Not a single false note or bad song recorded on ‘Beneath a Jealous Moon’

MUSIC REVIEW

By WANDA FRIES

One of the clichés about modern life is that we all go around in our own little technological bubbles and that the music of the living room and the back porch is as much an anachronism as party-line telephones.
In Kentucky and the southern mountain region, thankfully, this conventional wisdom continues to… »

Annual festival honors memory and musical heritage of Uncle Dave Macon

By JUDY LEE GREEN

Uncle Dave Macon, first superstar of the Grand Ole Opry, died in 1952, but each summer, a celebration in his memory attracts 50,000 people to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, bringing in $2 million to benefit the local economy.
Old-time music and dance fans arrive in Middle Tennessee from every state and several foreign countries to… »

Sollee and Moore use music to shed light on mountaintop removal mining

INTERVIEW

By SILAS HOUSE
Two of Kentucky’s favorite and most talented native sons have come together to create Dear Companion, a collection of 11 songs that illuminate the issue of mountaintop removal mining without being an outright protest record. Ben Sollee has become known for his huge part in bringing the cello into folk music, his… »

Herring’s musical, lyrical gifts abound in ‘Golden Apples’

MUSIC REVIEW

By MARIANNE WORTHINGTON
One of the most memorable phrases from director Milos Forman’s fictional biography about Mozart (Amadeus, 1984), is spoken by Mozart’s nemesis and rival composer Antonio Salieri. Describing Mozart’s perfect compositions, Salieri says: “Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall.”
While it may seem far-fetched… »