Robyn LudwickNo Depression magazine is one of my must-reads. About 6 years ago I nixed my subscription to Wired when they went corportate just before the dot.bomb and pony'd up for ND, named after Uncle Tupelo's debut album No Depression, itself an old Carter Family standard.
The ND tag used to read "alt.country... whatever that is". I still like that better than the current "Surveying the Past, Present, and Future of American Music". What the heck does that mean? I think it means the publishers got bored fawning over alt-country creators--how many covers can Jay Farrar and Lucinda Williams adorn? Maybe they're going corporate, too. Maybe they felt the advert pressures from alternate alternates, like Harp. They have wandered a bit far afield even of americana for my taste, but it's still required reading for modern Roots Music.
ND does best when Peter Blackstock & Grant Alden make you sit down and read the magazine more like a novel than a comic book. As a bi-monthly (6 issues a year I think) I'm sure they're feeling turtle with the internet attention span of days, not quarters. However they do it, it still mostly works. This is stuff I need to absorb, inhale, ingest, make a part of my soul, for good or evil. I need to know what ND says, if I want to know what I want to listen to.
Issue #62 arrived in my mailbox this weekend (March-April 06). Kris Kristofferson is on the cover. I don't much care for Mr. Kristofferson--too political, too smarmy, but a memorable songwriter:
Sunday Morning Coming Down comes to mind. I'm sure I'll learn more when i get to the feature. But first, to drop names and I'm sure I'll miss a few, other featured artists:
* Calexico
* Bruce Robison
* Rosanne Cash
* Avett Brothers
* Arlo Guthrie
* Wilson Pickett
* Lou Rawls
* Jerry Lynn Williams
* Janette Carter
* Bonnie Raitt
* Jerry Lee Lewis
* Little Willies
* Jackie Greene
* Robyn Ludwick
* Gary Bennett
* Tom Brosseau
* Wilders
* DAVE KNUDSEN
* Alecia Nugent
* Jessi Colter
* Teddy Thompson
* Merle Haggard
* Everly Brothers
* Richard Thompson
* George Jones
* James Talley
* Van Morrison
* Gourds
* Willie Nelson
* Wanda Jackson
* Neko Case
* Marty Stuart
* Minus 5
* Sarah Harmer
* Robinella (she of Robinella & The CC String Band)
* Hem
* Scott Miller & The Commonwealth
* Josh Turner
* Elliott Smith tribute
* Jon Langford
* Cordero
* Shawn Mullins
* Martí Brom (whom they mis-spell)
* Jesse Harris
* Peter Case tribute
* Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
* Tom Russell
* Legendary Shack Shakers
* Southern Culture on the Skids
* bobby earl smith
* Darden Smith
* Amelia White
* Rancho Deluxe
* Frog Holler
...and more. Then there are the ads, which point to more good new music than any one person could possibly absorb. A feast of roots music gluttony.
Whatchyall readin?
-jc
The ND tag used to read "alt.country... whatever that is". I still like that better than the current "Surveying the Past, Present, and Future of American Music". What the heck does that mean? I think it means the publishers got bored fawning over alt-country creators--how many covers can Jay Farrar and Lucinda Williams adorn? Maybe they're going corporate, too. Maybe they felt the advert pressures from alternate alternates, like Harp. They have wandered a bit far afield even of americana for my taste, but it's still required reading for modern Roots Music.
ND does best when Peter Blackstock & Grant Alden make you sit down and read the magazine more like a novel than a comic book. As a bi-monthly (6 issues a year I think) I'm sure they're feeling turtle with the internet attention span of days, not quarters. However they do it, it still mostly works. This is stuff I need to absorb, inhale, ingest, make a part of my soul, for good or evil. I need to know what ND says, if I want to know what I want to listen to.
Issue #62 arrived in my mailbox this weekend (March-April 06). Kris Kristofferson is on the cover. I don't much care for Mr. Kristofferson--too political, too smarmy, but a memorable songwriter:
Sunday Morning Coming Down comes to mind. I'm sure I'll learn more when i get to the feature. But first, to drop names and I'm sure I'll miss a few, other featured artists:* Calexico
* Bruce Robison
* Rosanne Cash
* Avett Brothers
* Arlo Guthrie
* Wilson Pickett
* Lou Rawls
* Jerry Lynn Williams
* Janette Carter
* Bonnie Raitt
* Jerry Lee Lewis
* Little Willies
* Jackie Greene
* Robyn Ludwick
* Gary Bennett
* Tom Brosseau
* Wilders
* DAVE KNUDSEN
* Alecia Nugent
* Jessi Colter
* Teddy Thompson
* Merle Haggard
* Everly Brothers
* Richard Thompson
* George Jones
* James Talley
* Van Morrison
* Gourds
* Willie Nelson
* Wanda Jackson
* Neko Case
* Marty Stuart
* Minus 5
* Sarah Harmer
* Robinella (she of Robinella & The CC String Band)
* Hem
* Scott Miller & The Commonwealth
* Josh Turner
* Elliott Smith tribute
* Jon Langford
* Cordero
* Shawn Mullins
* Martí Brom (whom they mis-spell)
* Jesse Harris
* Peter Case tribute
* Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
* Tom Russell
* Legendary Shack Shakers
* Southern Culture on the Skids
* bobby earl smith
* Darden Smith
* Amelia White
* Rancho Deluxe
* Frog Holler
...and more. Then there are the ads, which point to more good new music than any one person could possibly absorb. A feast of roots music gluttony.
Whatchyall readin?
-jc
