“How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.”
music history
Posted inArts & Culture, Feature, Nonfiction, Story, Uncategorized
Shelved: Sonny Rollins Live at Carnegie Hall
The saxophone colossus recorded two concerts at the same venue fifty years apart. Only one recording emerged from the vault.
Posted inArts & Culture, Profiles & Interviews, Story
Accidental Music History: How Jeff Gold Saved Rare Iggy & the Stooges Recordings from the Dump
Sometimes this is how musical history gets saved.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
An Oral History of Detroit Punk Rock
In Detroit’s empty buildings and troubled streets, restless kids squatted, ran punk clubs, pressed their own records, and made their own magazine. They mostly stayed out of trouble.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story
J.R.’s Jook and the Authenticity Mirage
When a young white musician gets invited to a house-party, the musicians he plays with show him a slice of blues culture many people assumed had died.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Deep, Confounding Joys of Music
Even the greatest philosophical minds can’t figure out why music gives us such pleasure, only that music does.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
‘Country Music … Was Anything BUT Pure’: An Interview with Bill Malone and Tracey Laird
The co-authors of ‘Country Music USA’ – a revised edition of the genre’s definitive history – talk about the music’s African-American tributaries, its unpredictable politics, country radio’s woman problem, and working on Ken Burns’ forthcoming doc.
Posted inArts & Culture, Editor's Pick, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
‘Country Music … Was Anything BUT Pure’: An Interview with Bill Malone and Tracey Laird
The co-authors of ‘Country Music USA’ – a revised edition of the genre’s definitive history – talk about the music’s African-American tributaries, its unpredictable politics, country radio’s woman problem, and working on Ken Burns’ forthcoming doc.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
The Cowboy Image and the Growth of Western Music
How did cowboy hats and boots become the visual iconography of American rural music?
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes
Making a Pilgrimage Along Prince’s Purple Trail
Traveling around Minneapolis, visiting the locations where Prince used to live.