Andy Irvine has been called Ireland’s Woody Guthrie. Irvine toured the world promoting Irish music as well as picking up on the traditional music of the countries he visited, concentrating on the music of the Balkans. From the ’60s through the ’80s he founded three Irish supergroups–Sweeney’s Men, Planxty and Patrick Street–before launching Mozaik in […]
Grant Britt
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Music spotlight
“Rootsy, folky, harmony-driven music” is Tres Chicas’ Lynn Blakey’s take on her band’s sound. “I’ll have to start thinking about that,” she adds, “because we have a record coming out June 29 on Yep Roc, and I’m gonna have to start thinking about how to describe us.” The band consists of Blakey, who was one […]
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In pop
Before he was a buffalo, he was Bloody Holly. But when he got over his country phase, the bison in Grant Lee Buffalo–Grant Lee Phillips–once made ’90s pop records so fuzzy that REM lost sleep over them. When lack of interest thinned out his tribe, he roamed the pop grasslands solo, sounding like a breathless, […]
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Line drive
Before his guitar playing earned him a rep as being Bad to the Bone, George Thorogood was considering a career in baseball. But three little things got in the way. “I couldn’t hit, run or throw,” Thorogood laughs. “That hung me up, man.” The guitarist got out of ball in the ’70s. But as a […]
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Freedom dreaming
Joseph Shabalala is living his dream. His Mambazo Foundation for South African Music & Culture exists because “Mambazo always dreamed of (my) dream of Ladysmith Black Mambazo Music Academy,” the group’s leader said by phone from Durban, South Africa. “Now we are getting new groups and somehow, somewhere, we work with them.” When not on […]
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Outlaw this
“What I’m fighting for is the new breed of country outlaws, the underground country singers out there who are fighting and playing music because they love it, not because of the money or the game.” Hank Williams III is following a family tradition. Granddaddy Hank changed the face of country music and inspired generations of […]
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Music Spotlight
Robert Earl Keen’s music has been described as country music for people who hate country music. So what does he do to take the hate out of it? “I don’t sing 90 percent love songs,” the singer said by phone last week from his Texas home. “And the songs that I do sing about love, […]
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Evergreen
It takes some serious nurturing skills to raise a PineCone from a Tomader seed. The Oldtime Music And Dance Enthusiasts of Raleigh (TOMADER) first got together in 1983 to establish a place for old time musicians to play in the Raleigh area. The focus has always been on traditional music, but in the beginning, the […]
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Music Spotlight
He’s been called the African Eric Clapton. But on Habib Koite’s latest release Foly, there’s not a blues lick in evidence. Things are considerably livelier than any woke-up-this-morning groove. “Cigarette Abana,” one of his biggest hits, marches along smartly to a Cuban rhythm, a slinky salsa overlaid by rippling guitar in the manner of King […]
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Music Spotlight
Carrboro’s ArtsCenter kicks off its American Roots Series with two shows January featuring Rory Block and Rickie Lee Jones, two women who have made impressive contributions to the contemporary and traditional music scenes. Block, who leads off the series with a show Saturday, Jan. 17 is a blues veteran with the medals to prove it. […]
