ARTS Pick: From Africa to Appalachia
The banjo-folk music bastion has a remarkable lineage. Derived from African lutes called n’goni that were brought by slaves to the New World, the development of the banjo provides a […]
Modern master puts his spin on ancient instrument
Sometime in late elementary school, you learn about the didgeridoo (occasionally spelled didjeridu). It’s a funky instrument played by half naked Aboriginal people in the Australian bush. It’s more than […]
ARTS Pick: Venice Baroque Orchestra
Powerful chords and dramatic tension punctuate the classical music program from the internationally renowned Venice Baroque Orchestra. Traversing the globe since 1997, the ensemble is recognized as one of the […]
Irish guitarist Cian Nugent’s rural Virginia soundtrack
There is a unity expressed in musician Cian Nugent’s work beyond the ruminations of one man’s guitar. But hearing snatches of his recordings, it’d be easy to attribute various tracks […]
Interview: China’s exuberant pianist Lang Lang sits on top of the classical world
Chinese pianist Lang Lang is one of the hottest performers in the world right now. Equally known for his energetic performances and his prodigious talent, the Shenyang native has wowed […]
Joe Pug takes one last spin before making a new record
The cover art on singer-songwriter Joe Pug’s latest album, The Great Despiser, shows a nearly naked man barely hanging on to the end of a rising balloon. Who knows what […]
Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen sets her career on fire
After appearing on a pair of reverb-soaked and long sold-out cassettes, Angel Olsen made a proper full-length debut in 2012 with Half Way Home. Simple, confident, clear, and cohesive, it’s […]
Retelling Guthrie: The burden and beauty of a musical legacy
The centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie’s birth is more than the remembrance of a great man’s life. It is a testament that his music endures, that the art has outlasted […]
ARTS Pick: Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks broke through in the sweeping alt-country movement of the ’90s, but the stage was set earlier for Fulks, who learned traditional playing in a musical family that moved […]
Lord Huron’s existential sonic pursuit
Have you ever driven through the desert? Flown across dry, red earth while mammoth spires of stone and humps of rock pin back the wide blue horizon? Maybe you stopped […]