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...
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...
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...
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....
I was lucky to have crossed paths with the writer Paul Hemphill. We shared the same birthday. I interviewed Hemphill three times from early 2007 until months before he passed away on July 11, 2009. Those interviews eventually appeared in my book Insured Beyond The...
By James Calemine Originally released on Columbia Records in April 1974, Ragged Old Flag consists of twelve original Johnny Cash compositions. In the liner notes, Cash revealed, “I got so excited writing the songs in this album that you’d think I just started in the...
By James Calemine I watched the film The Rum Diary again last night. In 1959, Hunter S. Thompson was 22-years old when he began writing The Rum Diary. Published in 1998, The Rum Diary serves as Thompson's only novel. Bruce Robinson's film remains true to Thompson's...
Recorded in two days at Jim Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch Studios during the spring of 2009, Shannon McNally’s Coldwater defines her incredible talent. McNally has worked and recorded with John Hiatt, Victoria Williams, Dr. John, Charlie Sexton, Grayson Capps, Luther and...
Hunter S. Thompson and President Jimmy Carter first crossed paths in 1974 at the University of Georgia for a speech Carter delivered on Law Day. The relationship developed, and the two remained friends until Thompson’s death in 2005. To this day, the Jimmy Carter...
Released in 1971, Motel Shot counts as a great, obscure recording--the fourth studio album by Delaney & Bonnie. The players on this record prove impressive: Clarence White, Gram Parsons, Duane Allman, Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Joe Cocker, Bobby Whitlock, Kenny...