Urban Article Archives
Gimme Some Sugar, Darlin': The Quintessential Southern Cookbook
If you love to cook or just love to collect cookbooks, start making space on your bookshelf now because there's a new cookbook in town. This delightful compendium of all things culinary, Gimme Some Sugar, Darlin' by Mississippian Laurance Daltroff Triplette, is true piece read more...
The Shoals Area Heats Up for the 31st Annual W. C. Handy Music Festival
It's almost that time again when the hills of North Alabama are alive with the sound of music. The 31st annual W. C. Handy Music Festival, which runs July read more...
Swampland's Top 25 Albums of 2011
As March fades and the first quarter of 2012 comes to a close, Swampland has used this moment to look back on 2011 putting together our list of last year's best music releases from the South. Although we've named 25 records on our Top 25 Albums of 2011, each one serves as read more...
"What Does the Lord Require of You But to do Justice...?"
By Patsy Glenn, Guest Writer
American Roots Music: "The Jefferson County Sound: Alabama's Black Gospel Quartets"
The new documentary film, "The Jefferson County Sound: Alabama's Black Gospel Quartets," (One State Films, Stone Ridge, NY, 2012) is a tribute to and an affectionate preservation of roots music, in particular black gospel a capella quartet music. The read more...
Making Merry in the Marigny: FMIA Tour of Homes, New Orleans
Visitors to New Orleans who think the city is defined by the French Quarter and the Garden District are in for a delightful surprise when they wander past Esplanade and across Elysian Fields into the fabulous Faubourg Marigny. Popularly known as the
HOMEGROWN: An Exhibit of Regionally Influenced Designs in Nashville, TN
HOMEGROWN is a special exhibition of regionally influenced, culturally significant, contemporary design, bringing the designs to an underexposed market outside of the major design centers. The exhibit will take place from place from June 1 through June
Matthew Nolan: Crumpled Paper Dolls and Exhuming Juliet.
"My pen sustains me, " writes poet Matthew Nolan in his poem "Muddy Hearts" from his first volume of poetry and prose Crumpled Paper Dolls (2004). Nolan, through his read more...
Rock and Roll in the Rocket City: Rocking The Army
by Jane DeNeefe First among Alabama cities to integrate public facilities relatively peacefully, Huntsville could thank musicians and read more...
Meeting the Icons: Flo Kennedy and Rosa Parks
by Patsy Glenn So many of the high points in my life are framed and on the walls in my computer room. One of those is the program from the 1985 State Conference of the Alabama National Organization for Women. We met in October that year at the Econo Lodge on Battleship read more...
Alabama's Artisanal Goat Cheese Belle Chevre:"You Can Taste the Love!"
Belle Chevre Fromagerie, a tiny creamery nestled in the countryside of rural north Alabama, is a small business that packs a big punch. Just pick up any food related magazine this month and you may see
Rock and Roll in the Rocket City Part 2: Rock and Roll Boomtown
by Jane DeNeefe Last month in
The Roots of Rock and Roll in the Rocket City by Jane DeNeefe
Huntsville's rock and roll scene got its start in a racially segregated world. Black and white neighborhoods and business districts coexisted side-by-side downtown, with separate record stores, churches and night clubs. When Sun Record tours came through read more...
Young Man With A Horn: Ken Watters, Jazz Trumpeter Extraordinaire
"Ken Watters is one of the finest young trumpet players to come along in a very long while. His is a unique trumpet voice that utilizes the read more...
Meet David Lummis, Author of The Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans
In April of this year I had the opportunity to spend four glorious days in that queen of cities, New Orleans. One of the highlights of the trip, as recorded in my
Athens Cobbler Practices "Dying Art" by Holly Hollman
ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — Dust particles dance in the dim light at Dobbs Shoe Shop as Mike Latimer grinds a custom sneaker sole for an orthopedic patient. Grit and black polish outline his calloused fingertips. The smells of beeswax, used for
New Orleans Journal Episode Three: Culture, Cuisine, and "Coffee Shop Chronicles"
Randy and I arrived in NOLA on April 9 by way of Hattiesburg, MS. We elected to spend the first night of the trip in Mississippi because we had heard of a superb restaurant in downtown Hattiesburg read more...
"Ain't No City Like New Orleans"--New Orleans Journal Episode One
April in Paris? How about April in one of the most incredible cities in the world--a city rich with history, redolent with aromas of exotic cuisine, and resounding with jazz-- New Orleans, Louisiana. New read more...
UA Press Releases Alabama's Civil RIghts Trail: An Illustrated Guide
This amazing 350 page volume, Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom, is every person's guide to the last 150 years of the civil read more...
Super Bowl XLIV Will Be Special for the South
The world’s biggest sporting contest is upon us, and the Southern storylines could not be more prevalent. With the Saints and the Colts meeting in the Super Bowl,
SEC, Big 12, & ACC Bowl Primer: Post-January 1 Edition
SEC 01/01 –.Auburn vs. Northwestern - Outback Bowl (11 am EST – ESPN) 01/01 – LSU vs. Penn State - Independence Bowl (1 pm EST – read more...
SEC, Big 12, & ACC Bowl Primer: Pre-January 1 Edition
SEC 12/27 – Kentucky vs. Clemson - Music City Bowl (8:30pm EST – read more...
A Real Christmas Letter: Writer Counts Blessings
The following is a real Christmas letter that I received last year. It was too late to publish it on Swampland so I saved it for this year because I found it not only inspirational but very funny. During 2009 I read it over and over in order to remember to count read more...
Johnny Mercer: A Georgia Peach of a Songwriter
by Billy C. Farlow Elk River November 2009 Johnny Mercer is not your usual Southern music icon. In the genre of down-home music greats most life stories are all too read more...
First Annual Southern Shorts Film Festival by Guest Writer Kelly Kazek
Organizers of the Southern Shorts Film Festival, the first of its kind in Athens, Ala, will be screening three feature-length films read more...
Weekly Fever Review #5: The ACC Still Not Progressing Quickly Enough
As we head into October, we've learned quite a few things about this current college football season. SEC - This conference remains on top, not only for our Footprint, but also nationally. There are still 3 SEC teams in the top 5, and there are two teams read more...
Weekly Fever Review #4: NYC Bowl Hypocrisy, Etc.
It's going to be a briefer than normal weekly fever. We will take a look at some key games coming up and how they affect our teams and conferences as a whole, but first let's start with a subject that really has us a bit miffed.
Weekly SPF Rating #3: Teams in Turmoil
We warned about a difficult season in SPF land, but we didn't think the wheels would come off so fast for certain teams. The good news is with a few of our top teams. The Colts and Saints sit at 3-0 and look like potential Super Bowl contenders. The Falcons, the read more...
Weekly SPF Rating #2: The Desperation Factor
We already warned everyone that 2009 looked like a down year for our SPF teams across the board. It could be worse than we imagined after one of our better read more...
Weekly Fever Review #3: The South "Officially" Becomes the Home of College Football
We would be remiss if we didn't start our Weekly Fever with some big news - the College Football Hall of Fame will relocate from South Bend, Indiana (home of Notre Dame) to Atlanta by read more...
Weekly SPF Rating #1: 2009 Could Be A Long Year For Our Pro Teams
Yes, it is only the first week of the NFL season, but there are signs that it could be a seriously down year for our 13 SPF teams. It starts with the core of our group of teams - the eight squads that make up the NFC South and AFC South. In the past, these two read more...
Weekly Fever Review: College Football's Week Two - Big 12/ACC Struggles, etc
Now that week two of the college football season is behind us, we've learned a little more about our teams and what the season might have in store.
Weekly Fever Review: Reflections on College Football's Week One
We thought we'd provide a few thoughts after the first week of the college football season just before tonight's Clemson - Georgia Tech game. In the months that pass between each football season, certain things are put under the microscope by the media and the fans. Here read more...
Pat Conroy: An Affair to Remember
by Penne J. Laubenthal When I read my first Pat Conroy book, it was love at first paragraph. I have just finished reading the prologue to
Cornbread Chronicles: Excerpts
by Jerry read more...
Alabama Filmmaker Robert Clem, Atticus Finch, and Big Jim Folsom
by Penne J. Laubenthal The New Yorker magazine, renowned for its esoteric analyses as well as its eclectic literary pieces recently published a provocative article entitled
Going Green in New Orleans--Worn Again Art in NOLA
by Penne J. Laubenthal Having had its share of trouble over the years but forever out there on the cutting edge, New Orleans is a city whose name has always evoked history, music, literature, and art. Now read more...
Billy C Farlow Talks about Jaybird Coleman and the Blues Harp
by guest writer Billy C. Farlow After my rant about harp blowers not getting enough credit in Ted Gioia's fine book
Renowned Artist James C. Watkins and the Trinity Museum Project.
by guest writer Diane Lehr On Friday July 17,2009, I spent the late afternoon in Athens, read more...
Celebrating Juneteenth and the End of Slavery in the US
by Penne J. Laubenthal "This is the use of memory/ For liberation -- not less of love but expanding/ Of love beyond desire and so liberation/ From the future as well as the past." T. S read more...
Rags to Riches: From Anderson Books to Books-A-Million
By Penne J. Laubenthal The old Anderson Bookland store in downtown Florence, Alabama, will soon house the elegant corporate headquarters and retail store for internationally known clothing designer read more...
Rick Bragg Receives Harper Lee Award
By Penne J. Laubenthal At the 12th Annual Alabama Writers Symposium held earlier this month in
Ordinary Heroes: A Series---Nell Smith Lutz and the World War II Honor Flights
by Penne J. Laubenthal This feature is the first in a series about ordinary heroes—those persons who live next door or just across town, people we see every day who have, in their own quiet and special way, made the world a better place to live in. Last month read more...
Billy Reid: A Touch of Southern Style in NYC
For lack of a better explanation the South is a place where city and rural cordially interact and blend daily. This makes for a very interesting environment and culture - Billy Reid Nestled within a construction-filled street in the NoHo area of NYC, read more...
Let's Have a Party: Wanda Jackson Still Rocking at 71
by Penne J. Laubenthal When I was young, I did not even know Wanda Jackson by name but there was no mistaking that distinctive voice. She could rock the rafters with
Calipari, SEC Hoops, and the Coming NBA "Bubble"
Watch out - Rick Pitino and Louisville! John Calipari gave Kentucky what it wanted - a coach that makes them instantly competitive in their state, their conference, and the nation at large. There is little doubt that it has been hard for Kentucky to watch their read more...
George Washington Harris' Cemetery Party by Special Guest Dr. Sheila Byrd
As I stood on the hillside of this compact, well-kept cemetery in a place I had known for a few short months, I was struck by the beauty of the spring day: the blooming dogwoods, the bright green grass, the fresh air, and brilliant sunshine. It was as if he had ordered it read more...
Power Rankings: College Football Tradition By State
by Patrick Snow With the football season fast approaching, we thought it was time to take a State-by-State look at the schools and traditions that make up the religion that is college football in our Swampland footprint. Gold read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 13): William Faulkner Provides Our Rankings
As the season nears conclusion, it's time to break down our 13 teams into groups, Faulkner-style. With apologies to this great writer, the titles and themes of his novels and stories seemed to fit our group of thirteen as the season nears its close.
Art and the South: Paxton--Out of This World
By Penne J. Laubenthal When Midrealist artist Paxton opened his recent show at the
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 11): The Stretch Run Begins!
We know quite a bit about our SPF teams by now. The only thing left to determine is which teams are playoff bound and which teams have Super Bowl potential. At least half of our 13 teams will be at home and that number could continue to rise. We can also call at read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 10): Ranking the Coaching Trees
1. Tennessee Titans - The Titans remain a fantastic SPF story. Their way of winning - brute force, matched by a will not to lose - has them as the NFL's only undefeated team for yet another week.
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 9): Shakeups At The Top!
1. Tennessee Titans - Like the #1 college team working each week to hold their place at the top, the Titans have methodically marched through their undefeated season. This isn't a big play team. It doesn't have to be. They attack opponents read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 8): Halfway Home
1. Dallas Cowboys - They pulled off a critical victory against the Bucs last Sunday. It was ugly, but that's how it goes sometimes. A win is a win. The Cowboys can't afford to be worried about style points right now. They continue to read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 7): Hanging Hammers
1. Dallas Cowboys - Let's hear a few words of wisdom from one of Swampland Sports all time coaching greats, Jimmy Johnson: Show me one player who doesn’t need a hammer hanging over him. I don’t think there’s ever been, or read more...
Rooting Out Kudzu the Spartanburg Way
by Dianne Smith Fergusson “Far Eastern vines. . . . prospered until rooted out.” James Dickey –
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 6): Tennessee Reigns!
1. Tennessee Titans - The last undefeated team in the NFL has to get the top spot for at least one week this season. They have become Tennessee's team as the Vols in Knoxville have struggled to maintain their own identity. 2. Dallas read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 5): Identities Found, Lost
Identities. This is the "Team Identity" Poll after all. We are far enough into the season to get a sense of where teams are. Some have done an amazing job. Others are teetering, losing their connection to their fans and read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 4): Adjustments
The NFL vs College. It's a distinction that has begun to blur. The two games have been getting closer and closer over the past ten years. Scholarship reductions are one of the main reasons combined with increased TV exposure for all schools. Watching Vandy read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 3): Who Are You?
In any season, there is a moment where teams begin to show who they are. After three games, our SPF teams are showing just that. 1. Dallas Cowboys - The Cowboys took care of business on Sunday night against the Packers. The Cowboys as a read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 2): Consistency, Both Good and Bad
1. Dallas Cowboys - Our recent SPF review of Jeff Pearlman's book on the Cowboys of the 1990's called Boys Will Be Boys shows how this latest era in Cowboys history might possibly be even read more...
Space Opera - LOST IN SPACE (Chapter 2)
The Epic Saga of Fort Worth's Space Opera CHAPTER TWO: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PARTY (and later, a problem)... "I'm at the club one evening and three guys show up, and we're talking gawky, zit-faced teenagers... they wanted me to come to Fort read more...
Suicide and the South
by Penne J. Laubenthal When he was only 31 years old, the brilliant and talented John Kennedy Toole killed himself by using a garden hose to asphyxiate himself with exhaust fumes from his car. His read more...
Space Opera - LOST IN SPACE
The Epic Saga of Fort Worth's Space Opera by Frank Gutch A FOREWORD, OF SORTS... I have to laugh when I think of how many people, including those in the music industry, considered Space Opera one of Canada's best rock exports. read more...
Wynton and Willie and the Blues
by Penne J. Laubenthal The Marsalis family and Willie Nelson and I go way back. I have been a fan read more...
A Southern Strategy For The NBA
Now that we welcome another NBA team to our Footprint (three cheers for OKC), it's time for the NBA to start making some other changes that will help this league's popularity continue to grow in our read more...
NASCAR: Driving in Different Directions?
by Patrick Snow Some recent events in the world of NASCAR have made us here at Swampland ask the question: In what direction is this sport going? I’ve expressed frustration before about how NASCAR seems to want to forget its Southern roots as they try to put read more...
Guest blog by Bebe Gish Shaw: Magical Mississippi Tour
There are magical moments in teaching which remind us that we do not teach to live but rather live to teach, and Saturday, April 19, 2008, was one of those halcyon days of academic heaven in which one goes into third person, watching himself watching the wonderment sparkle in read more...
The SEC At A Crossroads: Don't Make NASCAR's Mistake
The SEC sets the pace in all of college athletics. The question is what will it do for an encore? Last week's meetings in Destin, FL ended up largely becoming a time to reflect on
Eddie Hinton Does Porretta--Again!
by Penne J. Laubenthal Eighteen years ago in April of 1991 an Italian named Graziano Uliani, founder of the
Southern Sporting "Events"
by Patrick Snow As I attended a Kentucky Derby function this past Saturday, it was never more evident that Southerners must throw a pretty good party. We are probably more known
The BCS: A Friend to the SEC (and the Rest of the Footprint)
We at Tribal Fever find it odd that it would be the SEC who would call for a playoff system. We wonder how the SEC can be so blind to the fact that the BCS has been great for that conference. For those that love the idea of a playoff, we will list the reasons why most read more...
Snowman's 2008 Draft Wrap Up
The annual NFL Draft is now over, and the critics will have a field day with opinions on who did well and who faltered with their choices. I thought I would take a look at the Draft from the collegiate view and see who from our region will have the biggest impact on their new read more...
SPF's 2008 NFL Draft Awards
Although the NFL Draft still have rounds 3-7 to go, we at SPF think it is time to hand out some awards. Except in very rare cases, team's drafts are defined by their day one picks, and we learned a lot about how the SPF slate of teams are approaching the coming season - for read more...
New York City Southern Style: Alabama Studio Weekend in the Shoals
by Penne J. Laubenthal Imagine starting off your Saturday morning with the perfect Bloody Mary, garnished in typical southern fashion with pickled okra, and served to you by one of the country’s foremost clothing designers,
Record Stores of the Swampland Footprint
ALABAMA CD Cellar Anniston AL Oz Music Tuscaloosa AL ARKANSAS
Natasha Trethewey: Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
by Penne J. Laubenthal Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey is a poet who gives voice to the voiceless, names to the nameless, and who creates read more...
Sena Jeter Naslund and Growing Up in the Segregated South
Four Spirits, a novel by Birmingham native Sena Jeter Naslund based on the aftermath of the1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four little girls, made its world premiere read more...
Darius Goes West: Twelve Guys and a Dream
Once in a great while, just when you think there is no reason to get up in the morning and that there is no hope for humanity, and that people will just go on killing one another forever, and that tomorrow will be probably be even worse than today, then something happens to turn read more...
Fifth Annual Oxford Film Festival
The Fifth Annual Oxford Film Festival (OFF) will open Wednesday evening, read more...
SEC: Conference King Once Again
By Patrick Snow It’s an argument that will never end-whose Conference is better? Fans will debate this topic vociferously every season, and the answer always tends to lie close to your address. I’m not sure that the Bowl games are the best way to evaluate read more...
Huge Hires for the SEC Old Guard
By Patrick Snow It has already been quite the postseason in the SEC coaching ranks, and it’s only going to get more interesting. With the recent additions of Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino along with Houston Nutt and Les Miles staying in the conference, read more...
Billy C Farlow is Having Too Much Fun
by Penne J. Laubenthal Billy C Farlow, blues musician, song writer, and harmonica player who skyrocketed to fame in the early ‘70s with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, is a force to be reckoned with read more...
Anarchy in the ATL
By Patrick Snow The current Atlanta Falcons mess brings up so many thoughts and issues. I thought I would try to answer some of the questions that are plaguing this moribund franchise. How did everything go so wrong? The forecast for the Falcons never read more...
Goodbye, Babylon: A Patchwork Quilt of American Music
GOODBYE, BABYLON A Patchwork Quilt of American Music By James Calemine
Coaching Carousel
By Patrick Snow The end of the college football season always brings with it unfulfilled goals which translates into coaching changes. There has been quite a bit of movement in our region. Some of the firings were inevitable while others showed us just how unrealistic read more...
A Celebration of The Life & Work of Paul Hemphill
A Celebration of The Life & Work of Paul Hemphill By James Calemine "I was ridin' number nine Headin' south from Caroline
First Goal: Win Your Conference
By Patrick Snow 2007 - What a crazy and dramatic season of college football. It seems like the Number 1 or 2 position in the national polls is the most dangerous place to be this year. As hard as it may be for many teams to adjust to all the parity, I believe read more...
Confessions of an Auburn Fan or It's Not Easy Being Orange (and Blue)
by Penne Jones Laubenthal The state of Alabama is a red state. It has been slowly turning red politically since 1960. In the past twenty-seven years, Alabama voters read more...
NFL Label Book: Overrated
By Patrick Snow Just like many a bad segment of talk radio, another ‘label’ book was recently released into America to get football fans arguing with each other. We have Philly-based ESPN field reporter Sal Paolantonio to thank for this latest read more...
The Great Southern Sportswriters Series
Writing and storytelling have always been deeply ingrained in Southern culture. The people that combined that art with the Swampland Footprint's passion for sports make the whole experience more special and unique. Swampland Sports is proud to offer this series of read more...
Enjoy the Season
By Patrick Snow Another college football season--another initial release of the BCS standings. This annual ritual seems to send everyone running to call a local talk show to scream about a Playoff system and how the middle letter should be removed from read more...
SEC: Top Level for Coaches?
By Patrick Snow Many of us who grew up in the South have always believed that the SEC was King when it came to sports and our allegiances. We watched and cheered for professional teams, but our passion was always at the collegiate level. For many years, read more...
The State of Baseball in the South
By Patrick Snow (editor's note: Swampland Sports considers the following teams to be part of the Footprint: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, read more...
A Modest Proposal: Southern College Conference Realignment
Now that Swampland Sports has launched Tribal Fever (TF), our dispatch dedicated to college sports in the South, we figured it was time to do weigh in on the current state of college football conferences. The college football conference landscape in the read more...
Athletic Directors: Be Ready To Ante Up
Southern college football-we live it and breathe it year-round, and it has become abundantly clear that the stakes of the game have been raised with some of the recent coaching hires. The ‘price of poker’ is increasing steadily, and if your school is not ready to ante read more...
SPF 2007 Team Previews
As promised, we have our 2007 Team Previews! Since fans can go to numerous places to read about rosters, statistics, etc, we at Southern Pro Football want to focus our 2007 previews on the teams and their connection to their area of the South. We will examine read more...
Sunshine State Swoon
Sunshine State Swoon By Patrick Snow Has professional football hit its lowest point in the state of Florida? I’m not trying to overreact to three Week 1 losses, but one has to wonder what direction the franchises in the Sunshine State are going. read more...
W.C. Handy Music Festival, Florence, Alabama, July 22-29
“If Beale Street could talk Married men would have to take up their beds and walk…” Beale Street Blues W. C. Handy wrote those words when he was read more...