West Virginia Posts
A Humorous Comparison of College Football Between the South and the North
As our beloved college football season nears, we at Tribal Fever thought everyone should read this comparison between college read more...
Barbeque is Not a Verb: A Musical Tribute To Southern BBQ
There's nothing us Southerners like more than barbeque. Football comes close, as does read more...
Ten More Defining Moments in Southern Rock History
Did any of you see Gregg Allman in the movie Rush? He played a drug dealing king pin, and a pretty spooky character. read more...
GRITZ Movie Review: X-Files Film Will Thrill Fans
The great thing about the new X-Files movie is the human element. Rather than concentrating on aliens and the TV read more...
Still More of The Defining Moments in Southern Rock History
Hi guys. My apologies for the two days of down time. We experienced a problem with our DSL internet service that virtually crippled read more...
An Ongoing Journey To the Heart of Southern Culture
A Sunday Service On Southern Culture 7/20/08
Southern Rock's Most Defining Moments
You've all heard of "going the extra mile" for your art, right? Well, fellow babies, The Buffalo has been doing that for a read more...
GRITZ Radio Hour Premieres Online
Hey guys. As an experiment of sorts, we are presenting a pilot episode of The GRITZ Radio Hour, a two hour program of music hosted by read more...
New Documentary Project Will Present the Definitive History of Country Music
I just got the word that Shout! Factory Records and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are planning to produce a multi-part read more...
Watch and Listen: Ten Great DVD's for Southern Rockers
Man oh man do I love movies. I guess movies are my second favorite entertainment besides music. Well, truth be told, books rank right read more...
It's All About The Song: The Greatest Songwriters of The Southern Rock Era
I am probably going to get some other opinions on this one. We're happy to present our list of
With Leadership In Flux, the BCS Proves Its Worth to the Big East
Tribal Fever will never stop its defense of the greatest sport in our Footprint - college football. How a sport that has record read more...
Wash Boards and Chicken Coups: The Ten Best Instrumentalists of Southern Rock
Let me begin by wishing everybody a GREAT weekend. Only one week until the big annual Winters Brothers Band Summer Jam. See you read more...
A Trip to The Keys: Southern Rock's Greatest Keyboard Players
And the lists just keep on coming... This time we run down the
Four Strings and An Attitude: Southern Rock's Best Bass Players
How about another Southern Rock List? This read more...
The Top 25 Songs of The Southern Rock Era
And the lists just keep on a comin.' Our latest addition to our
Conference USA Must Step Up to Avoid Potential College Football Upheaval
Last year, Tribal Fever presented a modest proposal about read more...
South Dominates College Baseball
by Patrick Snow There is one more week of college baseball before the conference tournaments, and the teams in our Swampland read more...
New GRITZ List: Top Vocalists of the Southern Rock Era
"Way down in Alabama/Shoutin' Bamalama..." What a rocking song. What a great singer. I never get read more...
New Features, Capricorn Records, Southern Rock Lists
We are happy to add a couple of new ongoing features here at GRITZ. The first is our
The Legends of Southern Rock, a Guide
Greetings from Carolina. We are happy to present our new
Why Swampland Sports Loves the BCS
Despite winning back to back national titles in football, the SEC susre seems to hate the BCS. Lately, this hatred has been read more...
Vintage GRITZ Articles Unearthed; Hatchet, Skynyrd, Tucker, Ricky Skaggs and More
It's time once again to add a few more Vintage Gritz articles to the archives, and I hope you'll check 'em out for a "blast from read more...
Outward Bound
“The eye and mind would be functioning as a camera. The writing would be selective and necessarily interpretive—but once read more...
Snowflakes: Southern Sweet 16
Here a quick primer for our teams in this weekend’s NCAA Tournament. East – This is read more...
Snowflakes: C-USA/Big East Hoops
* West Virginia has won 3 of their last 4 and really seems to be coming together at the right time. One of the main reasons for their read more...
Snowflakes: Big East Hoops
Louisville got a monster win last Saturday night when they knocked off first place Georgetown. The Cardinals are playing much better read more...
Season Summary: St. Louis Rams
Quick Summary: This was the first year SPF covered the Rams, and it wasn't an auspicious beginning. It read more...
Snowflakes: C-USA/Big East Hoops
by Patrick Snow * Could this week finally bring the contest where #1 Memphis actually loses a conference game? The read more...
My Favorite Southern Rock Song?
I was talking to one of my pals down Florida way the other day when the conversation shifted to great Southern Rock songs.We started read more...
GRITZ Best Albums of The Year
Lots of great music rocked my world in 2007. Here are my choices for the 15 best of the best. Feel free to log on and comment. Let me read more...
John Sayles Interview
Mystery & Manners John Sayles Interview 12/8/07 On Thursday I interviewed
TF Conference Championship Preview
Today is the day we find out whether it will be an all-Swampland matchup in the BCS Championship Game. If all goes according to read more...
TF Rivalry Week Preview
Rivalry games define college football. More than bowl games or even conference championships, a win against your rival means read more...
TF Saturday Preview: The Year of Transition Nears An End
The wild year continues. In many ways this was just a sign of the transition college football around the Footprint has read more...
TF Saturday Preview: Everything's Still To Be Decided
Patrick Snow has it right. This year's
TF Saturday Preview: Pole, er.. Bowl Position
If you aren't a Florida or Georgia fan, this weekend might be a good one to spend with the kids. This is a pretty thin weekend read more...
TF's Saturday Preview: Act Like You've Been There Before!
It's the old saying when a player celebrates a little too much - act like you've been there before. This rules seems to also read more...
TF's Saturday Preview: The History Behind SEC Dominance
Tribal Fever would like to start this weekend's festivities by directing everyone to a fantastic series on
Tribal Fever's Weekend Slate (10/6/2007)
Let's start with this week's College Football Preview from Athlon. Swampland's own Patrick Snow hosts each read more...
Upset Saturday, or not?
Patrick Snow mentioned in his last column read more...
People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
Tompkins Square Releases Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs This Week 9/29/07
Swampland welcomes Tribal Fever!
It was only a matter of time before Swampland Sports starting covering the colleges in earnest. Today marks the start of Tribal read more...
CD and DVD releases for week of September 18, 2007
New Releases Doyle Bramhall
The Shadow And the Truth
9/19/07 ...THE SHADOW AND THE TRUTH...
Breakfast With Paul, Drinks With Dan
8/19/07
West "by God" Virginia and The Free State of Winston
Is West Virginia really a part of the south? Jason Headley in an article entitled "A State of Confusion" pleads the case read more...
Fire On The Mountain
6/25/07
J.D. Crowe & The New South Announce Spring Tour
Bluegrass Hall of Honor inductee J.D. Crowe and his band The New South are hitting the road this spring in support read more...
West Virginia Reviews
The Very Best of Outlaw Country
(Legacy) The thing that sets this compilation apart from the plethora of others that are always being flooded into the read more...
Desperate Man Blues
Desperate Man Blues: Discovering The Roots of American Music The Story of Joe Bussard
Blues Sweet Blues
Blues Sweet Blues Various Music Maker Artists Music Maker Series #91 & #92 By James Calemine
Song of America
Song of America Various Artists 31 Tigers Records By James Calemine This 50-song, 3 CD read more...
American Minor
American Minor American Minor (Red Ink) When Rob McCutcheon’s wailing read more...
Friends Of Old Time Music
Friends Of Old Time Music The Folk Arrival 1961-1965 (Smithsonian Folkways) Between read more...
West Virginia ArticlesThe 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 fourth season of the comedy series. She even sang on a couple of episodes.
GRITZ Presents: Buffalo Roaming
BUFFALO ROAMING Our own Michael Buffalo read more...
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, these live recordings from the mid-1970’s have been sought after for years by
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 Molly Hatchet lead singer
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 smaller shows, along with rare photos, interviews and more. The movie was released on DVD in December 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 gave them their first ever
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 The Allman Brothers Band, and on Brothers and read more...
Ten Great DVD's For Southern Rockers
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Almost Famous (2000) The semi-autobiographical story of Rolling Stone writer turned movie producer Cameron Crowe features Phillip Seymour Hoffman as my read more...
The Greatest Songwriters of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Dickey Betts Dickey brought something to the Allman Brothers Band table that 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 resume. Besides being a former member of The read more...
The Greatest Bass Players of the Southern Rock Era
1. Tommy Caldwell - According to all of the members of The Marshall Tucker Band, Tommy Caldwell was their rock, the band leader, and one of the finest musicians in all of 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, "Play what you played last night." The second is the type who serves the artist; I would be read more...
The Greatest Drummers of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Jakson Spires of Blackfoot In my opinion, Jakson was the greatest drummer who ever read more...
Top 25 Songs of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd As if there was any doubt whatsoever. Not only Southern Rock’s number one, but one of the Top Two in classic rock. read more...
The Greatest Vocalists of The Southern Rock Era
by Michael Buffalo Smith 1.
GRITZ Southern Rock Lists
SWAMPLAND'S SOUTHERN ROCK LISTS We love lists! This is your one-stop index page for all of our lists. read more...
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 nationally for our college football crowds and pageantry, but the spring read more...
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 Rock.
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 every proposal for a college playoff is a horrible idea for college football at large and especially 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 Sound Warehouse Fayetteville read more...
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 remains, The Allman Brothers Band Fillmore East album has a heck of a lot of fans 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 league strength across college football, but it is basically all we have. Here’s my opinion 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 heel, I’ve stood around and done my best/Shoved my head in a hornet’s read more...
Goodbye, Babylon: A Patchwork Quilt of American Music
GOODBYE, BABYLON A Patchwork Quilt of American Music By James Calemine
Way Down South With John Sayles
Way Down South with John Sayles By James Calemine John Sayles’ films command respect. His latest film, Honeydripper, takes place in Alabama during the 1950s. Honeydripper counts as Sayles’16th film which read more...
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 certain fan bases are with their expectations. I thought I would examine each job, and how it matches up read more...
West Virginia Music Hall of Fame To Induct First Ever Honorees
Inaugural Class Of Nominees A Diverse Group by Derek Halsey On November 16th, 2007, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame will induct its first ever class of honorees. Formed in 2005, the Hall of Fame has been building up to these inaugural ceremonies. Five living and five deceased musicians will be honored. These West read more...
Mitch Vingle, Charleston (WVa) Gazette
As a native West Virginian, Mitch Vingle brings a keen insight into the sports mindset of this 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 profiles of the best sportswriters our Footprint has to offer. You've already probably read them read more...
Truck Driving Man (An American Roadsong)
Truck Driving Man (An American Roadsong)
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 ‘BCS’. Enough already. If all that you’re worried about is how January turns out, you’re 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 Footprint has become downright confusing. It used to be that there were three main conferences, 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 up, your team will be left behind. We’re witnessing a changing of the guard when it comes to read more...
The Appalachian String Band Festival 2006
An American Diary of a Ukrainian Girl THE APPALACHIAN STRING BAND FESTIVAL 2006 By Olena Goryelova, read more...
Rodney Moag
Austin's own western swingin', yodel singin', morse-codin', on the roadin', book writin', out-of sightin', college teachin', language speakin', fiddle playin', radio deejayin', pickin' singin', always grinnin', college professor by Rush Evans November, 2005 When I arrive at Rod Moag's read more...
Road Trip To The Mountains
Road Trip to the Mountains The Appalachian String Band Festival Camp Washington Carver - Clifftop, West Virginia July 27- August 2, 2004 by Derek Halsey October 2004 It is everything I can do to get this radio to work. The antenna for read more...
Bloodkin: Cutthroat Blues
Bloodkin Cutthroat Blues by James Calemine The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side. Hunter S. Thompson The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure, to live it you had read more...