Americana Awards: Ferrell Fest With Parsons Tribute
Hats off to the Americana Music Foundation for a sublime moment at the end of this year’s awards show. Instead of the usual...
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John Carpenter
Mar 184 min
The Sotted, Sentimental Swagger of Shane MacGowan and the Pogues
The list of cultural seats for the Irish-American diaspora usually starts and ends with New York or Boston. Chicago maybe. But Tulsa? Not...
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John Carpenter
Feb 145 min
The Rocking Chair
A writer's attachment to an heirloom in his family's Narragansett Beach Cottage stirs up fond memories and a connection to Civil War...
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John and Mary Carpenter
Feb 122 min
Potter Rocks the Ryman all the Way Down the 'Mother Road'
A real rock and roll show broke out at the Ryman Auditorium the other day. And we were lucky to be there with pretty good seats. Grace...
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John Carpenter
Feb 54 min
The Milk Carton Kids Were Made for the Ryman Auditorium
You know you’re going to hear beautiful music at a Milk Carton Kids show. But there is trepidation when they are the headliner. A small...
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John Carpenter
Jan 305 min
Elvis Costello Still Knows How to Piss People Off
Okay, maybe not piss off exactly. It takes an artist of a certain stature and temperament to make 2,300 fans wait through two-plus hours...
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John Carpenter
Jan 275 min
Old Friends and Rising Stars at Florida's 30A Songwriter's Fest
I generally think of music festivals as minimally clad young people writhing in blazing heat taking duck-lip selfies amid a greater...
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John Carpenter
Jan 22 min
Foot Stomping Ryman New Year's Eve with Old Crow Medicine Show
Always good to start the year with a 2,300-person sing-along. (And I’m not talking about “Auld Lang Syne,” a song I never really...
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John Carpenter
Nov 29, 20235 min
Liz Phair, 'Guyville,' and Happy, Hazy Memories of Early '90s Chicago
The shifting ground between youth and adulthood in my post-college years was an awesome time, at least as far as I can remember. It was a...
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John Carpenter
Nov 22, 20235 min
"The Last Waltz" Plays On In Nashville Thanksgiving Tradition
Thanksgiving is upon us, and that means Last Waltz season for fans of the greatest concert movie ever made. (Sorry/not sorry to fans of...
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John Carpenter
Nov 10, 20233 min
A Lively Musical Conversation - Rachael Davis, Valerie June, Yasmin Williams, and Thao
As we walked in the door of the CMA Theatre in downtown Nashville, we could hear the crowds screaming about a block away. The big stars...
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John Carpenter
Nov 9, 20232 min
Here Come the Mummies! And They Brought the Funk
One thing we’ve learned about the Nashville music scene is to be on the look-out for any show that suggests the presence of “session...
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John Carpenter
Oct 26, 20234 min
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Another Ryman Tour de Force
“Let’s see if we can turn a Sunday night into a Saturday night,” Jason Isbell told his band. Then they did. What a pleasure to catch a...
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John Carpenter
Sep 19, 20234 min
Rhiannon Giddens at the Ryman: Reclaiming American Music One Song at a Time
Rhiannon Giddens and her band served up a lot of powerful music at the Ryman Auditorium this weekend. But it was a salty,...
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John Carpenter
Jul 18, 20235 min
Rail Trails: From Once-Mighty Train Lines to Wonderfully Gentle Bike Paths
(Note: This article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on April 19, 2023.) I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by the...
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John Carpenter
Jul 11, 20238 min
Turning 60 (Finally) Pays Off: My Unlikely Run at the World Series of Poker
I counted out a sizable bet and slid it across the green felt toward the three aces face-up in the middle of the table. Then I rested my...
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John Carpenter
Jun 7, 20234 min
Another Nashville Evening: Folded Lawn Chairs and Number One Songs
The “in the round” show is a staple of Nashville entertainment. Sometimes called a guitar pull, and often performed in a row rather than...
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John Carpenter
May 2, 20234 min
Avett Brothers Shake the Trees in Backwoods Tennessee
Not long ago a live-music-loving friend told me that the Avett Brothers were the one band he would still see over and over again. Now...
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John Carpenter
Apr 18, 20234 min
Aoife O'Donovan and Friends Offer Fresh Take on Springsteen's Nebraska
Any night you find yourself standing 15 feet from a harmony-singing Emmylou Harris is a good night. The show was Aoife O’Donovan at the...
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John Carpenter
Mar 29, 20234 min
There's Good Food, Interesting Wine, Craft Beer, and Local Music in Out-of-the-way Lubbock
We rolled up onto a bridge curving high over the interstate and I looked out at flatness as far as the eye could see, stretched taught...
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