BLUES SURVIVOR
FEW BLUESMEN AS AUTHENTIC (AND AUDACIOUS) AS BOBBY RUSH: Bobby Rush came from Louisiana and Arkansas, fled to Chicago, played the blues,...
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By Alan Richard
Aug 10, 20195 min read
A TREASURE OF BLACK MUSIC
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION’S NEWEST MUSEUM SHOWS RELICS OF SOUL, GOSPEL, COUNTRY AND MORE The National Museum of African-American History...
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By Alan Richard
Jul 7, 20196 min read
WHEN GOSPEL GOT FUNKY
LEGENDARY STAX COLLECTION SHOWS OFF GOOD-NEWS GROOVES One of my favorite soul albums is actually a gospel album. The Gospel Truth: The...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 28, 20196 min read
WILL KIMBROUGH'S 'ALABAMA'
Nashville songwriter laments modern-day lynching, finds family in blues and Americana "Picked up by some folks Took to me to the woods...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 23, 20193 min read
RY COODER'S LATEST BLUES, GOSPEL TRIBUTE
Los Angeles-based master guitarist Ry Cooder’s remarkable 2018 album The Prodigal Son is perhaps the best--out of his many--records that...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 20, 20194 min read
MARY BRAGG, KYSHONA: BACK IN GEORGIA
Two of Nashville's best emerging singer-songwriters, Mary Bragg and Kyshona (Armstrong), brought their show to Eddie’s Attic, the music...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 17, 20194 min read
CASH, COODER SALUTE 'MAN IN BLACK'
Rosanne Cash told the audience at the Ryman Auditorium how she’d spent 40 years mostly avoiding playing her father’s songs. But the...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 7, 20193 min read
YOLA, THE U.K.'S COUNTRY-SOUL MAVEN
Yola’s melodies and vocals soar on her new record, Walk Through Fire, the most country-soul-focused album of the year (as far as I know),...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 6, 20195 min read
STAX AND MEMPHIS: THE CENTER OF SOUL MUSIC
Memphis is one of the most culturally rich destinations in America, and today’s touristy Beale Street is the least of the reasons why. My...
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By Alan Richard
Jun 3, 20195 min read
DELVING INTO THE DELTA
My good friend and writer John Gehring and I spent Memorial Day visiting the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, where we ventured to lots of...
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By Alan Richard
May 17, 20194 min read
MAVIS STAPLES' NASHVILLE CONCERT PARTY
Mavis Staples brought one of her pre-80th-birthday concert celebrations to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on May 15, celebrating her more...
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By Alan Richard
Apr 20, 20191 min read
JIM LAUDERDALE'S SOULFUL COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS
Cosmic-country crooner Jim Lauderdale is another of my favorite artists and a great example of how country and soul music can intertwine....
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By Alan Richard
Apr 8, 20194 min read
ROSANNE CASH'S NEW SONGS, AND A soulFUL surprisE
Rosanne Cash brought her beautiful and smart music to Atlanta on April 6, sprinkling a wide-ranging set of her older songs and classic...
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By Alan Richard
Apr 7, 20191 min read
THE MAGICAL COUNTRY-SOUL OF WILLIAM BELL
I fell in love head over heels with soul music after finding my way to the great singer-songwriter William Bell. His first album, The...
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By Alan Richard
Feb 16, 20191 min read
WELCOME TO SOUL COUNTRY
A new blog about the crossroads of American music Welcome to Soul Country, my place for musings about how black and white American music...
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By Alan Richard
Feb 16, 20198 min read
'COUNTRY MUSIC': THE KEN BURNS CONCERT
Smashing night at the Ryman marks new documentary, salutes depth of country music “To me, it’s soul music. It’s white man’s soul music,...
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