Feb. 3, 1959:The music lives on

By Marv Wells “Clear Lake/Mason City” the highway sign reads. How many times  have I driven past this exit on 1-35 over the past 30+ years and said “Someday I’ll check it out?”  “It” was the site of Buddy Holly’s plane crash in 1959. Somehow I’d gotten the impression that Clear Lake was a ways off, thirty miles or more.…

Guy Clark tribute #1; Ani DeFranco, Orbo & Longshots, Sons of Fathers enter chart

This One’s For Him, the outstanding double-CD tribute to Guy Clark, lands in the #1 spot this week after a steady run up the Americana Music radio airplay chart. You’ll find our review here. New to the chart this week: –  At #17, the massive Chimes of Freedom tribute to Bob Dylan. The album, with a generation-spanning line-up of artists (Patti…

Review: Carolina Road’s “Back to My Roots”

By Joe Ross It’s been about five years since I reviewed Carolina Road’s two releases on Tom T. Hall’s Blue Circle Records label. I found the hardworking band from North Carolina to be fully dedicated to presenting a traditional bluegrass sound with a copious amount of contemporary charisma. Now associated with Rural Rhythm Records, Back to My Roots is the band’s…