In 1968, decades before reality-TV and social media, sentient artist and pop culture icon Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” A decade later he would find himself visiting a Nashville institution that had by that time been world-famous for more than 50 years. …
Read More »Hear Lucinda Williams Cover Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe'
Lucinda Williams adds a touch of her native Louisiana grit to the Southern Gothic of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” in a version of the quintessentially mysterious tune that supplements Mercury Rev’s adventurous track-by-track re-imagining of Gentry’s largely forgotten 1968 sophomore album, The Delta Sweete. Set within darkly atmospheric …
Read More »Megan Mullally, Stephanie Hunt's Nancy and Beth Duo Plot Spring Tour
Nancy and Beth, the quirky duo of Will & Grace star Megan Mullally and her musical partner Stephanie Hunt, will take their tough-to-describe, yet impossible-to-resist act on the road beginning next month. Bolstered by an eclectic, unpredictable songbook — ranging from classic country weepers such as George Jones’ “He Stopped …
Read More »Earl Scruggs: Five Great Performances
“Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix.” Those words, penned by actor, comedian, author and banjo player Steve Martin, appeared in a New Yorker tribute following the 2012 …
Read More »Hear Keith Urban Revamp Marshmello's 'Happier' for Spotify Singles
Keith Urban is the latest country singer to contribute to Spotify Singles, the streaming service’s program that asks an artist to perform a cover song of their choice. In Urban’s case, it’s “Happier,” the dance hit by producer Marshmello and the U.K. band Bastille. While the original is a more …
Read More »See Rodney Crowell Perform, Talk Nashville in the Seventies in New Mini-Doc
In the first episode of its new series Unearthed, instrument company Ernie Ball visits Americana songwriter Rodney Crowell at his Nashville home to discuss the Texas-born Grammy winner’s success in his adopted hometown and capture him in intimate performance. The 15-minute documentary opens with footage of Crowell performing his Close …
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