Inspired effort from the Smiths has something for everyone
By Chris Cooper
Inspiration comes from a variety of sources. And as much as a new love, a rainy day or a broken heart can provide the fuel for inspired songwriting and performance, so can the pain of loss and the need to understand and deal with it.
Effortless extraction from the days of fusion
By Chris Cooper
Music, and the artists that make it, have no choice but to evolve as time goes by. For many rock-oriented instrumentalists that came into prominence during the 80s, this has been a difficult thing.
So, what is there to do around here?
By Chris Cooper
Though Sylva might not qualify as a simmering hotbed of musical and cultural hipness, to a degree it does have it’s own thing going on. We have a reasonable variety of musicians and bands, with several — even some surprising — genres represented.
Old instruments sing again: Community band effort provides new homes for neglected instruments
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer
Jacob Clark, a sixth-grader at Waynesville Middle School, likes the trumpet.
“It’s easy to play,” he says.
From the pick of the old time pickin’ litter
By Chris Cooper
Rafe Stefanini: Ladies Fancy
Rafe Stefanini is something of a walking encyclopedia of old-time fiddle and banjo music, having dedicated most of his life to hunting down and learning tunes both famous and obscure from all over this country.
Raging rockabilly courtesy of Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys
By Chris Cooper
“Timeless” is one of those words tossed around a lot in reference to music. Everybody wants to write a song that’s “timeless,” right? A tune that sounds just as good today as it will 20 or 30 years down the line, regardless of changes in what’s thought of as “cool” — that’s the goal, correct?
Makin’ tracks: Musician/traveler/artist Jim Stoltz brings his cross-country experience to life with a multimedia show and fund raiser for the Jackson/Macon Conservation Alliance
Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Jim Stoltz first learned to appreciate nature on family camping trips.
Lauderdale’s Country Super is super country
By Chris Cooper
The stellar songwriting talents of Jim Lauderdale have been tapped by a “who’s who” of country music and bluegrass stars — anyone from George Strait to the Dixie Chicks, blues grandfather John Mayall to newer country upstarts like Shelby Lynne.
Southern Cross set to test its metal
By Chris Cooper
If you can imagine an even more ticked-off Phil Anselmo fronting a hybrid of COC and Black Sabbath, you’ll have an idea of where mountain metal outfit Southern Cross is coming from.
The eighties uncovered
By Chris Cooper
It’s all too easy to dismiss the ‘80s as an era of day-glow clothes, poofy hair and painfully lame, glossy radio friendly “pop.” And thanks to the popularity of television shows like VH1’s “I Love the ‘80s,” a generation that did most of its growing up in the ‘90s now has nothing but the worst aspects of the previous decade to stare at and be glad they missed.
