stories, communities, music
It's been slightly over a month since A Singing Army hit stores and I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to everyone who's purchased a copy and shown up for events. In this weird year of Everything On Zoom, it's hard for me to always know who's in the "room" or how... Continue Reading →
I'm thrilled to share that A Singing Army: Zilphia Horton and the Highlander Folk School is finally out in the world! You can pick up a copy anywhere books are sold. In case you missed our launch event with my favorite local indie bookstore, Malaprop's, I thought I'd share the video of it below. It... Continue Reading →
I got to sit down with Highlander's librarian and archivist, Susan Williams, to talk about Zilphia's role -- her work and her legacy there. This video is part of an effort around a new Septima Clark Learning Center that the folks at Highlander will be building soon. In preparation, they're doing some videos about the... Continue Reading →
If you see this on the shelf somewhere, grab yourself one. In its pages, you'll find my discussion with Bream and Dylan expert Geoffrey Green about whether or not Self Portrait is one of Bob Dylan's greatest accomplishments or biggest head-scratchers. I think we decided it was somewhere in the middle. Regardless, the volume is loaded... Continue Reading →
Originally written for No Depression One of the oldest human possessions ever found is a flute. I'm talking somewhere in the area of 50,000 years ago, someone sat or squatted - presumably on the ground - playing a flute. The fact that these old flutes exist indicates the presence of music is much older. It... Continue Reading →
Originally published in The Bluegrass Situation There are many reasons to write music. Some songwriters work alone, others are at their best in collaboration. Sometimes lyrics pop into one’s head like a rhythmic mantra, other times the song floats in on a seemingly familiar melody. The place where songs come from is elusive and subjective.... Continue Reading →
Originally written for No Depression The punk kid inside Billy Bragg must have been amused (in some weird way) by the buzzing whirl of Taylor Swift superfans, who dotted the lobby of his Nashville hotel the weekend of this year's Americana Music Association Festival and Conference. He'd come to Nashville to play some music, catch... Continue Reading →
Originally written for The Bluegrass Situation “I don’t work on things that don’t mean something to me,” Buddy Miller says, and you know he means it. After all, you can’t fake that kind of dedication. You can hear it in the music and see it on the stage, in the way he bends a note... Continue Reading →
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Originally written for Folk Alley Let’s just get the Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings comparison out of the way. Good, now we can listen more deeply. After all, Pharis & Jason Romero are artists unto themselves – instrument makers, songwriters, pickers extraordinaire. These two clearly have as much adoration and natural talent for the traditions of American... Continue Reading →
Kim Ruehl 