Virginia Article Archives
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...
The GRITZ Stone Ground & Southern Compilation Home Page
Welcome to the official information page for the GRITZ Stone Ground and Southern Music Compilation Series. We hope you will enjoy these free downloads, visit the band websites and order their albums. Please be sure to give us your read more...
Expanding The NCAA Tournament Would Further Erode An Already Suffering Sport
It’s Championship week in college basketball, and it’s a thrilling time to watch teams from smaller conferences earn their way into the Big Dance. While few believe that the regular season is what it used to be (especially when compared to college football), the read more...
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...
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 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 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...
Folk Music Legend Mike Seeger Dies at 75
The New Lost City Ramblers Last Ever Concert at Clifftop 2009 By Derek Halsey It is the night of July 30th, 2009 at the Appalachian String Band Festival, an annual musical gathering also referred to as simply “Clifftop” held read more...
The GRITZ Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook
Sometimes, a picture truly is worth a thousand words... Welcome to the GRITZ Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook. This will be an ongoing, often updated, collection of classic and new Southern Rock photographs, many of which have never before read more...
The GRITZ Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook : Part 16
Volunteer Jam: Toy Caldwell, Dobie Gray; Henry Paul; Jimmy Hall.
The True Era of Southern Rock 1969-1979
by Michael Buffalo Smith The definitive Southern Rock era began in 1969. In Macon, Georgia. Phil Walden, who had previously been known for his work with r&b acts like read more...
The Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook, Part Two
THE RANTS: Toy Caldwell and George McCorlkle's pre-Toy Factory, pre-Marshall Tucker band. 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...
Southern Literature: Roots and Branches
---by Penne J. Laubenthal What is Southern literature and when did it begin? We know that literature was being written in the not yet self-consciously read more...
The 25 Best Album Covers of Southern Rock
by Michael Buffalo Smith I am really excited about the recent comeback of vinyl records. I mean, not only is the old analog sound richer and warmer, but the big LP jackets were always a treat in and of themselves, from the liner notes and photos to the inserts. (Our read more...
Recruiting Never Ends in the South
When it comes to college football, just ‘Google’ the phrase “recruiting is the lifeblood” and you’ll see a ton of results. The fact that quality recruiting is the number one key for long-term success in the big-time world of college football has never 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...
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part Six (Final Installment)
17. Bonnie Bramlett’s Run On Roseanne (1991) Bonnie (Then called Bonnie Sheridan) shows up as a waitress in a diner and a friend of Roseanne in both the third and read more...
GRITZ Presents: Buffalo Roaming
BUFFALO ROAMING
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part Five
by Michael Buffalo Smith And we continue.... 28. “Stompin’ Room Only” Released (2003) The “Holy Grail” for Marshall Tucker Band fans, read more...
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part Four
by Michael Buffalo Smith 39. Jammin’ for Danny Joe Brown - (July 18, 1999) An all star concert headed up by Riff West to raise money for
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part Three
59. “Freebird” The Movie Premiers (1996) Drawn mostly from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1976 show at Knebworth Fair in England. the movie also included footage from a few read more...
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part Two
79. Cameron Crowe Puts The Allmans On the Cover of the Rolling Stone (December 6, 1973) Cameron Crowe went on the road with The Allman Brothers at the age of 15, and read more...
The 100 Defining Moments in Southern Rock: Part One
by Michael Buffalo Smith 100. “Pony Boy” Hand bone (1973) Dickey Betts brought country music sensibility into
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...
Ten Great DVD's For Southern Rockers
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Almost Famous (2000) The semi-autobiographical story of read more...
The Greatest Songwriters of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Dickey read more...
The Greatest Instrumentalists of The Southern Rock Era
INSTRUMENTALISTS (OTHER THAN GUITAR/KEYS/DRUM KIT) by Michael Buffalo Smith
The Greatest Keyboard Players of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Chuck Leavell Take one look at the Georgia boy’s
The Greatest Bass Players of the Southern Rock Era
1. Tommy Caldwell - According to all of the members of The Marshall Tucker read more...
Great Southern Record Producers
"There are three kinds of record producers. The first kind is the documentarian -- someone like Leonard Chess, who goes into a bar on the South Side of Chicago, sees Muddy Waters with a six-piece combo, then pulls him into the studio the next day and says, read more...
The Greatest Drummers of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Jakson Spires of Blackfoot In my opinion,
Top 25 Songs of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd As if there was any doubt read more...
The Greatest Vocalists of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith
GRITZ Southern Rock Lists
SWAMPLAND'S SOUTHERN ROCK LISTS
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
Gritz Legends of Southern Rock
A handful of bands from the Southern Rock Era have earned the title of "Legend." These are the bands that defined the genre and set the bar for all other bands in their wake. These are the few, the originals, the Legends of Southern read more...
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...
Record Stores of the Swampland Footprint
ALABAMA CD Cellar Anniston AL Oz Music Tuscaloosa AL ARKANSAS
The Top Ten Albums of Southern Rock According to...
On the heels of my own Top Twenty Five Southern Rock albums, we asked a few of our friends to share their own lists of Favorite Southern Rock albums, and we got a few real surprises, but one fact 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...
The Appalachian Sounds of Fonotone Records
The Appalachian Sounds of Fonotone Records By James Calemine “I went out in the open field/Black snake bit me on the 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...
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...
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...
Larry Rice Memorial
LARRY RICE Bluegrass Musician and Dickey Betts Band Alumnus Dies of Cancer by Derek Halsey April 2006 Larry Rice- Bluegrass Musician and Dickey Betts’ Band Alumnus- Dies Of Cancer We at Gritz Magazine have sad news to read more...
Kelly Perdue Memorial
KELLY PERDUE - REST IN PEACE Leader Of The Mando Mafia Band Dead At 45 by Derek Halsey December 2005 On the morning of December 15 the music community lost yet another musician with the read more...
Phyllis Ann Bailey's Strawberry Preserves
Phyllis Ann Bailey's Strawberry Preserves by Ron Williams Spring City, Tenn., May 16, 2004 The Mexican migrant workers were picking strawberries and loading them onto a Chevy flatbed across Highway 27 outside of read more...
Remembering June Carter Cash
REMEMBERING JUNE CARTER CASH By Derek Halsey July 2003 On May 18th, 2003, Johnny Cash sat in the pew of the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee looking as old as he ever has. read more...