Patsy Cline is alive. Or at least her most identifiable part: Cline’s sultry, soulful moan lives on in Neko Case’s voice. It’s fine-tuned and a bit more urban, but it still carries enough twang to turn a country boy’s head. The two singers also share an interest in getting crazy and falling to pieces over […]
Grant Britt
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Bartender’s blues
Bluesman Floyd Dixon is given credit for influencing Ray Charles to move away from pop music. He’s also said to have encouraged Charles to put more gospel in his music. But Dixon doesn’t take any of the credit. Dixon’s agent, who also represented Charles, had told him nobody wanted Charles with their band because he […]
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George Thorogood’s bad dog blues
Trying to find a secret to George Thorogood & The Destroyers’ success is like trying to figure out the plot to a Three Stooges episode. “There is none,” Thorogood says in that familiar rasp. “I’m the Chevy, pizza, Budweiser of music. People can rely on that.” His rattly, chainsaw-slide guitar and bad-dog growl make him […]
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Still takes you there
Her mix of gospel, sex and soul is unprecedented in any genre, her unique voice a sexy growl that sounds like it has more to do with the nether regions than celestial reaches. With her sisters Cleo, Pervis and Yvonne and her father, Pops, on guitar and vocals, the Staples Singers conquered all of the […]
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Emmylou, unplugged
She’s everybody’s musical darling, the former cheerleader and beauty queen turned roots-music monarch. Since leaving the UNC-Greensboro in 1966 and being introduced to country music by Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris has collected 13 Grammys for her heartfelt country and folk creations. Harris’ approach impresses not just fans, but also fellow musicians. “She lets you go […]
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The blues do not suck
Some might question the connection between broken vacuum cleaners and blues, but to local bluesmen Near Blind James and Harmonica Bob, it’s a natural fit. Just call it blues that don’t suck. James, Bob and a couple of their friends will pay tribute to the 20th anniversary of Chapel Hill’s Vacuum Cleaner Hospital. More than […]
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Joe Bell, still toiling
The secret of Joe Bell’s longevity eludes even him. “I’m a fuckin’ enigma,” he says. Bell and his band the Stinging Blades have been cranking out soul and R&B in the spirit of Wilson Pickett, Tyrone Davis and Van Morrison around these parts since 1989. “We’re doing it for nothing but love,” Bell jokes. “And […]
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Dr. John: HooDoo for a Hurricane
He’s a Louisiana-hoodoo man, a jittery gris-gris doctor prescribing syncopated second-line fonk (his idiosyncratic funk) as a cure for his patients. After years of gigging around the city as a studio musician, New Orleans guitarist turned pianist Mac Rebennack adopted the Dr. John persona in 1968. Not everybody was impressed with the good doctor’s first […]
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Rearranging Leon
Leon Russell doesn’t sound like he used to. His voice hasn’t changed–it’s still the same distinctive nasal yowl. His piano still sounds the same, too, that bouncy, jangly accompaniment that defined rock in the ’70s, filling the charts with hits like “Delta Lady,” “A Song For You” and “Hummingbird.” It’s the feel that’s different. Unlike […]
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Back in New Orleans
It’s like we’ve become a small town now, with a lot of people in it,” says Susan Cowsill. Like many who were forced from their homes when Hurricane Katrina redecorated New Orleans, Cowsill found on her return that the landscape wasn’t the only thing that had changed. “If you manage to find a place, the […]
