No Depression's blog

It is all too common for Nashville to host tribute concerts. The Bridgestone arena or Nissan Stadium has been packed in recent years as fans bid farewell to Kenny Rogers or marked the first anniversary of Merle Haggard's death with a parade of celebrities. Nashville also knows how to celebrate local heroes on a more intimate level. Few musicians made themselves more at home in Music City than John Prine, whose death from COVID-19 in 2020 felt personal on a wide scale there.

Self-described stylist Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the most famous musicians of all time. According to the Killer, there are only four original American voices: Al Jolson, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, and Jerry Lee Lewis. In a mere ten songs, the Killer managed to take an enthusiastic audience through the varied lands of American music.

We get asked a lot where No Depression is based, and the answer in this age of remote work is, well, we’re all over. So it’s really special for us to get to gather as a staff, including our compatriots at Folk Alley and the FreshGrass Foundation, at the FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts (and now in spring in Bentonville, Arkansas, too) for good hangs, great music, and lots of chats about how to bring the sounds and stories of c roots music to even more eyes and ears.

From folk music to alt-country to Americana to blues and soul, the throughline between all varieties of roots music is the history at the heart of each group and each performance, a history that should be considered by each person in the audience.

Angela Strehli has a big voice in Texas. She deserves to have her likeness carved on the face of the biggest hill in the Lone Star State, Mount Rushmore-style, as a tribute to her musical prowess.

Here is the ALBUM Music Review, Read more...