Capturing a tribute concert held on November 12, 2014 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, the double-disc One More for the Fans is studded with Southern rock stars, along with a bunch of country acts, bluesmen, Cheap Trick, and John Hiatt…
Country music just wouldn't be the same without duets. The blending of voices, the lyrical back-and-forth, and creative collaboration between country singers have created some of the best musical moments in country music.
Hailed as "the reigning heavyweight champions of Southern rock" (No Depression), Atlanta- based quintet Blackberry Smoke celebrates their 20th anniversary with a magnificent tribute to their home: You Hear Georgia. Produced by Dave Cobb (John Prine, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson), the album is inspired by and a celebration of the South and all it has to offer. In true Blackberry Smoke fashion, the band masterfully weaves through genre, with everything from Southern Rock anthems about overcoming preconceived notions to life lessons wrapped in heartfelt Americana. And they bring a few friends along for the ride, with guest features from Jamey Johnson and Warren Hayes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule).
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard first teamed up on record for Pancho & Lefty in 1983, a record released some 20 years after both singers began their careers. Back then, they were both hovering around 50, already considered old guys, but Django and Jimmie arrives 32 years after that record, when there's no question that the pair are old-timers. Appropriately enough, mortality is on their minds throughout Django and Jimmie, a record whose very title is taken from Willie and Merle's childhood idols. It's a song that seems like a confession, as does the casual admission that they didn't think they'd "Live This Long," but neither Nelson nor Haggard wrote this, nor the title track or the album's first single, the near-novelty "It's All Going to Pot."
The finest country songwriters understand that the best way to a big idea is often through a small detail. Consider the central gesture that dictates the action in Brandy Clark's beautiful song "I Cried," which appears on producer Dave Cobb's graceful compilation album Southern Family. Contemplating a grandfather's death and his wife's ensuing loneliness, Clark builds the song's chorus around the phrase, "I cried," her voice arching up into a tender, transcendent falsetto; in the next line, she takes the mood down again. "I tried to hold my head high, it ended up in my hands." That simple image so effectively captures the experience of living with grief: the attempt to show strength for others, for your own sanity, and the gradual, quiet, repetitive sag into vulnerability. Who hasn't experienced this moment at a funeral — or, as Clark describes, while simply talking on the phone with a fellow loved one left behind?
Luciano Berio was one of the most important Italian composers of the second half of the twentieth century, a leader of the international avant-garde who has managed to write music that is communicative and pleasing to audiences. He received musical instruction from his father and grandfather, organists in Oneglia, and continued musical training through his school years. After World War II he went to Milan to study law but also became a composition pupil with Ghedini, a composer known for his interest in many styles. He passed that interest on to Berio, who started his career as a neo-Classicist.
While in school Berio met met a remarkable American singer, Cathy Berberian. They married and went to the U.S. on their ……..
From Allmusic