“A corpse will be transported by express!” --Geoffrey Firmin The Day of the Dead carries ominous implications. Malcolm Lowry’s masterpiece, Under the Volcano, stands as a book to revisit--or discover. Lowry, born in 1909 and died in 1957, published two books while he...
Books Posts
Blind Boys of Alabama: Take The High Road
By James Calemine Take The High Road represented the Blind Boys of Alabama's first country-gospel album in their 70-year career. The five time Grammy winners recruited some of country music's heaviest players to assist on this recording. Clarence Fountain and the rest...
The Feelings of Beverly “Guitar” Watkins
Beverly "Guitar" Watkins passed away on October 1, 2019. Recorded at Clean Tracks Studio in Vinemont, Alabama, these ten songs illustrate her true guitar mastery. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 6, 1939, Watkins played guitar for the legendary Piano Red when she...
Dispatch From Quarantine Island: Original Transcripts of Archibald C. McKinley’s 1886 Earthquake Account
By James Calemine On September 24, 2019, I made another trip to Quarantine Island with Michael Gowen. I’ve known Gowen about 36 years, and he is now the caretaker of Quarantine Island. Quarantine served as the designated location sick (mostly yellow fever) sailors...
Cheyenne Marie Mize: We Don’t Need
By James Calemine Cheyenne Marie Mize is a Louisville, Kentucky, native. She served as a member of the groups Arnett Hollow and Maiden Radio a few years ago. She writes songs, sings, plays guitar and mandolin. Her debut album, Before Lately, was released in 2010. Mize...
Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet
By James Calemine "In every person of whatever station look not for things to criticize, but for something you adore in your Creator." --Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on March 18, 1877. Cayce possessed gifts of clairvoyance and over the...
Say It Loud! The Life of James Brown: Soul Brother No. 1
By James Calemine Author of seven books, Don Rhodes' "Ramblin' Rhodes" music column has been published weekly for almost 50 years, which counts as the longest running column in America. He was twice named "Media Person of the Year" by the Greater Augusta Arts Council...
Craig Brewer’s Black Snake Moan
By James Calemine Arkansas born, Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan exists as a fine film. Samuel L. Jackson added another great performance to his repertoire. Christina Ricci, covered only by a sleeveless-belly t-shirt for most of the film, gives a great performance of...
Edgar Allan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado”
After 3 cups of coffee, I stopped what I was doing, and decided to revisit the work of Edgar Allan Poe. In my 20s I read his books and accumulated a formidable collection of his work. Something compelled me to reach for Ed Poe on this early, rainy August morning. A...
It’s Only Rock & Roll: The Rolling Stones Revisit Jacksonville, Florida
By James Calemine July 19, 2019… The Rolling Stones are in town. When they left New Orleans Monday (after bumping the show up a night due to a tropical storm), they flew into my hometown of Brunswick, Georgia, left their plane at the airport and drove to Sea Island....










