugh Padgham back in 1999 in New York and London. A disastrous haircut, unfamiliar … Read More
Billy Strings: Home
Though music journalists — and dictionaries — generally consider “song” and “tune” to be synonyms, real-deal pickers and players make a distinction: “Songs” have lyrics; “tunes” don’t. In some bluegrass … Read More