Uplifting tunes for the aspiring curmudgeon you didn’t know you’d already become
Folk
Concert Review: Marcia Ball and Sonny Landreth at ONCE — Plenty Rousing
At 70, Marcia Ball is a non-stop pro, particularly at pacing. Early barn burners gave way to the slow blues of “Just Kiss Me.”
Music Feature: Billy Strings — A Breakout Year
Billy Strings is deservedly catching fire with a unique blend of mind-snapping talent as a guitarist, deep appreciation for tradition, appetite for improvisation and experimentation, and ever-improving songwriting.
Concert Preview: Judy Collins Heats Up Some “Winter Stories”
“People love a story, they always have, and always will, and stories are an essential ingredient in this folk music revival, which started sometime in the early ’50s.”
Music Feature: Childsplay — The Last Waltz
Childsplay, the celebrated flash-band of fiddlers who have come together around the holidays for more than 30 years, is calling it quits.
Classical CD Review: “Free America!, Early Songs of Resistance and Rebellion” — Fight the Power!
Enjoy Boston Camerata’s Free America! for its high spirits and its crafty, delicious way of making the iconoclasm of the past come alive.
Music Commentary: Ken Burns’ “Country Music” — Superb Cinematic Storytelling
Country Music digs into the rich, deep dirt of a music with a complicated past, a hybrid genre soaked in soulful suffering, twangy glory, and times both high and tough.
Music Preview: Guitarist Jimmy Herring — Seeking the Simple Root
Veteran guitarist Jimmy Herring and the 5 of 7 play groove-heavy tunes that barrel into unexpected and interesting places.
Music Interview: Singer/Songwriter Chris Smither — Coming Full Circle
His songs have been recorded by the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall. For many, his rank — just short of superstardom — remains a mystery. He’s just too good to be less than a household name.
Folk Music Review: Dueto Dos Rosas, Five Songs
Dueto Dos Rosas’s tunes can be classified as rancheras or corridos, but their style has a very particular historical resonance.