Yearly Archives: 2012

Playing The Numbers

Playing The Numbers

  35 Years of Hearing New Orleans Through The Horns Of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band New Orleans. The name itself evokes a feeling of mystery and euphoria, wrapped up in endless revelry and strings of colored lights. Known as “The Big Easy”, it is the birthplace of some of America’s most fertile culture, from… Continue Reading

Bob Wills: The King of Country Swing

Bob Wills: The King of Country Swing

A lot of today’s contemporary country music touches on themes of drifting, cotton picking, dancing, and other marks of the Old South. And while Blake Shelton or Toby Keith might be jotting down these stories in a Nashville loft, country swing legend Bob Wills actually lived out these grand tales of riding rails and picking… Continue Reading

Modern Top 40: The Anti-Folk?

Modern Top 40: The Anti-Folk?

Before any pop fans out there get angry and refuse to even read this article, let me assure you that I in no way am planning on condemning all pop music from all time periods. On the contrary, I enjoy quite a bit of pop music. I definitely crank it up when my local “oldies”… Continue Reading

Serendipity Saved The Day

Serendipity Saved The Day

Fifty Years of Grooving to “Green Onions.” Accidents happen. Whether it’s a 13-car pileup or a plate of spaghetti all over a nice white carpet, no one escapes this life unscathed. The one similarity that all accidents share is a need for the right conditions: one person not paying attention while they’re texting, another not… Continue Reading

Madonna’s Dying Ray of Light

Madonna’s Dying Ray of Light

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I know nothing about Madonna. Before writing this, I knew that Madonna: sang “Material Girl” and “Like A Virgin,” played “All the Way” Mae in A League of Their Own, and tongue-kissed Britney Spears. At first, my lack of knowledge about the Queen of Pop… Continue Reading

5 Questions with Billy Joe Huels of the Dusty 45s

5 Questions with Billy Joe Huels of the Dusty 45s

Billy Joe Huels was raised in Southern Illinois, before moving to Seattle in 1989 and making his mark with the roots-based Dusty 45s.  He has been a staple of the Northwest music scene for the last 20 years, and last year, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend Wanda Jackson scooped up the Dusties as… Continue Reading

The Many Murders of Leonard Cohen

The Many Murders of Leonard Cohen

Buy cheap Viagra online Cannibalism is about more than meat.  Nutritionally, the human body is nothing special, and except in a few recorded cases of desperation there is almost always easier food to be had.  No, when people eat other people, it is because they believe that something greater than protein and calories is being… Continue Reading

‘I Can Still See the Light’: The Transporting Sounds of the Blind Boys of Alabama

“Battered and torn Still I can see the light Tattered and worn But I must kneel to fight … When I’m tired and weary And a long way from home I reach for mother Mary And I shall not walk alone.” —”I Shall Not Walk Alone” The next time you sing or listen to an… Continue Reading

Paving the Way

Paving the Way

DeFord Bailey and his harmonica cleared the path for black musicians in country music Some musicians are born with great talent, and others have to hone their skills with years of practice. In the case of DeFord Bailey and his harmonica, it was a little bit of both. Born the grandson of slaves in Smith… Continue Reading

Night Moves: WLAC and Nashville’s Untapped Legacy (Part 2)

Night Moves: WLAC and Nashville’s Untapped Legacy (Part 2)

The success of WLAC had as much to do with the rich supply of local talent, as it did with the big-name touring acts of the day. In a thirty-minute block, you’d hear James Brown’s latest smash, followed by the current single from local singer Christine Kittrell. Names such as Earl Gaines, Jimmy Church, Johnny… Continue Reading

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