The first thing to know about Jay Hunter Morris, one of the world’s leading opera singers, is that he hails from Paris—not the City of Light, but the small town in Eastern Texas. His roots have been an integral part of his musical development from his upbringing in gospel to his current status as a […]
By the 1960s, American artist Mark Rothko had risen to prominence for his color field paintings, which featured two solid rectangles hovering just shy of the picture’s borders. With a small painting, the viewer is acutely aware that he is on the outside, looking in. Music was deeply important to Rothko, and with his color […]
Haunted by spirits of recordings past, music studios are just as legendary as the work they’ve cultivated, and they often come equipped with their own folklore. Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” echoes throughout RCA’s Studio B in Nashville. Memphis’ Sun Studio gave us the first recordings of both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio […]
The magnetism of life on the open road has a long-standing mythos in American popular culture. Wide-eyed travelers were encouraged to get their kicks on “Route 66” in the blues standard first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946. Sal and Dean’s cross-country pursuits defined a generation in Jack Kerouac’s beat manifesto while the frenetic […]