all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music
Jon Huntsman: Presidential Candidate, Rock Critic
One of my favorite news items from the 2008 presidential campaign was a story in which bluegrass great Ralph Stanley endorsed then Senator Barack Obama for President. If I remember correctly, Mr. Obama, in thanking Mr. Stanley for his support, mentioned that he had some of Stanley’s music on his iPod, thereby confusing the hell out of the octogenarian banjo-plucker (“What’s an iPod?”). Sadly no one ever followed up with Barack Obama on, […]
I’m Just Not That Into Mumford & Sons
Okay. It’s been about a year since I first heard Mumford & Sons. I remember seeking out “Little Lion Man” after reading a little blurb about it, and thinking it sounded like a great song. I downloaded it right away, but, to my surprise, it turned a bit stale on repeated listens. Their follow-up “The Cave”, despite its strangely moving video, has only marginally better replay appeal. Despite all that, […]
Amy Winehouse and the Myth of the 27 Club (Hint: It’s BS)
Saturday afternoon, I was busy doing something or other in the kitchen when my partner, browsing at his computer, asked rather non-urgently, “So, who’s Amy Winehouse?” “Why,” I asked him, “Is she dead?” “Yup,” he replied. The singer’s tragic but not terribly surprising death was the “duh” heard ‘round the world over the weekend. Even as authorities try to tamp out the rampant speculation over the cause of her demise, […]