With The 9513 having closed its virtual doors last year, the management has kindly agreed to let me republish some of my better contributions here for posterity. This article was originally published at The 9513 in January 2011. You might know him as the former rockabilly Road King with a standing gig at Austin's Broken Spoke. Or as a Cajun crime lord in the upcoming film The Sinner. Perhaps you've heard his guitar work on albums by Waylon Jennings, Ray Price or The Supersuckers. Over the … [Read more...]
Five Questions with Darrell Scott
When Steve Earle and Robert Plant need a talented, versatile player for a touring roots band, they call him. When Brad Paisley and the Dixie Chicks need a new song with some lyrical meat on its bones, they dip into his songbook. But it's hard to appreciate the full measure of Darrell Scott's gifts without hearing his original music for yourself. In his discography, you'll find the versions of "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" and "Family Tree" that made Travis Tritt and Darryl Worley take … [Read more...]
Five Questions with Etta Britt
Guest contribution by Hallie Pritts, on behalf of Wrinkled Records. Nashville is teeming with ludicrously talented, hard-working musicians. Of course, you know the usual suspects – the pop country stars, the classic country heroes. But there's a whole other set of musicians who work quietly in the background. Their job – adding the finishing touches to the records of their more famous counterparts – is a holy pursuit. Often it is their talent that provides the je ne sais quoi that skyrockets … [Read more...]
Five Questions with Jason Eady
If you've heard any of Jason Eady's past albums, you already know that he can be a devastatingly good writer and performer in styles ranging from narrative country-folk to propulsive, rhythmic gospel and blues. With stylistic fusion seemingly so central to his musical approach - only natural for a Mississippi-born singer-songwriter in Texas - you wouldn't expect to see him settle down in any one genre long enough to, say, create one of the best honest-to-god country albums in recent … [Read more...]
Five Questions with Erin Enderlin
By the time she hit her mid 20s, Erin Enderlin had heard her own words sung back to her by several of the defining voices of her lifetime. Stalwart traditionalists like Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, and Randy Travis had all cottoned to her evocative, literate compositions, finding a kindred spirit and 'old soul' in the young Middle Tennessee State University graduate from Arkansas. Always a prolific songwriter, Enderlin didn't begin sharing her singing with a wider audience … [Read more...]
Tony Brown on Jim Lauderdale: An Interview from the New Documentary, “The King of Broken Hearts”
Conducted by Jeremy Dylan for "The King of Broken Hearts" at Tony Brown Entertainment on June 10, 2011. For more information on the documentary and how you can support its completion, see our other post here or go directly to the fundraising page at IndieGoGo. Do you remember the first time you encountered Jim Lauderdale's music? The first time I remember encountering Lauderdale was in Austin at South by Southwest. That's before I'd produced any big hits or anything. I was just an A&R … [Read more...]