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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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
"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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
Marty Stuart: Bluegrass Meets Rock-a-billy in White-Hot Set
At some point during the pandemic, as we were savoring the 16-hour binge that is Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary, Mary and I became...
Night Train to Nashville Showcases Music City R&B Roots
It was the mid-1950s and, for better or worse, the “Nashville Sound” was taking shape. It didn’t seem to matter whether they were love...
Killing the Covid Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi
I might as well have driven down to Mississippi a hundred years ago. But it was March of 2020. Peering back through the lockdown haze, I...
A lucky musical find in Dublin: The Magpies
Our goal was simple. We were looking for some traditional Irish music and a pub that wasn’t packed to the gills – a trickier ask than one...
A Ryman Love Letter to the Late Great John Prine
I don’t know how John Prine would have felt about Monday night’s Covid-delayed celebration of his life. He probably would have cracked a...
Father John Misty Blesses Nashville's Mother Church
Our expectations were somewhat low for Father John Misty. We were only going because good friends are big fans and built a Nashville...
Tulsa's Bob Dylan Center Celebrates the Creative Process
The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa is an inspiring tribute to the creative process of this musical and lyrical genius.
Bonnie Raitt Remembers an Old Friend at the Ryman
It’s so wonderful when an artist you’ve been wanting to see for years comes through with a killer show. Such was the case with the great...
Charlie McCoy: King of the Nashville Session Men
It was another one of those Nashville moments, when you are having a typical Sunday afternoon and you wind up a few feet away from a...
Shawn Colvin serves a 'master class' in songwriting and guitar playing
Shawn Colvin is joining the growing list of musical elders trotting out anniversary concerts, offering a song-for-song acoustic replay of...
Blues Wizardry from Adia Victoria at OZ Arts Nashville
Last minute live music decisions in Nashville rarely disappoint. In this case we stumbled on a gem; an art gallery performance by Aida...
One Last Party at the Ryman With Robert Earl Keen
So I caught my first Robert Earl Keen show, at the Ryman here in Nashville. Good thing too, since the legendary Texas songwriter is on...
Fresh Bluegrass From Nashville Vets Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz: "Surely Will Be Singing"
There is a certain kind of brand new music that sounds like it’s always been there. We caught some of it at the Bluebird Café Sunday...
Kelsey Waldon and Friends Offer Newbies a Glimpse of Nashville's Deep Talent Pool
You know you are in the right place in East Nashville on a Monday night when the headliner keeps inviting guests to the stage, you’ve...
Jason Isbell at the Ryman: A Magical Night at the Mother Church
Jason Isbell’s is a voice that commands attention, singing words and playing music that rewards the effort. It’s a gift to see an artist...
Making a guitar may be the coolest thing you will ever do
By JOHN CARPENTER Bruce Roper leaned over the dusty workbench and carefully placed two slender, hand-hewn lengths of spruce into the...
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