For Tim O’Brien, performing on Mountain Stage is a homecoming. The Grammy Award winning country and bluegrass musician, songwriter and in-demand session player has played on the National Public Radio show more than any artist over the past 40 years. “I’ve got a cycle of writing songs, recording them, and then releasing them on a […]
National Public Radio’s Mountain Stage is celebrating its 40th anniversary while simultaneously going through a transition. Larry Groce, the longtime artistic director of the Charleston, W.Va., based program, ceded his hosting duties to Kathy Mattea in 2021 and is retiring for good at the end of June. Groce, 75, created the show with producer Andy […]
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Last month, the Band of Heathens performed three songs from their new album on “CBS Sunday Morning,” a remarkable achievement for the fiercely independent, Austin-based band that has built and sustained a devoted and growing fan following over the past 18 years. After the taping, group co-founder Gordy Quist caught Ron Sexsmith’s main stage show […]
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Dave Alvin — New Highway interview After more than 40 years on the road, Dave Alvin is itching to get back on the highway again. “Playing live is what I love to do more than anything. That’s just it for me,” says Alvin, the legendary California singer-songwriter and guitarist. “It’s my religion. That’s how I […]
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Reckless Kelly proudly carries the Americana/alt-country/Red Dirt torch. The Idaho-born, Austin-based group has been going for more than a quarter of a century now, but they remain as strong as ever live and in the studio. The latter was borne out with the release of 2020’s “American Girls/American Jackpot,” an ambitious double album that fits […]
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Amanda Shires has gone through an emotionally wrenching period that — at different points — made her question whether to continue pursuing her music career and wondering if her marriage would survive. The marriage — to fellow musician Jason Isbell —made it through a rough patch that started when he was recording 2020’s Reunions. And […]
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John Hiatt played a show at the Birchmere w/Grayson Capps opening Throughout a career now in its fifth decade, John Hiatt has always collaborated with other artists, sometimes more successfully than others. But he’s always found a smooth groove with the Goners. The group’s chemistry was on display Monday in the second of two nights […]
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Patty Griffin opened for the Chicks in Virginia It’s a time-honored tradition among musicians. If you make it big, don’t forget those who inspired and helped you along the way. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Patty Griffin opened for The Chicks on their first headlining tour in 2000. This summer, as The Chicks hit the road for the […]
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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Merriweather June 2022 Robert Plant moved away from the spectacle that was Led Zeppelin years ago, using his solo career to dabble rockabilly and Americana as much as rock and roll. But the classic rock icon found his greatest post-Zeppelin success in an unlikely collaborator: bluegrass legend Alison […]
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American Aquarium at 930 Club with Caroline Spence opening American Aquarium’s BJ Barham has high praise for Washington, D.C.’s 930 Club, calling it “pound for pound the best rock ‘n roll club in the country.” On Sunday night, Barham and his band did the venerable institution proud. Touring behind the new Chicamacomico, the North Carolina […]
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