Category Archives: Features

The Horseshoe Crabs: “Merry Christmas From The Family” > “I Ain’t Never Satisfied” (Live)

Now if this don’t get you in the holiday spirit, put a tear in your eye, and spill eggnog down the front of your sweater, there’s something seriously wrong with your soul. With apologies to the great Robert Earl Keen (and a side order of Steve Earle, to boot) here’s some raggedy-assed Horseshoe Crabness from […]

Hendrix Archivist John McDermott Talks Miami Pop And More

In June of 1967, Jimi Hendrix walked out on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival a relatively unknown guitar player in the US. By the time he left the stage, Hendrix’ Stratocaster was a smoldering mess of smashed parts – literally – and America was put on notice. By the following May, Hendrix, bassist Noel […]

Shonna Tucker: Eye Candy, A Tell All & Life On The Farm

Bassist/singer/songwriter Shonna Tucker has been busy in the two years since she parted ways with the Drive-By Truckers. There were the “Sweet Soul Cookin‘” videos she did for YouTube; there’s the farm she and guitarist John Neff have been tending a few miles outside of Athens, GA (with duties that include donkey midwifery); and, of […]

The New Riders’ Buddy Cage: A Sunshine Daydream Prequel

As cool as the newly-released Sunshine Daydream box set is – documenting the Grateful Dead’s sun-scorched, “Field Trip” benefit for the Kesey family-owned Springfield Creamery on August 27, 1972 – and as neat as it’s been lately to relive that historic day, there’s one fact that nobody’s mentioned much. Did you know that the New […]

“Adrift” – Solo guitar piece at the 2013 Working Waterfront Festival

Every now and then I wander out unattended, guitar in hand, and without the blessed support of my brethren in the Horseshoe Crabs, Peter Jackson and Paul Sherman. (You can read more about those guys by clicking right HERE.) The song below is “Adrift” – first conceived during a jam at a Horseshoe Crab practice […]

Rhett Miller on the Old 97’s, Waylon Jennings, and the Holy Grail

Call it a multi-generational outlaw country summit; call it an historic moment in alt-country history; or maybe just call it a gift to us all. The story of the Old 97’s recording session with legend Waylon Jennings in a Nashville studio in 1996 reads something like an Americana fairy tale – with the accomplished legend […]

Mike Doughty Rediscovers “Circles,” “Super Bon Bon” … and Mike Doughty

Don’t confuse Mike Doughty’s new Circles Super Bon Bon … album as a “greatest hits” collection from his days with the band Soul Coughing. Uh-uh. Nope. The fact of the matter is, it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of even playing these songs was the last thing on Doughty’s mind. As documented in […]

Talking Sunshine Daydream with Ken Babbs: Kesey, The Dead & Little Kids And Dogs

Call it what you want: The Last Acid Test; The Field Trip; The Springfield Creamery Benefit; or perhaps simply 8/27/72. Even the most casual of Deadheads are at least aware of the facts: the Grateful Dead played an outdoor concert in Veneta, OR that day, immersed in record-breaking heat. The show was a benefit to […]

Patterson Hood: Alabama Ass Whuppin’, Drive-By Truckers’ Upcoming Studio Album, And Thank God For Triple-A

The latest album from the Drive-by Truckers is actually a blast from the past – a full-bore, string-thrashing, drum-pounding, floor-thumping, wall-shaking blast from the past, known as Alabama Ass Whuppin’. Originally released by the band in 2000, AAW is a time capsule chock full of CBGB-meets-Vee-Eff-Dubya-hall chickaboom punkness that captures the Truckers’ live lineup of […]

American Babies: A Lesson In Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart

I wrote this piece a few years back after Tigger and I witnessed Tom Hamilton and the American Babies doing what they do best. When they finished “Invite All Your Friends” at the end of the set, Tommy tapped his heart and tipped his hat towards Tigger and I – we being the two folks […]