2015 was 150 years from the end of the Civil War, and 1 more year that I changed jobs and moved, this time back to the Centennial State of Colorado. I started out continuing the daily journal of my ancestor Pvt. Orrin Brown, then relaxing my publishing schedule and finishing with some pretty good Americana music. […]
JC’s Americana Top Tunes Played in 2015
I played more music this year than last, thanks primarily to Spotify streaming…and having spare time between jobs last winter…and spending the holidays by my lonesome. Mostly, though, because there was simply a LOT of good Americana-ish music released this year. I track my music plays on the London-based last.fm and their Scrobbler app, 2015 is now […]
10 More Albums for 2015—Americana’s JV Team
Americana’s Junior Varsity Team was strong this year. The starting line-up was stellar, but the underclassmen are nipping at their heels. And I know some other coaches would (have) moved my players up to prime-time. (Yeah, I’m watching college bowl games on TV and college basketball on the iGizmo while I’m streaming on the iMac…) So […]
Ten Albums for 2015 – Corb and Rhiannon, Bob Wills and More
JC’s Top 10 Americana Albums of 2015 In relative ranked order, subject to change. In January, I predicted a banner year for roots music in 2015, and back in June I highlighted a few albums showing early promise. I have not been disappointed. In part I tried to pay more attention to new releases again, thanks […]
An Americana Project—The Future of the Music and the Future of Making Music
“Without this class, school would suck.” The relevance of public education to learning was lost to many of us, and it certainly seems this spirit is alive and well yet today. The Americana Project is the class that doesn’t suck. Six seasons ago, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, performing artist Bob Hemenger took his passion for music to […]
A Song Ain’t Nothin’ But a Story: Wes Weddell’s Nobody’s Flag
I’ve seen a quote attributed to the great Hank Williams: “A song ain’t nothin’ in the world but a story just wrote with music to it.” In Norse legend, the Three Norns sit at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world, and spin the threads of fate in the intertwined story of our […]
Halden Wofford & the Hi-Beams at Durango Arts Center
My old Front Range friends from Halden Wofford & the Hi-Beams came over the mountain to play a couple shows at Durango and Cortez, Colorado, and then down to Taos, New Mexico this weekend. The good fellows at KSUT Four Corners Public Radio gave ’em a mid-afternoon acoustic promote, but for me work intruded so I […]
My Mountain Home—Americana new releases so far this year
It feels good to be back in Colorado, home to some of the best Americana music anywhere. I missed the Pagosa Folk & Bluegrass and Telluride Bluegrass festivals earlier this month, but I could sneak up to Lyons for RockyGrass next month. And the Four Corners Folk Festival will come up too soon as the other […]
Diary of Orrin Brown—March 15, 1865
Diary of Orrin Brown, Kyle’s Landing on the road toward Raleigh, North Carolina Wednesday–Mar. 15th We had orders to be ready to march at 9 AM and we had company inspection at 7 AM. We started out on the road about 10 AM and I was so bad that the Dr. gave me a ticket […]
Savannah Stopover Music Festival—March 5-7, 2015
For some reason, Pvt. Orrin Brown neglected his diary on 20 January 1865. Or perhaps, my ancestor who transcribed his quill to typewriter inadvertently skipped the day. Either way, a break from the Civil War today. I’ve never myself been to Savannah, Georgia, nor to either Carolina. One college friend lives in South Carolina, and […]
