Concerts of the Year 2016
These were, in my humble opinion, the ten best concerts that I saw this year in America. Only one of them was in Birmingham. I’m sorry.
Category Archives: Music.
Albums of the Year 2016
Albums of the Year: 2016
Making this list this year was simultaneously the most difficult it has ever been and the easiest. Ann Powers navigated this better than anyone that I saw, making her list the Top Ten (Beyond the Obvious). In that post, she says:
“The Knowles sisters, David Bowie and Frank Ocean made the best albums of 2016, according to virtually every list; only a handful of others deserve Top 10 status at all. The critical consensus is beginning to feel a bit suffocating; what about the hundreds, nay thousands, of other artists who released music this year to at least some acclaim?”
Filed under Music.
“Never seen such joy in my life:” A Conversation with Marc Ford
You probably better know Marc Ford as the former lead guitarist of The Black Crowes — but he had his own career before his time with that band and he’s had one since, churning out six solo records including this year’s The Vulture.
Focusing on his own project has felt more productive. Continue reading
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Keeping it open-ended with Waker
Nashville’s Waker used to be known as Koa, but they felt like they needed to rebrand because the world wide web was confusing them for KOA Campgrounds. They also replaced a drummer (Dave Czuba is the new drummer) and added a keyboardist, David Crutcher.
The origins of the band can be traced to lead singer Chase Bader and guitarist Conor Kelly meeting in fifth grade in Denver, but Bader calls Birmingham home. Before finishing high school, Bader’s family relocated to Birmingham for a job, and he graduated from John Carroll High School. Continue reading
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Time in the Day: A Conversation with Amanda Shires
Amanda Shires began her career performing with the Texas Playboys and since beginning her solo career, she has made appearances on records by American Aquarium, Justin Townes Earle, Todd Snider, Shovels & Rope, Cory Branan and on three by Jason Isbell (who happens to be her husband). Most recently, she showed up on John Prine’s For Better, Or Worse on the Texas-tinged “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, And Loud, Loud Music.” Continue reading
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The Bluegrass Undercurrents of Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz is like a lot of her bluegrass heroes and contemporaries — busy. She spent much of 2015 on the road with I’m With Her, a collaboration with Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins and Crooked Still’s Aoife O’Donovan. Jarosz also frequents A Prairie Home Companion, and in June, she released a new solo record, Undercurrent. Continue reading
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The Greatest City in Alabam
Write Me a Birmingham
I’m really happy to share that work on book two begins today. This time, I’m going to share the history of Birmingham music.
Fish Fries and Polk Salad: A Conversation with Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White experienced a major revival in 2014 when he accompanied Foo Fighters on the Nashville episode of their HBO documentary series Sonic Highways and subsequently joined them onstage for the documentary’s mini pop-up tour at The Ryman. But the author of “Polk Salad Annie” hasn’t stopped writing or recording since he debuted in 1967 and began a long relationship with the state of Alabama. Continue reading
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SlossFest Preview: Betty Who is prepared
Betty Who is an outlier on the SlossFest lineup. The Sydney, Australia native has toured with Katy Perry and she grew up on Britney Spears. And she’ll certainly be wearing fewer clothes than the weekend’s headliner, Ryan Adams.
Filed under Music.
Old Crow Medicine Show Storms the Gates
“Have you been to Nashville over the past decade, Birmingham?” Ketch Secor asks. “Don’t let it happen to you, Birmingham. Keep the peanut roasters in downtown Birmingham. Once you lose them, they’re gone forever. Nashville will never get back its peanut roasters. Never. We traded them in for yoga latte poses. With wifi.” Continue reading
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Blake Ells 