David Marchese interviews cellist Yo-Yo Ma on music, politics, culture, the pandemic, stereotypes, and the meaning of life.
music
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Electric Guitar Pioneer
“She wielded her guitar like a weapon and distorted the sound: a guitar technique that was completely original at the time and would be copied by legions of rock guitarists in the decades after.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
I Feel Most Southern in the Hip-Hop of My Adolescence
“Joy Priest creates a Southern rap soundtrack of the cars, songs, and forces that sculpted her sense of freedom and confinement coming of age in Louisville, Kentucky, in the early 2000s.”
Posted inStory
The Proving Grounds: Charley Crockett and the Story of Deep Ellum
Generations of musicians got their start busking the streets of the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. After a decade of ‘hobo-ing’ around cities like New Orleans, Paris, and New York, Charley Crockett discovered it was his turn.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Honky-Tonk Tokyo
Country music became popular in Japan after World War II. Today, Tokyo has a vibrant underground country music scene.
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, History, Quotes
If You Love the Music of the Carter Family, Thank Leslie Riddle
“First, you exclude black people from the festivals. Then write them out by not recording them. And pretty soon, ‘you have this manufactured image of country music being white and being poor.'”
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Story
What Happens If I Don’t Like Fiona Apple?
It seems like everyone in the world loves “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.” So why don’t I? On the isolation of disconnection.
Posted inNonfiction
On Watching Boys Play Music
“With a drink in my hand and earplugs responsibly in place, I’m very aware that I’ve spent more than half my life essentially standing in the same spot: off to one side of the stage (close but not too close), eyes forward, shifting weight from foot to foot.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, Profiles & Interviews, Quote Posts, Quotes
Can Sinéad O’Connor Find Peace?
“She can be shy and insecure. And yet she didn’t hesitate to stare down the cameras on American television to call out one of the most powerful men in the world.”
Posted inStory
“I Miss My Body When It Was Ferocious”: The Transfiguration of Paul Curreri
For years, singer-songwriter Paul Curreri was a shouter of singular beauty. Then he went quiet — slowly, at first, then all of a sudden.