Tag: Music

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…

Bluebird Cafe: Amy Grant,Vince Gill,Don Schlitz,Richard Marx

[cincopa AIEAi062EkEs] By Ken Paulson Like Carole King’s appearance at the Bluebird Cafe earlier this month, tonight’s in-the-round featuring Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Richard Marx and Don Schlitz at the same Nashville venue was truly something special. Among the highlights at this benefit for Alive Hospice: – A guest turn by Jenny Gill, singing the touching “I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong,” a…

Review: Chris Ronald’s “Turning Tides”

By Joe Ross Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Chris Ronald is usually heard in intimate listening environments where there is ample stage space, cold beer and good burgers. Restaurants, music circles and open mics are great places for small, attentive audiences to experience his music in its purest, unamplified form. In concert, he also talks about his influences, song ideas, inspirations, and the…

30A Songwriting Festival: Rodney Crowell, Steve Forbert and the Bangles

By Ken Paulson Seaside, Florida – The third annual 30A Songwriters Festival, closed out its three-day run today, wrapping up an ambitious and entertaining celebration of songs. Very similar in scope and approach to Nashville’s’ Tin Pan South Festival, run by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, 30A showcases a wide range of artists and genres in both open-air and intimate…

Bangles showcase great songs and writers

By Ken Paulson –Seaside, Fla. — As headliners at the 30A Songwriters Festival, the Bangles proudly proclaimed their founding three decades ago. Both the band and their music have held up remarkably well. There’s some irony in the Bangles being the biggest names at the festival because while they’ve written a good part of their material, some of their biggest…

Matthew Sweet at 30A Songwriters Festival

Matthew Sweet opened the afternoon show at the 30A Songwriters Festival with a set that drew heavily from his breakthrough 1991 album Girlfriend. Sweet joked that the girlfriend was now 21 and old enough to drink. It was a tough setting for Sweet. Most of the crowd had come to see the Bangles, and though there’s some stylistic common ground,…

30A Songwriters Festival begins

Sun209 is headed for Santa Rose Beach, Florida to cover the 30A Songwriters Festival this weekend. Watch for updates on Twitter (sun209com) and on this site. The News Herald of Panama City previewed the festival today. You’ll find the full story by Tony Simmons here, but here’s a preview: Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles described the event as “a series…

Carole King at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe

By Ken Paulson – Carole King performed some of her biggest hits in the relatively small confines of the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville Monday night, a memorable evening even in a city known for them. King’s “Troubador” tour with James Taylor was an enormous success, but the remininiscing was largely scripted, with the same photos and anecdotes appearing night after…

Review: Chicago Kingsnakes’ “Blue Mosaic”

By Joe Ross – As with any album I review, it’s usually the cover that first catches my eye. The Chicago Kingsnakes chose some artwork by modernist painter Marc Chagall to grace the cover of their new CD, “Blue Mosaic.” Like Chagall’s work in which his colors attract and capture attention, The Chicago Kingsnakes blend tones and graduated perspectives into…

Review: Michael Johnathon’s “Front Porch”

By Joe Ross – Michael Johnathon’s signature “folkestral” music is a pleasing blend of nicely-arranged, mostly original songs that incorporate his guitar and banjo along with occasional orchestral strings into pretty little ditties with downhome messages. Besides a Kentucky homeplace, he now owns a cozy little log cabin deep in the woods, and Front Porch is about his “search for…

Jody Miller on Epic: Remembering the “Queen of the House”

“Answer” songs rarely launch careers. These records — far more common in the ’60s than today — “answered” hit records of the day, responding to a current hit in theme and sound in hopes of riding the coattails of an established record. Most of these novelty songs vanished quickly, but there were rare exceptions. Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who…

Chuck Mead goes “Back to the Quonset Hut”

One of the coolest sites in Nashville is rarely seen by the public. The legendary Quonset Hut was once the most prominent studio on Music Row, the home of such recordings as “King of the Road,” “Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces.” In the ‘80s, it was converted into office space, a disturbing fate for what was once a magical…