Published in 1994, David Weddle's biography of filmmaker Sam Peckinpah provides a detailed look into "Bloody Sam's" life and films. If They Move...Kill 'Em begins with Peckinpah's childhood in a family of "lumberjacks, cattle ranchers and frontier lawyers". Weddle...
Bob Dylan called AKA Grafitti Man the best album of the year. In fact, Dylan played this album before his own shows. “Rockin’ the Res” opens the disc with an up-tempo beat threaded with cinematic reels of visual images. “Grafitti Man” hinges on a great Davis electric guitar hook. Eight of these compositions were written by Davis and Trudell.
Born August 18, 1915, in Abbeville, Georgia, Reverend Pearly Brown lived his life preaching and singing about the word of God to common folk in the streets. Rev. Brown stands as the first black musician to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. The Reverend often played folk...
The John Sayles film, Honeydripper, inspired me to seek him out for an interview in 2007. This Q & A captures a portrait of the filmmaker at the time Honeydripper showed in theaters. The film revolves around Alabama blues musicians. Honeydripper counts as one of...
Everybody loves a good fishing story. Fishing with John originated as a television series based on John Lurie hosting angling trips with various friends in 1991. Each episode features a well-known artist casting bait with Lurie in a different location, which proves...
In March of this year, I interviewed Blackberry Smoke’s drummer Brit Turner. He’s a great guy, talented musician and a gentleman of the highest order to all that know him. Big car guy. I sent him an electronic version of Ghostland America back in the spring after our...
“Art is a disagreement. Money is an agreement.” –Bob Dylan Who better to write a book about songs than Bob Dylan? Dylan’s new tome proves more entertaining and straightforward than his 2004 book, Chronicles. True to form, Dylan makes no mention of his own songs in The...
“I’m gonna chat with a daffodilI’ve got a little time to kill…”–”Happy Daffodils” A Supernova Rainbow of Fun exists as a collector's item for any Widespread Panic, Bloodkin or Athens, Georgia, music fan. Daniel Hutchens and Todd Nance–two founding members of the...
"The desires of the heart are crooked as a corkscrew..." Robert Stone’s second novel, Dog Soldiers, won the National Book Award in 1975. Stone died in 2015. He was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and once for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Stone also received support...
“Times past are fugitive. They cain’t be kept in no box…” –Old Timekeeper from The Gardener’s Son Since Cormac McCarthy’s two new books (The Passenger and Stella Maris) hit the streets later this year I wanted to revisit some of his previous works, such as The...