Homepage

Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History with Kristina Gaddy & Pete Ross country music pride | the good neighbor get together
Artists

Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History with Kristina Gaddy & Pete Ross

Join us as we sit down at the table with Kristina Gaddy and Pete Ross to discuss Kristina’s new book “Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History.” Named one of 2022’s Most Memorable Music Books by No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music, it’s an illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo’s beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood- and how these slaves carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas and the Caribbean…

Read More »
Bristol Sessions Big Bang of Country Music Ted Olson
Artists

The 1927 Bristol Sessions: The “Big Bang” of Country Music? Ted Olson | PART 1

In the summer of 1927, nineteen bands/musicians responded to an ad in a newspaper for an opportunity to be a part of a recording session in Bristol, Tennessee. Some of the most well-known and influential names in American music were there…

These recordings were no doubt a key moment in country music’s evolution. In this episode, we interview Dr. Ted Olson and discuss whether or not the Bristol Sessions were in fact the “Big Bang” of country music…

Read More »
James McMurtry is a pervert for wanting your kids to see a drag show
News

James McMurtry Groomer or Hero?

James McMurtry is a staple in Texas red dirt country/singer-country music – but James McMurtry out-of-touch with both reality and Tennessee law because he wants a 40 year old man’s moose-knuckle in your kindergartner’s face. Last week while playing in Tennessee the confused singer wore a red dress to protest the state’s “anti-drag legislation.”

Read More »
Album Reviews

“Bon Aqua” A Refreshing Dive into the Depths of Stephen Wilson Jr’s Country Brilliance

If Stephen Wilson Jr was a cult, I would be an evangelist and baptize he who has ears to hear in Wilson’s album, “Bon Aqua”.

“Bon Aqua” is easily the best album the last 5 years and with this release Stephen Wilson Jr. has solidified his status as one of the best living songwriters of our time (yes, we did just make that claim).

I’ll never forget when I first heard Stephen Wilson Jr.’s music. Only a select few other artists have stopped me like Wilson (Nirvana, Garth Brooks, Jawbreaker, and The Avett Brothers). When I first clicked on Wilson’s “The Devil” these parched ears were instantly satiated. The sonic satisfaction and complexity…

Read More »
Man of constant sorrow
Top 10

Top 5 Versions of “Man of Constant Sorrow” (1928 – Present)

We first heard George Clooney’s new song “Man of Constant Sorrow” in O Brother Where Art Thou?  and a new world of music was opened to the masses. We only later found out the song was neither new nor sung by George Clooney. Clooney was lipping over the flawless high lonesome chops of Dan Tyminski (of Allison Krauss and “Hey Brother” fame). Here are the top 5 versions starting with a 1928 rendition…

Read More »
Country Music Pride