Lore Dispatch Archives
...Anticipation for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight...
...Anticipation for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight... I just re-watched Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. It's been three years since Tarantino released a movie. I needed a break from revising stories, and decided to delve into his last read more...
James Franco's Film Adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy Book Child of God
James Franco’s Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God This morning I watched James Franco’s film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s third novel Child of God. Since read more...
Ace Atkins' Latest Book The Redeemers
The Redeemers By Ace Atkins I just finished The Redeemers, a fine book by Mississippi writer Ace Atkins.... Born June 28, 1970, in Troy, Alabama, Ace Atkins played football at Auburn University, and even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1993 read more...
"A Momentary Stay" : Musings on the Poetry of Harry Moore
A Trip Back in Time: A Review of Bob Keefe's "Stories From the Okefenokee"
In 1969 a young Marine returning to civilian life after a tour of duty as a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam found refuge in a remote and primal place in the Deep South, the Okefenokee Swamp. The Marine's name was Bob Keefe, and he spent five wonderful years in the swamp, working as a read more...
The Magic of the Shoals: The Lindsey Film Fest Screening of "Muscle Shoals"
Not since the sold out Drive-By Truckers/ Decoys concert during the 2011
Swinging With The Duke at the 2012 W. C. Handy Festival
The Righteous Brothers may sing about a "rock and roll heaven," but when I die I want to go to jazz heaven. And if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a jazz vocalist. I was in jazz heaven for two hours Tuesday read more...
Mayberry is Alive and Well in Rogersville, Alabama
Henry David Thoreau went to the woods because he wanted to "live deliberately." I go to Rogersville, Alabama. Rogersville is a progressive little town that has managed to keep the flavor of a time gone by. read more...
View the BBC's Southern Rock Documentary on Swampland
Swampland has added the BBC's new Southern Rock Documentary to it front page. Go here to view it - Swampland Front Page
Life Lessons in The Big Easy by Martha Gragido
There’s something maternal about a train. It carries you where you need to go and rocks you along, sheltering as new horizons flash past your window. Places you’ve never been. Places that have never known the press of your weight. (The bathrooms on the train read more...
Award Winning Author Joshilyn Jackson at Northeast Alabama Community College
Award-winning novelist Joshilyn Jackson will be the featured author for the Arts and Humanities Speaker’s Forum at Northeast Alabama Community College on April 19, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. Jackson’s presentation will be held in the Tom Bevill Lyceum and is free to
Author Judith Ortiz Cofer at Calhoun College Writers' Conference, April 11, 2013
Latina writer and storyteller Judith Ortiz Cofer will be speaking at Calhoun Community College's 12th annual Writers' Conference on Thursday, April 11, at 9:30 a.m. in the Aerospace Training Center. She will speak again at 7 in the evening at the Princess Theatre. Both read more...
"How Do You Like Your Blueeyed Boy, Mr. Death": Harry Crews (1935-2012)
Harry Crews! I guess I thought he would live forever. When all of those years of out of control drinking did not kill him, I decided he had outwitted the devil. That would be just like Crews--to make a wager with the devil and win. When a great read more...
RIP Earl Scruggs & Jerry "Boogie" McCain & Harry Crews
RIP Earl Scruggs, Harry Crews & Jerry "Boogie" McCain Legendary banjo picker Earl Scruggs died yesterday in Nashville at 88. In 1948, Scruggs formed a band with guitarist Lester Flatt called The Foggy Mountain Boys.
A Note On Georgia Native Danny Whitten
A Note On Georgia Native Danny Whitten "Cowgirl In the Sand" filtered through the speakers today, and I thought of Columbus, Georgia, native Danny Whitten. Whitten served as the lead guitarist for the group Crazy Horse. Whitten later collaborated read more...
The University of North Alabama Presents Renowned Author Ishmael Reed
On Monday, March 19 and Tuesday, March 20, the University of North Alabama (Florence, Alabama) will present its 29th annual Spring Writers' Series. The featured speaker this year is internationally known poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright Ishmael Reed. Reed will read more...
Reflections, Progressions & Horizons
"Will all your money buy you forgiveness? Will it keep you from sickness? Will it keep you from cold? Will all your money Keep you from madness?
William Gay RIP
William Gay RIP Writer William Gay died on February 23 at 70. Gay published his first novel when he was 55. His novels read more...
Swampland Guest Patsy Glenn Writes about Brandon Sparkman and "Called to Jackson"
My long-time friend Patsy Glenn is a freelance writer residing in Florence, Alabama. Glenn joins Swampland to talk about a local hero, Brandon Sparkman, and his recently published book Called to Jackson, Mississippi: The Last Bastion of Segregation (iuniverse
A Modern Legacy of America's Finest Archivists
A Modern Legacy of America's Finest Archivists A treasure trove of old, obscure American music exists out there. Bits and pieces of lost American culture preserved between the grooves waits for any listener's ear. This
Alabama's Own Wickedly Spicy Wickles Pickles---Made in Dadeville, AL
2011 was the year of Alabama music, and 2012 is the year of Alabama food. Several months ago I wrote about two phenomenal products unique to Alabama:
Amy LaVere Discusses Bob Dylan
Amy LaVere Discusses Bob Dylan In March, Amy LaVere will open for Black Crowe
Colonel Bruce Hampton on Widespread Panic: In The Beginning
Colonel Bruce Hampton on Widespread Panic: In The Beginning This week I interviewed Mr. Colonel Bruce Hampton. We discussed everything from his Atlanta roots, music, football, literature, read more...
Rebecca Meredith, Author of The Last of the Pascagoula, Has Alabama Roots
I discovered Rebecca Woods Meredith when I received a copy of her spellbinding novel, The Last of the Pascagoula read more...
Knock On Wood: Dave Schools On Widespread Panic's Upcoming Wood Tour (Rehearsals)
Dave Schools On Widespread Panic's Upcoming Wood Tour A few days ago, Dave Schools spoke to this writer about
Cormac McCarthy Sells First Film Script Titled The Counselor
Cormac McCarthy Sells First Script Writer Cormac McCarthy recently sold his first film script. McCarthy's books such as All The Pretty Horses, No Country read more...
Sam Rivers RIP
Jazz Musician Sam Rivers Passes Away At 88 Oklahoma-born jazz musician Sam Rivers passed away on December 26, 2011, in Orlando, Florida at 88.
Alabama Born, Auburn Educated Octavia Spencer Wins Golden Globe
The 2011 fall issue of the Auburn University alumni magazine featured a stunning photo of Octavia Spencer on the cover, not as Minny, the feisty maid in Tate Taylor's movie of Kathryn Stockett's The Help, but as Octavia Spencer, celebrated actress and a possible
Widespread Panic's Dave Schools Discusses Mickey Hart's Sounds of Space
Dave Schools Discusses Sounds of Space This evening I conducted an interview with Widespread Panic bassist
A Conversation with Jerry Masters: "Hanging From A Tree By My Knees"
Jerry Masters, musician and sound engineer for nearly every hit record cut in the Shoals from the late 60s through the early 70s, and I met for breakfast at Cafe Savanna in Rogersville, Alabama, this past August. I had heard by way of Facebook that Masters
Rich Robinson & Amy LaVere Hit The Road Together In March
Rich Robinson & Amy LaVere Hit The Road Together In March In March, Amy LaVere will tour with
The 2012 Drive By Truckers Homecoming Shows
The 2012 Drive By Truckers Homecoming Shows On January 12, 13 and 14, the Drive By Truckers will perform homecoming shows at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia. read more...
Ike Stubblefield in 2012: New Orleans This Week
Ike Stubblefield In 2012 Ike Stubblefield knows his way around a keyboard. He commands respect in the music business. Ike has played keyboards for The Four Tops, read more...
Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers
Charlie Louvin Autobiography: Satan Is Real The late Charlie Louvin's new autobiography--Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers--is now available. This
Meet Poet and Poetry Therapist Jerri Chaplin
Jerri Chaplin is a certified poetry therapist and poet. She served as the first poet-in-residence at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (1996). Her work has been read more...
Upcoming Billy Bob Thornton Films: Baytown Disco & Jayne Mansfield's Car
Upcoming Billy Bob Thornton Films Billy Bob Thornton spent a few months in Atlanta, Cedartown, Rome and LaGrange, Georgia, last year filming Jayne read more...
Happy Holidays From Swampland 2011
Happy Holidays From Swampland "Never be impatient with the ones who love you, It might be yourself that you're hurting."
Bloodkin's Exile On Lumpkin Street: Soul Survivors
Bloodkin's Exile On Lumpkin Street: Soul Survivors By James Calemine Bloodkin's Friday night show at the venerable
Ry Cooder's Los Angeles Stories
Ry Cooder's Los Angeles Stories Ry Cooder made music with The Rolling Stones,
Shakin' in Alabama with the Alabama Shakes--Souful Music Near the Shoals
The small town of Athens, Alabama (not Athens, Georgia) has made national music news thanks to the hot new group Alabama Shakes. Three of the four band members hail from East Limestone High School in read more...
Jagger/Richards Pay Tribute To Howlin Wolf Guitarist Hubert Sumlin
Jagger/Richards Pay Tribute To Hubert Sumlin Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Hubert Sumlin died on December 4, 2011, at 80.
No Chicago Blues For Jerry Lee Lewis
No Chicago Blues For Jerry Lee Lewis On Saturday, Jerry Lee Lewis played his first show in Chicago since 1998. Dave Hoekstra wrote a nice review in the
Funkadelic & Beyond At Black Gold Records
Funkadelic & Beyond At Black Gold Records A Brooklyn record store called Black Gold Records contains a small museum of musical relics such as North Carolina-native
Jonathan Wilson Plays Musical Guide In Laurel Canyon
Jonathan Wilson's Laurel Canyon Playlist Here's a nice article about North Carolina read more...
Poem in Remembrance: World AIDS Day, December 1, 2011
Twenty years ago a friend of mine died of AIDS. He was the first person I ever knew personally to die of this disease. He was young and talented and beautiful, and the last time I saw him he seemed completely well. Then I heard that he had died. Shortly after read more...
A Georgia Son Shining In The Big Apple: Upcoming Interview with Actor Brit Whittle
A Georgia Son Shining In The Big Apple: Upcoming Interview with Actor Brit Whittle Georgia native Brit Whittle is making a name for himself in New York City. In November, Whittle appeared in an episode of Law & Order: SVU. Whittle read more...
Happy Thanksgiving! The Last Waltz (Revisited)...
Thanksgiving Day & The Last Waltz Revisited On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, The Band performed their last show at the Winterland Ballroom in read more...
Robert Johnson: Stones In My Passway
Robert Johnson: The Devil Is In The Details The New York Times published an interesting article yesterday. The read more...
MAD Magazine's Rare Reunion In Savannah
MAD Magazine's Rare Reunion In Savannah Last weekend the Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD) along with the National Cartoonists Society hosted a tribute to read more...
New Orleans in Alabama: Brenda Marie Osbey--and Lagniappe--Poet Jane Hirshfield
This October I traveled to New Orleans to see my good friends David Lummis (author of
Athens Musicians R.E.M., Widespread Panic, Bloodkin & More Join Forces with Disabled Veterans
The Wounded Warriors Charity Compilation Athens musicians such as R.E.M., Widespread Panic,
Satan Is Real: The Louvin Brothers
Satan Is Real: The Louvin Brothers Night falls early these days. For some reason I dropped the classic Louvin Brothers album Satan Is Real into the player this evening. Originally released in 1959, Satan Is Real contains some of the most read more...
A Birthday Tribute To Sam Shepard
A Birthday Tribute To Sam Shepard Today is the 68th birthday of Sam Shepard. A Swampland Honorary Southern Artist, Shepard has written over 40 read more...
The Nerve Balm of Athens, Georgia's Terrapin Brewery
Terrapin Brewery On The Rise The Athens, Georgia, brewery Terrapin Beer Company was founded in 2002. Owners Brian Buckowski and John Cochran decided to name read more...
Indie Memphis Film Fest Opens Thursday
Indie Memphis Film Festival Nov. 3-6 The four-day 14th annual Memphis Film Festival begins Thursday. The festival includes close to 50 screenings of narrative and documentary features, short-film programs, panels and music.
Levon Helm's Upcoming Midnight Rambles...
Levon Helm's Upcoming Rambles Levon Helm announced upcoming Midnight Rambles that begin this weekend and will continue until the week before Christmas. For this round of Rambles,
Duane Allman: 40 Years Later
Duane Allman: 40 Years Later 40 years ago today Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24 in Macon, Georgia. One of the greatest slide players to ever touch a guitar, Allman played with Aretha Franklin,
Widespread Panic's John Bell Sings National Anthem Before Packers Vs. Vikings Game Today
John Bell Sings National Anthem Before Packers-Vikings Game Widespread Panic's
Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gary Rossington Renews Wedding Vows
Gary Rossington Renews Wedding Vows The Florida Times Union reported
RIP Joel "Taz" DiGregorio
Charlie Daniels Keyboardist Passes Away On Wednesday, October 12, The Charlie Daniels Band keyboardist, "Taz" DiGregorio, died from injuries read more...
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live In Texas
Some Girls Live In Texas A never-before-seen Rolling Stones concert, filmed live in Ft. Worth, titled The Rolling Stones: Live In Texas, will be shown at this week's "Thinking Outside the Box Office" in New Orleans.
Meet New Orleans Author and Photographer: Kristin Fouquet
Reading the short stories of Kristin Fouquet, writer and photographer par excellence, is like eating bon bons. You just have to have one more. Fouquet writes with a photographer's eye for detail, seeing beneath read more...
Lynyrd Skynyrd In The Studio
Lynyrd Skynyrd In The Studio Lynyrd Skynyrdʼs Gary Rossington is In The Studio for the 35th anniversary of theʻliveʼ classic One More From The Road in Dallas, TX- Oct 10, 2011. North American syndicated Rock radio show In The Studio: The Stories read more...
Tritium Detected In Water At Hatch Nuclear Plant In Georgia
Tritium Detected At Hatch Nuclear Plant This story makes Janisse Ray's book Drifting Into Darien even more read more...
Coming Soon from History Press: "Rocket City Rock and Soul" by Jane DeNeefe
The History Press will release Rocket City Rock and Soul: Huntsville Musicians Remember the 1960s by Huntsville read more...
A Stroll Through Savannah
A Stroll Through Savannah Widespread Panic put on a mighty fine show last night at the Johnny Mercer Theatre. I look forward to tonight's show as well. It's 70 read more...
Chuck Leavell's Mother Nature Network
Chuck Leavell's Mother Nature Network Rolling Stone keyboardist and tree farmer Chuck Leavell started the
2011 John Coltrane Birthday Tribute
Swampland Salutes John Coltrane Today is the birthday of jazz legend John Coltrane. Born in Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926, Coltrane soon moved to Philadelphia, and eventually to New read more...
R.E.M. Calling It Quits
R.E.M. Breaks Up A quick news reel...Today the Athens, Georgia, band R.E.M. called it quits. Here's a report from The Washington Post:
Documentary About the Life of Rick Bragg "Out of the Dirt" to Premiere In Alabama
The world premiere of Out of the Dirt, a documentary film about the life of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg, will be held at the IMAX Theare in the McWane Science read more...
This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel On 45RPM 1957-1982
This May Be My Last Time Singing Tompkins Square's latest release is an amazing 3-CD set titled This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel On 45RPM 1957-1982. Tompkins Square released this official statement regarding this rare read more...
2011 Gram Parsons Guitar Pull September 23-25
2011 Gram Parsons Guitar Pull On September 23-25, the 2011 Gram Parsons Guitar Pull will take place at the Okefenokee Fairgrounds in Waycross, Georgia. The
The Upcoming 10th Annual John Jarrard Foundation Concert On September 23-24
10th Annual John Jarrard Concert On September 23-24, the 10th Annual John Jarrard Foundation concert will take place. Kennesaw State Music Director
An Interview From The Road: Grayson Capps Talks About A Love Song For Bobby Long
An Excerpt From Interview with Grayson Capps I just got off the phone with Alabama singer/songwriter/guitarist Grayson Capps. He was calling from the road. He's preparing read more...
Tom Waits Records with Hank Williams III
Tom Waits Records with Hank Williams III Tom Waits contributed guest vocals on a new Hank Williams III album titled read more...
Exile On Lumpkin Street: Bloodkin's Tribute To The Rolling Stones
Exile On Lumpkin Street On December 16, Bloodkin and various friends will perform the songs of
The Rum Diary On Silver Screens October 28
The Rum Diary In Theaters Oct 28 Bruce Robinson directed a film based on Hunter S. Thompson's novel--The Rum Diary--starring Johnny Depp read more...
Remake of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs in Theaters September 16
Straw Dogs Out September 16 On September 16, the remake of Sam Peckinpah's savage film Straw Dogs hits theaters. Filmed in Bossier City, Louisiana, the 2011 Straw Dogs is read more...
The 2011 Ponderosa Stomp
The 2011 Ponderosa Stomp The Ninth Annual Ponderosa Stomp will take place on September 16-17 at the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans. This New Orleans-based roots music festival read more...
What's All This Hullabaloo About "The Help"?
Two years ago, shortly after Kathryn Stockett 's novel The Help was released, I wrote a review of the book for Swampland. I never published the review because I was ambivalent about the novel, and everyone I knew was singing its praises. The Help quickly made read more...
The Search for Blind Lemon: Words, Music, Photos & Films from Jim Dickinson's Memoirs
Jim Dickinson's Search for Blind Lemon On September 17, Mary Lindsay Dickinson will present words, photographs, films and music from her late husband's memoirs and read more...
"The Coffee Shop Chronicles" Featured in New Orleans Course at University of Montevallo
David Lummis' novel The Coffee read more...
Jamaican Blues & Southern Breezes: Blue Water, Black Soul & Rock N Roll
Jamaican Blues & Southern Breezes: Blue Water, Black Soul & Rock N Roll "I say when it drops, oh you gonna feel it Know that you were doing wrong. I say a pressure drop, oh pressure Oh yeah, pressure drop a drop read more...
Hank Williams-The Legend Begins: Rare And Unreleased Recordings
Hank Williams Rare And Unreleased Recordings On September 13, Time Life will release Hank Williams: The Legend Begins--Rare And Unreleased Recordings. These newly discovered and restored recordings include sessions Hank recorded at 15 as well as his read more...
Tom Waits: Bad As Me Listening Party
Tom Waits: Bad As Me Listening Party Bad As Me is Tom Waits' first studio album in seven years. Yesterday the official Tom read more...
An Intimate Evening with Mississippi's Finest Musicians
An Intimate Evening with Mississippi's Finest On Wednesday, August 24, Luther Dickinson, Kenny Brown,
Warren Haynes In The Here And Now
Warren Haynes In The Here And Now Warren Haynes just released his latest solo album, Man In Motion. This recent
Drive By Truckers, Bob Dylan & Leon Russell Share A Stage Tonight
Dylan, The Truckers & Leon In Maryland Tonight Tonight in Columbia, Maryland, at The Merriweather Post Pavilion, The Drive By Truckers share a billing with read more...
Wes Freed's Artwork for Drive By Truckers Georgia Theatre Shows
Wes Freed's Drive By Truckers Artwork On August 12th and 13th, The Drive By Truckers will perform for the
Merle Haggard's New Album Working in Tennessee
Merle Haggard's New Album Out In October Vanguard Records will release Merle Haggard's latest album, Working in Tennessee, on October 4. Tonight, 'The Hag' is performing read more...
Booker T. Jones On The Road From Memphis
Booker T On the Road From Memphis Booker T. Jones just released an album called The Road From Memphis. The title refers to the city where Jones was born, and the place his musical legacy originated. A couple of years ago, Jones recorded
The Secret To a Happy Ending: The Decoys, DBT, and a Sunday Jam at Dick Cooper's
According to The Drive-By Truckers, the secret to a happy ending is knowing when to run the credits. This week in the Shoals the secret to a read more...
Bob Dylan's Admiration for Mississippi Writer Larry Brown
Dylan's Admiration for Larry Brown Turns out, Bob Dylan is a big Larry Brown fan. Today, while re-reading a short story of read more...
The Georgia Theatre's Grand Opening Tonight
The Georgia Theatre Grand Opening Tonight The new Georgia Theatre officially opens tonight in Athens, Georgia. The historic theatre burned read more...
Mississippi Bluesman T-Model Ford Playing New Orleans Tonight
T-Model Ford At One Eyed Jacks James Lewis Carter "T-Model" Ford performs at One Eyed Jacks tonight in New Orleans. His birth date is unknown, but it's read more...
Upcoming Interview: Preston Lauterbach's Chitlin' Circuit: And The Road To Rock 'N' Roll
The Chitlin' Circut: And The Road To Rock 'N' Roll Memphis writer Preston Lauterbach's first book--The Chitlin Circut: And The Road To Rock 'N' Roll--arrived in the mail on Monday. An upcoming interview with Lauterbach is on the way, but I wanted to write a quick read more...
Handy Festival 2011: Rocking the Shoals with Ken Watters and Microwave Dave
This week is Handy Fest 2011, and I was in the Shoals on Monday night, sitting in the Zodiac Theatre in downtown Florence, Alabama, with Randy, my sister Peggy, and a friend
Widespread Panic Prepares for Japan's Fuji Rock Festival
John Bell Talks About Panic's First Trip To Japan On July 29 and 30, Widespread Panic will perform at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. A few weeks ago I asked read more...
Expanded James Brown Exhibit On Display At Augusta Museum of History
Expanded James Brown Exhibit Opens To Public Artifacts from the Godfather of Soul James Browns' estate are now on display at the
Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series
Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series "Oh, the streets are Rome are filled with rubble Ancient footprints are everywhere..."
A Southern Literary Note on Hemingway's Birthday
A Southern Literary Note on Hemingway's Birthday Today is the birthday of Ernest Hemingway. A southern literary note seems in order to salute one of America's greatest writers...
Athens Photographer Jason Thrasher Discusses Filming The Drive By Truckers Go-Go Boots Episodes
Jason Thrasher Discusses Go-Go Boots Episodes Alabama native Jason Thrasher filmed episodes revolving around
The Photography of Adam Smith
The Photography of Adam Smith Today I'd like to shine a light on the photography of Adam Smith. Born in Macon, Georgia, Smith ranks as one of the country's finest music photographers. He attended college in Mississippi, lived in Atlanta for a while and now resides in his read more...
Next Stop: Wes Freed & The Drive By Truckers
Next Stop: Wes Freed & The Drive By Truckers Here's a quick dispatch this morning in between projects...Later this afternoon I'll interview The Drive By read more...
The Black Crowes Fly Across The Pond
Final Crowe Anniversary Shows This Month The Black Crowes play the final gigs of their 20th Anniversary Tour this month. So far, the band has performed in Italy and Spain. Tonight The Crowes play at the Manchester Academy in England. The next two read more...
A Preview of Drive Me Out of My Mind: 24 Houses in 10 Years By Chad Faries
A Preview of Chad Faries' New Memoir Emergency Press published Chad Faries' latest book titled Drive Me Out of My Mind: 24 Houses in 10 Years: A Memoir this month. I met Faries through read more...
Ben Hall Salutes Charlie Louvin on New EP
A LITTLE MORE BEN HALL Ben Hall's new Tompkins Square released EP--A Little More Ben Hall--salutes country music legend Charlie Louvin. Louvin passed away in January from his read more...
Lucinda Williams Talks Songwriting
LUCINDA WILLIAMS TALKS SONGWRITING Louisiana native Lucinda Williams is out on the road behind her latest album Blessed. She's in Canada for a few shows, and in this Edmonton Journal
Drive-By Truckers To Headline 2011 W.C. Handy Festival in Florence, AL
A concert by the Drive-By Truckers with special guests The Decoys, along with music icons Donnie Fritts and Spooner Oldham, will read more...
Amy LaVere's Stranger Me Out July 19
Amy LaVere's Latest CD Out July 19 On July 19, Archer Records will release Amy LaVere's third studio album, Stranger Me. Stranger Me read more...
T.C. Boyle's Robert Johnson Story
Stones In My Passway, Hellhound On My Trail In 1977, T.C. Boyle wrote a story about blues legend Robert Johnson titled "Stones In My Passway, Hellhound On My Trail". read more...
The Avett Brothers Simulcast Red Rocks Concert for NASCAR Race
The Avett Brothers Perform For NASCAR The Avett Brothers' July 9 Red Rocks concert will air on the Charlotte Motor Speedway's HD video board. The idea is NASCAR wants to attract more of read more...
Sam Peckinpah, Bob Dylan & The Only Photo of Billy the Kid
Billy The Kid Photo Sold For $2.3M In the spirit of Sam Peckinpah's film that starred Bob read more...
New Sly Stone Album Due Out August 16
Sly Stone's I'm Back! Family & Friends For the first time since 1982, Sly Stone will release a new album. I'm Back! Family & Friends hits the read more...
The Silvertone Twangs of D. Charles Speer
The Silvertone Twangs of D. Charles Speer David Charles Shuford was born in Atlanta, Georgia. In the 90s, he moved to New York City and explored a variety of experimental styles, but his musical foundation never strayed far from pure country.
A "Found Poem" on Craig's List--Thorsby, AL, June 22, 2011
Free Donkeys (3) found and arranged by Penne J. Laubenthal (photo from www) My mom won 3 read more...
Billy C Farlow Tours in Europe to Promote "Alabama Swamp Stomp"
Blues harmonica player and songwriter Billy C Farlow left last week for a month tour of France and surrounding countries to promote his new album
AthFest Music Festival June 22-26
2011 AthFest This Weekend This weekend Athens, Georgia's, annual AthFest Music Festival will take place. AthFest is a non-profit organization dedicated to music and arts education headquartered in Athens. The read more...
Swampland's Gospel, Funk & Soul Collection
Swampland's Gospel, Funk & Soul Collection It's arguable that one of America's finest contributions to history is music. Deep forms of music culminated from various influences that mold a specific style. In this dispatch, read more...
Girl Power: A Compilation of Swampland's Most Talented Female Artists
Swampland Salutes Southern Women: Volume 1 Today we'd like to salute all the great southern female artists we've covered here at Swampland. We've compiled a list of cornerstone interviews/articles/reviews pertaining to these talented read more...
Clarence Clemons RIP
Clarence Clemons RIP (1942-2011) Bruce Springsteen's longtime Virginia-born saxophonist Clarence Clemons died yesterday in Florida. Clemons suffered a stroke on June 12, and passed away from those complications. Bruce Springsteen released this read more...
Swampland's John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk Spotlight
Swampland's John Coltrane Spotlight John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk were both born in North Carolina and read more...
A Father's Day Gift From The Traveling Wilburys
Free Father's Day Stream On Father's Day--Sunday, June 19--The Traveling Wilburys will release a free 24-hour stream of "The True History Of The Traveling Wilburys". The program begins read more...
Summer Merle Haggard Southern Tour Dates
Upcoming Merle Haggard 2011 Southern Tour Dates Country music legend Merle Haggard prepares for his upcoming summer tour. At 74, Haggard still records, tours and writes timeless music. His work casts a long and wide shadow on American music. Over the years, read more...
Georgia Theatre Grand Opening Update
Athens Music Venue Rebuilt On August 1-14, 2011, the Athens, Georgia, music venue--The Georgia Theatre--will host a Grand Opening. The Theatre burned down two years ago. Here are the first scheduled shows at The Georgia Theatre. Stay tuned...
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Celebrates 10th Anniversary
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Celebrates 10th Anniversary GRAMMY® ALBUM OF THE YEAR FOR 2001 O Brother, Where Art Thou? CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH EXPANDED TWO-CD DELUXE EDITION NEW BONUS DISC INCLUDES read more...
Willie Nelson's Nightly Bus Theater
Willie Nelson's Nightly Bus Theater On this early Sunday evening perhaps some humor is needed. Check out Willie Nelson's June 11 episode of read more...
From Townes Van Zandt To Doc Watson
From Townes Van Zandt To Doc Watson Townes Van Zandt's Live at The Old Quarter read more...
RIP Philip Walden Jr. (November 15, 1962--June 7, 2011)
Philip Walden JR. RIP "But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Frankie Toler RIP
With great sadness we pass on the news that drummer David "Frankie" Toler died on Saturday in Bradenton, FL after a long illness stemming from his liver transplant that he received two years ago. Toler was 59.
Widespread Panic's John Bell Looks Forward To Bonnaroo 2011
John Bell On Bonnaroo Ten Years Later The 2011 Bonnaroo Festival begins on June 9. The four-day, multi-stage camping festival held on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, celebrates its 10th year.
Official Duane Allman website debuts
Galadrielle Allman, the daughter of late Duane Allman, has helped create a website in tribute to her father - duaneallman.com. Clearly a labor of love, the website provides a home for Duane's legacy as it contains discographies, stories about Duane's life, and a forum for read more...
Rejoice and Shout: The History of Gospel Music
Don McGlynn's Latest Documentary Rejoice and Shout Directed by Don McGlynn, Rejoice and Shout documents the 200-year history of gospel music in America. The two-hour film traces fusions of multiple musical styles such as plantation work songs, read more...
Bloodkin's First 7" Single & Tonight's 40 Watt Club Performance
Bloodkin's Mark Fidrych & Evel Knievel Tonight the Athens, Georgia, band Bloodkin's
Drive By Truckers Play Georgia Theatre Grand Opening August 12 & 13
Drive By Truckers Play Georgia Theatre Grand Opening The Drive By Truckers will play two shows for the Grand Opening of the venerable Athens, Georgia, venue--
Olga's Whatever You Want featuring Cody Dickinson
Olga's Whatever You Want Out June 21, 2011 Singer/songwriter/guitarist Olga Wilhelmine Munding's latest album Whatever You Want will be released on June 21, 2011. Olga wrote Whatever You Want with
Billy Reid Shindig in Florence, AL, June 3-4, 2011
Next weekend (June 3-4) will mark the third anniversary of the annual Billy Reid Shindig in Florence, Alabama.
The Civil Wars Play Tornado Benefit at Historic Shoals Theatre in Florence, AL
Once again the marvelously magical duo, The Civil Wars (Joy Williams and John Paul White), took the stage in front of a sold-out house and a wildly enthusiastic audience. This time they were read more...
A Memorial Day Tribute: An Early Salute
A Salute To All The Veterans An early salute for the upcoming weekend... In honor of Memorial Day, and all the read more...
Mississippi Celebrates Its Grammy Legacy on June 7
Mississippi Celebrates Its Grammy Legacy on June 7 On June 7, 2011, Govenor Haley Barbour and First Lady Marsha Barbour will host the fifth annual Mississippi celebration of its Grammy legacy. The list of performers this year include
Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday
Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday "It's mighty funny, the end of time has just begun."
Gregg Allman Signs Book Deal
Greg Allman Memoir Due Out Spring 2012 This week Gregg Allman signed a book deal to write his life story. The memoir will be published by William Morrow in the spring of read more...
Brute: Nine High a Pallet
Brute: Nine High a Pallet ...Today, a journey through smoke rings of the past... The band Brute consisted of Athens songwriter Vic Chesnutt recording his material with
The Art of Will Johnson
The Artwork of Will Johnson In preparation for the Texas band Centro-matic's upcoming release--Candidate Waltz--on June 21, I thought I'd shine a light on the artwork of the band's leader read more...
Meet Matthew Nolan, Poet and Resident of New Orleans
Matthew Nolan, who subtitles his books "A New Orleans Poet," is the author of two collections of poetry and prose: Crumpled Paper Dolls (2004) and Exhuming Juliet (2009). read more...
Never A Pal Like Mother
Happy Mother's Day 2011 Happy Mother's Day to Everyone! Since it's Mother's Day weekend, I thought I write a dispatch around the great Atlanta label
Robert Johnson's 100th Birthday Celebration
Robert Johnson's 100th Birthday Celebration In May May 8 marks blues legend Robert Johnson's 100th birthday. The L.A. Times featured
Levon Helm's Ramble At The Ryman
Levon Helm's Ramble At The Ryman This Nashville Scene article outlines
Upcoming Buddy Holly Tribute Album Features My Morning Jacket, Justin Townes Earl & The Black Keys
Buddy Holly Tribute Album Due Out June 28 On June 28 a Buddy Holly tribute album--Rave On--will be released. The 19 Holly songs on Rave On read more...
The Latest From the Great Ike Stubblefield
The Latest From the Great Ike Stubblefield I conducted a brief interview this morning with the great Ike Stubblefield. Ike played with the Temptations,
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Begins Friday
2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival begins on April 29 and continues until May 8. A wide variety of music, food, parades, culture and crafts will be available to supporters.
Roy Orbison's Widow Honors His Life On 75th Birthday
Roy Orbison's Widow Honors Her Husband Yesterday (April 22) would have been Roy Orbison's 75th birthday. His widow, Barbara, dicusses her husband's life and musical legacy in this
Film Reviews of the Past
Swampland Film Reviews of the Past Today's dispatch includes a list of various films reviewed on Swampland. This follows up recent lists of book and
Book Reviews of the Past
Book Reviews of the Past on Mystery and Manners Today I thought I'd include a list of a few books reviewed on Swampland from the past. Perhaps a title will ignite some inspiration for a reader to seek out a specific book or story. While a read more...
The Never Ending Soul Food Tour: H & H Restaurant Macon, GA
H & H Restaurant 807 Forsyth Avenue Macon, GA 31201 478-742-9810 www.mamalouise.com James Calemine’s “Never Ending Soul Food Tour” includes documented visits to barbecue joints, read more...
Jonathan Wilson's Gentle Spirit Due Out July 2011
Gentle Spirit Out July 2011 North Carolina native Jonathan Wilson's long-awaited second studio album--Gentle Spirit--will be released in July 2011 according read more...
Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitizer Prize Winning Journalist, To Speak at University of North Alabama
Isabel Wilkerson, the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in the history of journalism, will be speaking at the University of North Alabama (in Florence, Alabama) at 12:30 PM, Thursday, April 14. read more...
Furthur Southern Shows Announced
Southern Furthur Dates Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will bring their band--Furthur--south this summer. The tour begins in June. The southern dates begin in July, which include Raleigh, NC (July 28), Simpsonville, SC (July 29), Saint Augustine, FL (July read more...
Black Crowe Steve Gorman Sits In With Bobby Keys Band
Bobby Keys Band In Nashville Texas native Bobby Keys played saxophone for The Rolling Stones,
Rock and Roll in the Rocket City Continues with Part 3 by Jane DeNeefe
Swampland is celebrating The Year of Alabama Music with a series of articles by Jane DeNeefe about rock & roll music in read more...
Widespread Panic's Sunny Ortiz Calls On His Day Off
Widespread Panic Percussionist Calls From Home Today Widespread Panic's
Widespread Panic's Todd Nance From Asheville
Panic Drummer Reports From Asheville Yesterday I called Widespread Panic drummer
Jack White To Record Jerry Lee Lewis In Nashville On April 16
Jack White Producing Jerry Lee Lewis Jack White's Third Man Records announced Monday on Record Store Day--April 16--Jerry Lee Lewis will perform live in Nashville. White will produce the live recording with a read more...
Wilmot Greene Interview: Update On Rebuilding The Georgia Theatre
Wilmot Greene Interview April 2011: Update On The Georgia Theatre Today I called our friend owner of the Georgia Theatre--Wilmot Greene--regarding the rebuilding of the venerable Athens, Georgia, music venue. Here’s the latest …
Widespread Panic Begins 25th Anniversary Tour Tonight in Louisville, Kentucky
Opening Night of Widespread Panic 25th Anniversary Tour: Louisville, KY Tonight Widespread Panic begin their 25th Anniversary tour in Louisville, Kentucky. In February Panic played in Athens and Atlanta, Georgia, to commemorate their first gig in read more...
MLB Opening Day 2011
MLB Opening Day 2011 “I was fairly typical of my generation of Southerners, I suppose. I got hooked on the game when I heard Mel Allen’s tense description of Enos (‘Country”) Slaughter of the Cardinals winning the ’46 read more...
Tom Petty's Buried Treasure Contest
Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure Contest On April 14, Sirius XM will broadcast a special 2-hour live event—Tom Petty’s Ultimate Buried Treasure—in celebration of Petty’s exclusive Sirius XM radio show. Petty’s read more...
Friendship, Love & Betrayal in Modern Times
Friendship, Love & Betrayal In Modern Times “You got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend When I was down you just stood there grinning…”
Delta Born Blues Legend Pinetop Perkins Dies at 97
Grammy award winning blues pianist Pinetop Perkins died yesterday, March 21, of cardiac arrest at the age of 97. Perkins, whose real first name was Willie, read more...
Spike Lee Speaks Tonight At Savannah State University
An Evening with Spike Lee Tonight Atlanta born filmmaker Spike Lee will speak at Savannah State University. Lee will discuss his life, work, politics and the ability of film to effect social change. SSU professor Chad Faries has been spreading the read more...
Pinetop Perkins RIP
Pinetop Perkins RIP The great blues pianist Joseph Willie “Pinetop” Perkins died today of a cardiac arrest at 97 years old in Austin, Texas. Born in Belzoni, Mississippi, Perkins played with many of America’s blues greats such as read more...
Melvin Sparks RIP
RIP Melvin Sparks R & B-jazz guitarist Melvin Sparks died on March 13 at age 64. Born in Houston, Texas, Sparks started playing guitar at age 11. He even performed with B.B. King read more...
Black Joe Louis & The Honeybears Call on 'Relatives' at SXSW
Black Joe Louis & The Honeybears Perform At SXSW The Austin, Texas, soul/blues band Black Joe Louis & The Honeybears formed in 2007. Heavily influenced by
New Orleans Tennessee Williams Festival Begins March 23
New Orleans Tennessee Williams Festival “New Orleans is where Tom became ‘Tennessee’ and he considered our city his spiritual home”, said Paul J. Willis, executive director of the annual
Alabama Blues Musician Debbie Bond Pays Tribute to Eddie Kirkland (1923-2011)
The funeral service for Eddie Kirkland, "Gypsy of the Blues," was held on Monday, March 7, in Macon, Georgia. Friends came from far and wide to pay tribute to the 87-year-old blues legend who was killed in read more...
The 2011 Savannah Music Festival
2011 Savannah Music Festival 2011 marks the 22nd year of the Savannah Music Festival. This year, events transpire March 24 through April 9. The festival’s mission statement indicates read more...
The North Mississippi Allstars Talk Jim Dickinson
The North Mississippi Allstars Talk Jim Dickinson This recent NPR interview highlights the North Mississippi Allstars’ latest read more...
Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby James
James Taylor, icon of the music world, is celebrating his 63rd birthday today His debut album "James Taylor" (on the British label Apple) was released in the US in February of 1969. A reviewer for Rolling Stone called the album "the coolest breath of fresh read more...
Dr. John, Joe Tex, Tom Waits & Leon Russell 26th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees
26th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony on March 14 On March 14, the 26th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. On March 20, the performance will be broadcast on television.
Widespread Panic, Jason Isbell & Lucinda Williams Set To Perform SXSW
Widespread Panic, Jason Isbell & Lucinda Williams Perform SXSW My friend Jim Flammia sent me a release yesterday regarding All Eyes Media artists performing at South By Southwest next week. Here is the release:
Swamptown Getdown Music Festival This Weekend in Waycross
Swamptown Getdown Music Festival This Weekend In Waycross The first annual Swamptown Getdown Music Festival will take place on the vast Okefenokee Fair Grounds, just minutes from the fabled Okefenokee Swamp this weekend on March 11 & 12. The weekend will read more...
Jack White Explores the Art of Auctioneering
Jack White Explores the Art of Auctioneering Jack White now lives in Nashville. Best known as founder of the The White Stripes, White also spearheaded groups and projects like The Raconteurs, Loretta Lynn’s masterpiece Van Lear Rose, read more...
"If You're Not Living on the Edge, Then You're Taking Up Space": Flo Kennedy
Most people are familiar with the life and career of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, but how many people are familiar with her contemporary-- the flamboyant and vociferous
The Second Cooler: Documentary by Alabama Filmmaker Ellin Jimmerson
The Second Cooler or Le Segunda Nevera is a documentary film by Ellin Jimmerson, Alabama filmmaker, that asks the questions: why are there twelve million Latin American migrants in the United States illegally and why do thousands not survive the border read more...
Eddie Kirkland RIP
Eddie Kirkland RIP Blues guitarist Eddie Kirkland died on Sunday in Florida. Kirkland, born in Jamaica and raised in Dothan, Alabama, served as Otis Redding’s read more...
Levon Helm On The Road: Spring 2011
Levon Helm On The Road On Saturday, February 26, Levon Helm hosted one of his ‘Midnight Rambles’ featuring old Band-mate Garth Hudson. February read more...
The Sunday Sounds of Dust To Digital
The Sunday Sounds of Dust To Digital It’s been months since I’ve written a ‘Sunday Sounds’ dispatch. Today the temperature is predicted to hit 80 degrees. I may read more...
Shannon McNally Plays Chickie Wah Wah Tonight in New Orleans
Shannon McNally At Chickie Wah Wah Tonight Shannon McNally's latest CD, Western Ballad, hits the street on March 22. McNally and her band Hot Sauce will play
New Orleans Film Fans Anticipate Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon
New Orleans Film Fans Anticipate Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon This weekend the New Orleans Film Society presents Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s crime classic
RIP Joseph "Red Dog" Campbell (1942-2011)
Joseph "Red Dog" Campbell RIP Longtime Allman Brothers Band roadie and writer Joseph “Red Dog” Campbell passed away on February 21, 2011. Campbell operated as one of the original read more...
Avett Brothers Perform To Help Rebuild Georgia Theatre
The Avett Brothers Perform to Help Rebuild The Georgia Theatre In efforts to rebuild the venerable Georgia Theatre, the
R.L. Burnside & the Indestructible Beat of the Blues
R.L. Burnside & the Indestructible Beat of the Blues R.L. Burnside ranks as one of America’s seminal bluesman. Born during 1926 in Oxford, Mississippi, Burnside spent most of his life in the hills of North Mississippi. His slashing-style of powerful music evokes read more...
Hunter S. Thompson: July 18, 1937-Feb 20, 2005
Hunter S. Thompson: July 18, 1937-Feb 20, 2005 ‘And I will give him the morning star.’ “That’s from read more...
Merle Haggard On A Saturday Night
Merle Haggard On A Saturday Night This afternoon I re-read Paul Hemphill’s story from Too Old To Cry (1981) about Merle Haggard titled “Okie”. read more...
Meet Tasia Malakasis of Belle Chevre--Alabama's Artisanal Goat Cheese Creamery
If you have not yet tasted Belle Chevre, Alabama's fabulous artisanal goat cheese, you are in for a treat. A couple of weeks ago Randy and I drove about twenty minutes north of Athens, Alabama, to the tiny fromagerie of Belle read more...
Free Bonus Tracks with The Drive By Truckers’ Go-Go Boots To Support Indie Record Stores
Free Bonus Tracks with The Drive By Truckers’ Go-Go Boots To Support Indie Record Stores In light of the Drive By Truckers new release
Widespread Panic’s 25th Anniversary Athens Shows
Widespread Panic’s 25th Anniversary Athens Shows “Time machines, remembered scenes A wrangler rides through a passing stream…” “Space Wrangler”
...On the Eve of Widespread Panic's 25th Year Anniversary Shows in Athens, Georgia...
A Prelude To The Spectacle: In Athens, Georgia: Widespread Panic’s 25th Anniversary Shows "Every generation learns to dance, Across that floor they steal their moments..."
John Mellencamp's No Better Than This
John Mellencamp’s No Better Than This Recorded by T-Bone Burnett, No Better Than This counts as
Pre-Review First Listen: The Drive By Truckers' Go-Go Boots
Pre-Review First Listen: Drive By Truckers’ Go-Go Boots On February 15, the Drive By Truckers officially release their latest studio album,
Arhoolie Records Celebrates 50 Years
Arhoolie Records Celebrates 50 Years Chris Strachwitz, 79, owns Arhoolie Records. The label, founded in 1960, has issued 400 albums, and more than 6500 songs of some of America’s most resonating roots music. Most read more...
Bloodkin's Colorado Acoustic Run & Post-Panic Electric Evening at the 40-Watt Club
Bloodkin’s Colorado Run & Post-Panic 40-Watt Show Widespread Panic kicks off their
RIP Charlie Louvin
RIP Charlie Louvin The great Charlie Louvin lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this read more...
Tommy Lee Jones Directs Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset Limited For HBO Films
Tommy Lee Jones Produces Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited For HBO Tommy Lee Jones directed and produced Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Sunset Limited for
Widespread Panic's Sunny Ortiz Discusses 25 Year Anniversary Tour
Widespread Panic’s Sunny Ortiz Discusses 25 Year Anniversary Tour Today I interviewed Widespread Panic percussionist Sunny Ortiz. Sunny called me from Panic’s Brown Cat offices located in the group’s hometown of Athens, Georgia. We discussed read more...
Steve Earle Plans Album, Book & Tour
Busy 2011 For Steve Earle USA Today reported this afternoon that Steve Earle plans for a busy 2011. On April 26, read more...
An "Ardent Spirit" Departs: Reynolds Price 1933-2011
Award winning author and longtime Duke professor Reynolds Price died Thursday, January 20, from complications following a heart attack just over a week before his 78th birthday. Price had been a paraplegic since 1984 when surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his spine ("the read more...
Wanda Jackson's The Party Ain't Over
Wanda Jackson: The Party Ain't Over The Party Ain't Over counts as Wanda Jackson's first studio album in eight years. The release date for The Party Ain't Over is January 25. 'The Queen of Rockabilly' sings 12 cover songs produced by Jack read more...
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit's Upcoming Here We Rest
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit’s Here We Rest The official release date is not until April, but yesterday I received my press copy of Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit’s upcoming read more...
Bob Dylan Signs Six Book Deal
Bob Dylan Signs Six Book Deal …A quick newsreel on the ol’ Bard…Rolling Stone reported yesterday that Bob Dylan agreed to write two sequels to read more...
20 Interviews From The Archive
20 Interviews From Swampland/Mystery and Manners Archive Amid other pressing projects, today I thought I’d construct a dispatch regarding 20 interviews from the Swampland/Mystery And Manners archive. Each artist read more...
Drive By Truckers Shift Into Overdrive
The Drive By Truckers Shift Into Overdrive This Friday and Saturday the Drive By Truckers will play their annual benefit concert at Athens, Georgia’s, 40-Watt Club for
Celebrating The Year of Alabama Music with a Series of Articles by Jane DeNeefe
This year, 2011, we are celebrating the Year of Alabama Music. The December 2010 issue of the Oxford American features read more...
Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues
Gregg Allman’s Low Country Blues On January 18, Gregg Allman’s latest studio recording—Low Country Blues—hits the streets. Produced by T-Bone Burnett, Low Country Blues read more...
Robert Plant Pays Tribute To Townes Van Zandt
Robert Plant’s Homage To Townes Van Zandt Robert Plant recorded Townes Van Zandt’s “Harm Swift Way” on his new Band of Joy disc. I heard the song today, and I read more...
Rolling Stones Cover Bob Dylan For Ian Stewart Tribute Album
Rolling Stones Cover Bob Dylan For Ian Stewart Tribute Album British piano player Ben Waters recorded a tribute album for the Rolling Stones’ read more...
Swampland 2011: "Crossing the Creek" and The Year of Alabama Music
Happy New Year to all you Swamplanders. I apologize for the long hiatus between this post and my last one, but the holidays caught me off guard, and I was running in place for about six weeks. My resolution for 2011 is to complete tasks in a timely fashion. I am read more...
Widespread Panic Announces 25th Year Anniversary Tour Plans
Widespread Announces 25th Year Anniversary Plans This afternoon Widespread Panic announced plans for their 25th Anniversary tour. Here’s the official read more...
R.E.M. Release New Single "Oh My Heart" Today
R.E.M Releases New Single “Oh My Heart” Today In about two months R.E.M. will release their 15th studio album, Collapse Into Now. Today the group released a song from Collapse Into Now called “Oh My Heart”. R.E.M. dedicated the song read more...
Relic From The Past: Circle Sound
Relic From The Past: Circle Sound On January 19, 2007, The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson and the
The 'True Grit' of Charles Portis
The True Grit of Charles Portis For the second time, the Charles Portis novel, True Grit, has been adapted to film. The first movie—starring John Wayne—hit the silver screen in 1969. Now, Joel & Ethan Coen have transformed the classic Portis novel read more...
Merry Christmas From Swampland
Merry Christmas From Swampland Ho, Ho, Ho…I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from Swampland. Thanks for all the support. A Happy New Year to you all! Don’t let the Devil get you down. I’ve included a couple of read more...
Let Your Feet Do The Talkin': A Holiday Gift (Part Two)...
Stuart Copeland’s Latest Documentary On the heels of yesterday’s holiday gift dispatch, today’s stocking selection emerges as another
Ten Thousand Points of Light: A Holiday Gift...
Dust-To-Digital's Latest Release Here's a stocking gift for the holiday season...This latest Dust-To-Digital release serves as the 20th Anniversary of George read more...
North Mississippi Allstars Announce New Album & Dates with Robert Plant
North Mississippi Allstars' 2011 Plans The North Mississippi Allstars will release their new album--Keys To The Kingdom--on February 1, 2011. December 28 begins the Allstars' tour. On New Year's read more...
Mavis Staples: You Are Not Alone
Mavis Staples’: You Are Not Alone Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, gospel-soul legend Mavis Staples’ latest disc—You Are Not Alone—counts as one of read more...
The Way We Were: From the Kitchen Sink to Bea's Beauty Shop
My mother desperately wanted little girls with little curls right in the middle of their foreheads. To that end, she spent years torturing my sister and me in the kitchen sink with Tonis! She would wind our hair tightly on pink plastic rollers and then douse the rollers in a foul read more...
Members of Widespread Panic Perform This Weekend
Members of Widespread Panic Perform This Weekend This weekend members of Widespread Panic will play several gigs. On Thursday, Widespread Panic drummer Todd Nance will perform in Athens, Georgia, with his new band, The Romper Stompers. The band includes Nance,
Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy Earn Grammy Nomination
Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy Earn Grammy Nomination Luther Dickinson and his band The Sons of Mudboy earned a Grammy nomination for their album read more...
Widespread Panic’s Porch Songs Vol. 6 & Archive Series #5
Widespread Panic’s Porch Songs Vol. 6 & Archive Series #5 May 31, 1996, counted as Widespread Panic’s first headlining performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Since then, Panic has sold out the majestic venue 35 consecutive times. read more...
Tom Waits' Hard Ground Set For Publication In March 2011
Tom Waits’ Hard Ground A book of Tom Waits’ poetry, Hard Ground, will be published in March 2011. Award winning photojournalist Michael O’Brien shot the photos of many homeless people to accompany Waits’ words for the book.
Cowboy Junkies Releasing Vic Chesnutt Tribute: Demons
Cowboy Junkies Releasing Vic Chesnutt Tribute: Demons The Cowboy Junkies will release a tribute to Vic Chesnutt—Demons—in February. On December 25, 2009, Chesnutt committed suicide. The Cowboy Junkies’ Michael Timmons recently spoke about read more...
The Captain Gabby Sails On The Georgia Coast Mothership Tour
The Georgia Coast Mothership Tour Not one cloud floated in the powder blue sky today. At three o’clock it was 70 degrees, and for mid-November you can’t ask for much better weather. This afternoon I took a tour on the charter boat, The Captain Gabby, starting read more...
Alabama Designer Billy Reid Wins Prestigious CFDA Fashion Award
Vogue magazine has announced that Alabama clothing designer Billy Reid has received the 2010 CFDA Fashion Fund award. The award, read more...
Funkadelic's Soulful Glory
Funkadelic's Soulful Glory “I recollect with mixed emotions All the good times we used to have, But you were making preparation For the final separation And you blew everything we had. You get your love on credit And your read more...
Atlanta Label Dust To Digital's Latest Releases Arrive
The Latest Dust To Digital Releases Arrive The latest Dust To Digital releases arrived in the mail today. I called
Southern Literary Trail Celebrates W. B. Huie Centennial
Hartselle, Alabama, native and best selling novelist William Bradford Huie would have celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday, November 13, 2010. To commemorate the
Keith Richards Writes About Gram Parsons In Life
Keith Richards Writes About Gram Parsons in Life I’ve been reading Keith Richards’ new book, Life. I’ve already made some notes for the Swampland review, but today I reached page 247 where Keith writes about Gram Parsons. read more...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Damn The Torpedoes Deluxe Edition Out Now
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn The Torpedoes Reissue This week a deluxe re-issue of Tom Petty’s 1979 Damn The Torpedoes hit the streets. The deluxe edition contains songs left off the original album such as “Surrender”, “Casa read more...
Drive By Truckers’ Go-Go Boots Out Feb 15, 2011
Drive By Truckers’ Go-Go Boots Out Feb 15, 2011 The Drive By Truckers just arrived in London to prepare for a month long tour of Europe. They will be back in time for Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam in December. The Truckers’ NYE show will feature horns, Kelly read more...
Daniel Lanois’ Soulful Mining & Black Dub
Daniel Lanois’ Soulful Mining & Black Dub Daniel Lanois’ new band, Black Dub, augments jazz, reggae, blues and soul into one potent sound. read more...
Music Maker's 'Homebrew Hootenanny' (And A Lookback)
Music Maker’s Saturday Homebrew Hootenanny Music Maker Relief Foundation, a non-profit organization, dedicated to assisting neglected southern musicians with daily expenses, instrument acquisition, recording, and read more...
Georgia's Rock & Roll Halloween Weekend
Georgia’s Rock & Roll Halloween Weekend ...Written from the eye of the tempest near the Georgia-Florida line during Halloween weekend for the UGA versus UF football game... Folks are rushing around here with football, rock & roll and a read more...
Alabama Born Matt Cain Pitches Shut Out for SF Giants in Game 2
Matt Cain, powerful and versatile pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, showed his stuff last night when he pitched a nearly perfect game shutting out the Texas Rangers 9-0. Cain threw about 102 pitches before he was relieved in the seventh inning. What a way to continue the read more...
Storytelling in the South--"Life: Legends and Lies" in Athens, Alabama
Mark Twain may be one of the best known storytellers of all time and, by his own admission, one of the biggest liars, but the art of storytelling did not die out with the passing of Mark Twain one hundred years ago read more...
Mark Kemp, Keith Richards, Bloodkin & The Fandango Brothers Last Night at Dog Ear Books
High Grade Fun: Mark Kemp, Keith Richards, Bloodkin & The Fandango Brothers At Dog Ear Books Last Night "Never got a flash out of cocktails When I got some flesh off the bone. Never got a lift out of lear jets
Caught Glove-Handed: Stone Crabbing in the Gulf of Mexico
"Did you catch them or buy them?" I asked my son John Laubenthal when he sent me this photo. " I caught them glove-handed," he replied. John lives on the lagoon in Panama City and catches/eats all things marine. The apple does not fall far from read more...
Marion Brown RIP
Marion Brown RIP Atlanta-born jazz saxophonist Marion Brown died on Monday, October 18, 2010. Brown’s talent landed him in the rare company of New York’s avant-garde jazz scene where Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane pioneered an American musical read more...
My Morning Jacket Plays Levon Helm's Latest Midnight Ramble
My Morning Jacket Plays Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Last Saturday My Morning Jacket played an hour-long set to open for Levon Helm’s stellar band at Helm’s latest legendary Midnight read more...
Gone, But Not Forgotten: T. Lavitz
Gone, But Not Forgotten: T. Lavitz April 16, 1956-October 7, 2010 “Midnight on a carousel ride Reaching for the gold ring down inside Never could reach It just slips away but I try…” “Crazy read more...
Leon Russell Returns To The Spotlight On 'The Union'
Leon Russell & Elton John Release The Union October 19 I always loved Leon Russell’s songs. The Oklahoma native played with
Double Whammy: The Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans and Books-A-Million
This week I am excited to provide the Swampland audience with a double whammy. My friend David Lummis' novel
Keith Richards' New Memoir 'Life'
Keith Richards’ New Memoir ‘Life’ Rolling Stone’s latest issue contains excerpts from Keith Richards’ new book Life. Richards wrote the book with British author James Fox. The two started the project in 2007. I can’t wait read more...
The Moth In New Orleans: A More Perfect Union: Stories of Prejudice and Power
The Moth In New Orleans: A More Perfect Union: Stories of Prejudice and Power I now will be covering George Dawes Green’s indelible raconteurs club--The read more...
Great Places in America: The BMA Sculpture Garden in Birmingham, Alabama
The American Planning Association (APA) recently named the Charles Ireland Sculpture Garden at the
The Unchained Tour of Georgia Documentary
The Unchained Tour of Georgia Documentary On Monday, before the evening performance of The Unchained Tour of Georgia, I spoke with author
St. Simons Island: First Stop On The Unchained Tour of Georgia
The UnchainedTour: St. Simons Island I wanted to have the entire article written about last night’s first stop on The Unchained Tour, but there’s too much material. Right now, a brief dispatch will have to suffice. The Unchained Tour of Georgia, spearheaded by read more...
Streams of Coastal Culture...
Streams of Coastal Culture “May you live in interesting times…” --Chinese Proverb Down here on coastal Georgia it’s festive. Golfer Davis Love’s PGA tour event--The McGladrey Classic--is going on right now. R.E.M’s Mike read more...
From Townes To Peckinpah
From Townes To Peckinpah “The hero and the artist compare notes on the 21st century…
Dust To Digital's Latest Release: Let Your Feet Do The Talkin'
Dust To Digital’s Let Your Feet Do The Talkin’ Lance Ledbetter’s Atlanta label Dust to Digital just released their latest project, Let Your Feet Do The Talkin’. This 30-minute read more...
A Call From George Dawes Green: Prelude to the Unchained Tour
A Call From George Dawes Green The Unchained Georgia Tour: A Prelude To Opening Night This afternoon esteemed author and The Moth creator
It's Never Too Late To Read a Banned Book
I recommend that you start with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or perhaps All The King's Men, or even To Kill A Mockingbird which just celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The great poet T.S. Eliot once said that his parents forbade him to read more...
Widespread Panic Rocks Saint Augustine
Widespread Panic Visits The First Coast My ears are still ringing… Widespread Panic delivered an energetic show last night at the beautiful Saint Augustine read more...
President Obama Describes Meeting Bob Dylan
President Obama Describes Meeting Bob Dylan On September 17, 2010, President Obama conducted an interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone magazine. It’s an extensive read more...
Billy C. Farlow, Mercy Band, and Alabama Swamp Stomp
Hold on to your habaneros. Blues legend Billy C. Farlow is once again having too much fun with a brand new cd, and he is hotter than ever. In the spring of 2009, Billy C. read more...
A Conversation with Alabama Guitarist & Songwriter Riley Watkins
Riley Watkins To Discuss Grandma's Roadhouse Everyone likes a good story. The Riley Watkins story proves to be one you should hear. This Alabama guitarist and songwriter stands as an obscure American hero that any real music fan would love.
The Ray Charles Memorial Library Opens in Los Angeles
The Ray Charles Library Opens in Los Angeles The Ray Charles Memorial Library opened last Thursday in Los Angeles, California, on what would have been his 80th birthday. Ray Charles built the RPM International Building in 1964 to serve as his recording read more...
Neil Young's Southern Shows & Le Noise...Bob Dylan Southern Tour Dates Released...Island Notes
Neil Young in Clearwater Florida Tonight Before the release of his new record Le Noise on September 28, Neil Young will play a string of southern shows beginning tonight in Clearwater, Florida. On the full moon tomorrow Neil plays Hollywood, Florida, and then read more...
Inside Alabama Politics: Fish Frys, Barbecues, and Chittlin' Suppers
According to my friend Dr. Susan Parker, Alabama politics is not just about politics; it is about food and lots of it. No political rally is complete without a read more...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers MOJO Tour: The Last Five Days
The Last Few Shows of Mojo Tour Last night Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers played in Raliegh, North Carolina. Only five shows remain on the MOJO tour. For these last shows, ZZ Top serves as the opening band.
Ryan Bingham & Willie Nelson: Double-Barreled Americana Show On The Road
Willie Nelson & Ryan Bingham: Double-Barreled Americana Ryan Bingham serves as Willie read more...
The 13th Annual Gram Parsons Guitar Pull & Festival This Weekend in Waycross, Georgia
13th Annual Gram Parsons Guitar Pull & Tribute Festival “This old town’s filled with sin It’ll swallow you in If you’ve got some money to burn…” “Sin City” The Flying Burrito read more...
42 Years Later: Buffalo Springfield Reunites At Bridge School Benefit
Buffalo Springfield Reunites At Young’s Bridge School Benefit Buffalo Springfield will reunite for the first time in 42 years at
This Weekend In Georgia: Drivin N Cryin's Equipment Stolen & The Black Crowes Inducted Into GMHOF
Drivin N Cryin Ripped Off & Black Crowes Rock & Roll Induction After a Friday night gig in Macon, Georgia, Drivin N Cryin’s gear trailer was stolen. The band stayed at a hotel and went out for something to eat after the show, and when they returned their read more...
Filming "The Help": News and Blues in the Delta-- Greenwood, MS
About seven miles east of Greenwood, MS, the rolling hills suddenly go flat, a sure sign you are entering the Delta. We had driven to Greenwood via the leisurely
The Complete Hank Williams Mother's Best Recordings
Hank Williams Complete Mother’s Best Recordings A new 15-CD collection of Hank Williams’ radio programs will be released this month. The collection—
Merle Haggard Keeps On Truckin'
Merle Haggard Hits The Road In December Merle Haggard will receive a Kennedy Center honor. This recent
Southern Music Folk Festival Dedicated To Jim Dickinson
Southern Music Folk Festival Dedicated To Jim Dickinson Throughout the years, Jim Dickinson cultivated a relationship with the Memphis Center for read more...
Jim Jarmusch Conjures Tom Waits, Neil Young & The North Mississippi Allstars In Interview
Jim Jarmusch Conjures Tom Waits, Neil Young & North Mississippi Allstars Jim Jarmusch serves as the guest curator on Sunday for a festival in Monticello, New York, called All Tomorrow’s Parties. Jarmusch’s films always contain vivid musical imagery. Jarmusch read more...
CNN Spotlights The Georgia Theatre
CNN Spotlights The Georgia Theatre Today CNN ran a story regarding The Georgia Theatre. Our friend Wilmot Greene talked about the fire last June that burned down his venerable music hall. Wilmot told me a couple of weeks ago they hope to open the Theatre doors by April read more...
Hunter S. Thompson's Wife Keeps The Faith On Owl Farm Blog
The Fifth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Anita Thompson, the wife of late writer Hunter S. Thompson, still lives at their home--Owl Farm--in Woody Creek, Colorado. Anita keeps the spirit of her husband’s writing alive on her
Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan--Twenty Years After His Tragic Death
Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, called by many the greatest blues guitarist since Jimi Hendrix, died read more...
Ryan Bingham & Willie Nelson Hit The Road Together
Ryan Bingham & Willie Nelson Tour Together Ryan Bingham’s new CD, Junky Star, hits the streets on Tuesday. A few days later, Bingham and his band The Dead Horses will open shows for Willie Nelson read more...
The Illustrations of Georgia Artist Jack Davis
The Illustrations of Georgia Artist Jack Davis Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1924, Jack Davis stands as one of America’s finest illustrators. Inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003, The National Cartoonist Society, The Society of Illustrators and The read more...
An Athens Afternoon: Adventures In the Past & Present (Notes On Bloodkin, Panic, & The Georgia Theatre)
Adventures In the Past & Present: A Report From Athens, Georgia I drove from Atlanta to Athens yesterday. It’s a drive I’ve made hundreds of times over the years, but the strange shaped clouds indicated somehow times have changed. This trip is purely read more...
New Orleans Rising: Pontchartrain Park Focus of CNN Documentary
Pontchartrain Park focus of CNN Documentary This evening a documentary on CNN—In America—focused on the efforts of New Orleans actor Wendell Pierce read more...
Hot Haitian Jazz and a Cool New Album by RIYEL (Watters, Atkins, and Abel)
Jazz trumpeter and Alabama native Ken Watters has joined with several of the country's top musicians to form an eclectic and exciting jazz group called
Ray McKinnon: From The Drive By Truckers To Hal Holbrook To Hank Williams
Ray McKinnon Stars in a Film About The Last Days of Hank Williams Adel, Georgia, born Ray McKinnon now ranks as a formidable actor, director, producer and writer in the industry. McKinnon’s most recent appearance is in the Drive By Truckers' video
Bob Dylan And the Death of Elvis Presley
Bob Dylan & the Death of Elvis Presley Since yesterday marked the 33rd anniversary of Tupelo native Elvis Presley’s death, I thought a quick dispatch regarding The King would be appropriate. I came across
Stockholm Syndrome Performs To Assist Georgia Theatre
Stockholm Syndrome Performs To Assist Georgia Theatre Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools’ band Stockholm Syndrome will play the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, on September 1, 2010. All proceeds earned from this show will go to re-building the venerable Georgia read more...
Widespread Panic & The Black Crowes Contribute Songs On Jerry Jams For Rex
Widespread Panic & The Black Crowes Contribute On Jerry Jams for Rex Widespread Panic and The Black Crowes contributed live performances of Jerry Garcia songs for the project release Jerry Jams for Rex. August 9 marked the 15-year anniversary of Jerry read more...
Jimmy Dean--"Thirty Years of Sausage, Fifty Years of Ham"
Jimmy Dean, who died on June 13 of this year, would have been 82 years old today, August 10. In honor of his birthday, I prepared his fabulous low fat turkey sausage for breakfast. To tell the truth, I have read more...
Widespread Panic's Michael Houser: Eight Years Gone
Michael Houser: The Quiet Genius: Eight Years Gone By James Calemine Eight years ago Widespread Panic’s founding guitarist died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 40. It doesn’t seem like eight years since he’s been gone…
The Dog Days Descend
Dog Day Afternoon In the Peach State A quick note as the Dog Days descend here in Georgia…I briefly visited Stanley Booth and Diann Blakely today to talk shop, so to speak. Look read more...
Oldtimers Charades or "You Know Where She Sits in Church"
As I approach yet another birthday, I try even harder to find the humor in aging. Here is my latest attempt. Southerners have never let anything, including a sudden total loss of recall, interfere with good conversation.
Novelist George Dawes Green Today's 'On The Point' Radio Guest
George Dawes Green Today's Guest On WBUR.ORG A couple of months ago I interviewed best-selling novelist George Dawes Green. Green’s book’s The Caveman’s Valentine, The Juror and his most recent work Ravens all experienced read more...
Roadtrip to the Shoals: Billy Reid Couture, Trowbridge's Ice Cream, and Sweetwater Plantation
I just bought my first Billy Reid. No, not Armani or Versace. Much better!!! Billy Reid, whose creations read more...
Changing of the Guard
Dispatch From The Little Satilla "Either brace yourself for elimination, or your heart must have the courage for the changing of the guard." read more...
The Black Crowes' Croweology Set For Release On August 3
Black Crowes Double Live CD Croweology Out Aug 3 The Black Crowes will release Croweology on August 3. Croweology represents all acoustic versions of songs culled from their last 20 years. Earlier this year, The Crowes entered into Los Angeles' Sunset read more...
Luther & Cody Dickinson In Memphis Tomorrow Opening for Robert Plant
DuoLuco to Open For Robert Plant Deep South Shows The North Mississippi Allstars' Luther and Cody Dickinson join as DUOLUCO and will open for Robert Plant & The Band of Joy for a stretch of dates beginning tomorrow night in Memphis.
Looking Good at Sixty-Three--Jimmy Buffett Rocks the Gulf Coast
Been there, done that, have the pictures to prove it, but I wish I had been in Gulf Shores last night for the Jimmy Buffett and Friends Benefit Concert. Thanks to CMT, a portion of the concert was read more...
The Drive By Truckers Hit the Road Next Week with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Fourth of July Dispatch Happy Independence Day to all your great Americans…Next week The Drive By Truckers and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers hit the road for most of the month. Now, that’s a ticket worth buying.
Reading "The Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans" by David Lummis
Perhaps because I was an English professor for most of my life, friends are always asking me what good book I have read recently. Well, I am happy to report that I have
Jim Thompson's Killer Inside Me Adapted To Film
Killer Inside Me Adapted To Film Oklahoma-born writer Jim Thompson—known for books such as Killer Inside Me, The Getaway, The Grifters, Savage Night and A Hell of a Woman—wrote over 30 novels. Thompson’s read more...
Rebuilding Plan For Georgia Theatre Approved
Georgia Theatre Rebuilding Plan Approved A state agency has approved to rebuild the venerable Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia. On June 19, 2009, the music venue burned down. Work to rebuild the 121-year-old building has already begun.
Alabama Authors To SIgn Books at Keller Festival in Tuscumbia
As a part of the 32th Annual Helen Keller Festival held this week in Tuscumbia, Alabama, several Alabama authors will be signing their read more...
Ryan Bingham's Junky Star On The Rise
Ryan Bingham’s Junky Star Set For Fall Release In the swirl of T-Bone Burnett produced projects such as Robert Randolph’s We Walk This Road (released today), Crazy Heart as read more...
Rare William Faulkner Collection Auctioned by Christie's in NYC
A collection of William Faulkner memorabilia primarily including first editions (some inscribed) of his novels, manuscripts, personal correspondence (a telegram to read more...
Past Interviews & Upcoming Artists of Note
Greetings Folks, I hope all is well, and everyone enjoyed Father’s Day… Change is afoot, and we’ve got a lot on the horizon, but for the past week much of the work has gone on behind the scenes. On the immediate agenda, the work of
Alabama Bred Artist Paxton Creates Pelican Belt Buckle To Help Save Gulf Coast
My talented nephew, California artist and Elk River native Paxton (Mobley), has been creating fine art for over twenty years and has become a favorite with collectors. Recently, he began desiging original belt read more...
Alabama Author Albert Murray Symposium and Book Launch at Lincoln Center
Two of my good friends, Jeanie Thompson (poet and Executive Director of the Alabama Writers Forum) and
The Black Crowes Set For Induction Into 32nd Annual Georgia Music Hall of Fame
Black Crowes To Be Inducted Into Georgia Music Hall of Fame The Atlanta Rockers The Black Crowes announced on their official website they will be inducted into The Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September read more...
More Music, Moviemaking, and the Annual Helen Keller Festival in the Shoals
You know it's summer in Alabama when the annual Helen Keller Festival week is about to commence. This year the 32nd annual festival in Tuscumbia, AL, (one of the four cities in the Shoals) will run read more...
Tom Petty Talks Southern Mojo
Tom Petty Talks Southern Mojo Mojo—due out June 29—counts as the first Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album in 8 years. Mojo revolves around the rural south. The music derives inspiration from artists such as
Tribute Concert To Benefit Historic New Orleans Collection
Harold Battiste Tribute Concert to Benefit Historic New Orleans Collection New Orleans musician Harold Battiste’s book, Unfinished Blues: Memories of a New read more...
Neil Young Plays The Ryman Tonight
Neil Young's Second Night At The Ryman This evening Neil Young plays The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Young also played the historic Ryman last night. Over the years, Young has expressed his love for Nashville. His Heart of Gold movie was filmed at the read more...
Sweet Home Alabama and Bitter Politics
Mudslinging has reached new heights in the rainsoaked red clay of Alabama. Gone are the usual insinuations and innuendo, and in their place are vicious verbal attacks. Party lines have been crossed, and insults have become downright personal.
I Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
I Ain’t In It For My Health A review of I Ain’t In It For My read more...
More Muscle Shoals Soul: Percussionist Jimmy "BeBop" Evans
Yesterday I was having breakfast at Cafe Savanna in Rogersville, AL, with my dear friends Susan and Paul read more...
The New Carolina Chocolate Drops Songbook
Songbook Follows Genuine Negro Jig The Carolina Chocolate Drops now have a new songbook out. The book contains photographs, songs and quotes as well as history on the culture of African-American old time string bands.
The Black Keys, Band of Horses, and the Magic of Muscle Shoals
"Soul nirvana" is what one writer calls Muscle Shoals, that area of the Quad Cities in northwest Alabama where such legendary musicians as
Valdosta, Georgia, Native Mark Neill Produces Black Keys' Brothers in Muscle Shoals
Mark Neill Produces Black Keys Brothers In Muscle Shoals Mark Neill--a Valdosta, Georgia, native--stands as a heavy in the music community. He used to play in a great band called The Unknowns. He runs
Sister Schubert: From a Sunporch in Alabama to the Corporate Boardroom
I have been a fan of Sister Schubert rolls since I popped the first delectable morsel in my mouth some 15 years ago. The name Sister Schubert is a household word in my family, my sister's family, my daughter's read more...
The Rolling Stones' Exile, Panic's Dirty Side Down & Tom Waits Interviews Himself
Exile On Main Street & Panic's Dirty Side Down Tomorrow The Rolling Stones' classic album Exile On Main Street will be released. In read more...
Basically Frightened: The Musical Madness of Colonel Bruce Hampton
Basically Frightened The long-awaited documentary about Colonel Bruce Hampton—Basically Frightened: The Musical Madness of Col. Bruce Hampton—is now in the editing phase. This project proves to be a definitive film on one of the South’s most read more...
New Video From Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' MOJO
"I Should Have Known It" New Petty Single “I Should Have Known It” counts as the latest single/video from Tom Petty’s upcoming new album
Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian & Cities of the Plain Set for the Silver Screen
Two More McCarthy Books Set To Film Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children) will direct his screenplay based on the savage Cormac McCarthy novel, Blood Meridian. The film is slated for release sometime next year. In other McCarthy news, Andrew read more...
Holly Hollman Writes about the Dying Art of Shoe Repair
RiverVue's guest writer for this week is journalist Holly Hollman of the Decatur Daily . The following
Widespread Panic on Season Premiere of Squidbillies & Daniel Hutchens on Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic on Season Premiere of Squidbillies On May 16, for the season premiere, Widespread Panic makes an appearance on the TV show Squidbillies. The show began in 2006, and the season ends with a special 30-minute all star musical featuring The Drive by Truckers, read more...
George Dawes Green Talks About Flannery O'Connor
George Dawes Green on Flannery O’Connor Yesterday I interviewed best-selling author George Dawes Green. Green’s latest book, Ravens, takes place in read more...
STAX Legend Steve Cropper's Midnight Flyer
Midnight Flyer Due Out June 15 Steve Cropper, guitarist for Booker T & The MGs and one of the primary architects of the indelible STAX sound, recently recorded a new studio album in Nashville. Midnight Flyer, due out on June 15, follows Cropper's 2008 Nudge read more...
Levon Helm's 70th Birthday Celebration at The Mountain Jam
The Mountain Jam Festival June 4-6 Warren Haynes' sixth Mountain Jam Festival will return to Hunter, New York, on June 4-6, 2010. Haynes' band Government Mule will headline the festival, which will also include Levon Helm & Friends' 70th Birthday read more...
Swampland's Upcoming Interview with George Dawes Green
George Dawes Green Interview Next Week Next week I look forward to interviewing George Dawes Green. Green wrote The Caveman’s Valentine (the film adaptation starred Samuel L. Jackson), which won an Edgar award. Green’s next book, The read more...
Steve Gorman Sports Covers The Kentucky Derby
Black Crowes Drummer Steve Gorman Travels Home For The Derby Kentucky-native and Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman hosts a radio “The Backbeat of Sports” show in Nashville. It’s a fine sports-music show. Steve was a serious athlete in high school and read more...
April is the Busiest Month: Alabama and New Orleans
Every week in April has been busy with a literary or cultural event in the state of Alabama including the Alabama Book Festival, an annual event in
The Turntable Blues: Reverend Johnny L. "Hurricane" Jones
The Turntable Blues Born in the backwoods of Alabama, Rev. Johnny L. “Hurricane” Jones—now 73—still preaches at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after 53 years. He continues to preach and sing as well as broadcasts a popular read more...
The Latest On Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson
Merle Haggard’s New Album & Willie Nelson’s New Tour Dates The great Merle Haggard released a new album this week. Look for the Swampland review soon. The album—I Am What I Am—released on Vanguard retains an old read more...
Memphis Native Kirk Whalum Named President of Soulsville/Stax
Memphis Native Kirk Whalum Named President of Soulsville/Stax Memphis native Kirk Whalum—a Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist and music read more...
The Black Crowes Announce New Studio Album, "Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys" Tour & Hiatus
The Black Crowes Announce New Album, Tour & 2011 Hiatus The Black Crowes announced yesterday they will release a studio album of all acoustic material to commemorate their 20th Anniversary
The Wiregrass Road To Wanee
The Road To Wanee “Odds and Ends Lost time is not found again…” On the road to the Wanee read more...
Tom Kimmel at 9th Annual Writers Conference, Calhoun College, Decatur, AL
I just returned from a long weekend in the Crescent City, but I don't plan to miss the annual writers conference on Thursday, April 15, at Calhoun read more...
New Orleans and the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival 2010
I don't get down to New Orleans nearly so often as I would like although it is a place close to my heart. New Orleans is one of my top three cities in America, along with
Pioneering Alabama Civil RIghts Photographer Charles Moore Dies
The year was 1963. I picked up a copy of the May Life Magazine and was appalled to see graphic images of fire hoses and police dogs being turned on helpless protesters in
Alex Chilton RIP
Big Star Legend Passes Away Like everyone else...you never know where you'll be when you get the news...so for now, I'd like to read more...
The Wes Freed Interview
March 2010 Interview with Artist Wes Freed I'd like to personally thank Wes Freed for his contributions and read more...
The Drive By Truckers' The Big To-Do Out Tuesday March 16
The Big To-Do Out March 16 (ATO Records) The
Ryan Bingham & T-Bone Burnett Win An Oscar For Crazy Heart
Texas Songwriter Triumphs With Oscar
Tribute to Southern Literary Icon Barry Hannah
Award winning Southern author Barry Hannah died Monday, March 1, at his home in Oxford, MS. read more...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' First Album In Eight Years Due Out In Spring
Mojo Due Out This Spring On Tom Petty’s official website you can hear
Sweet Home Alabama: Movie Making and Music in Muscle Shoals
A Pitch Video, like a "Demo Reel" in the music business, about the music of the Muscle Shoals entitled "Sweet Home Alabama--The Music of Muscle read more...
Today's Interview with Patterson Hood
Today's Interview with Patterson Hood On the eve of his annual Guitar Pull, I called Patterson Hood. Best known as the leader of the Drive By read more...
Grandma Got Run Over By A Treadmill or Southern Belles at Midlife
First of all let me say that I am not a grandmother, but I am old enough to be one. That being said, I will continue with the story. In an effort to level the playing field in the never-ending battle against bulge, my sister (did I mention she weighs 122 read more...
The Strange Case of Dr. Amy Bishop
As the story behind the fatal shootings at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Friday, Feb 13, begins to unfold, the actual facts behind the incident become more and more obscure. First of all, those who were victims of the read more...
Johnny Depp Shooting New Keith Richards Documentary
Johnny Depp Directing Keith Richards Documentary Kentucky-born actor Johnny Depp has always been a
Sam Shepard Revisited: A New Play "Ages of the Moon"
Sam Shepard Revisited: "Ages of the Moon" In light of my recent review of
The Black Dub of Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois' New Band Black Dub Daniel Lanois’ new band,
New Information on William Faulkner's Historical Sources Comes to LIght
According to an article in this week's New York Times (February 11, 2010), a Southern literature scholar from Emory read more...
New Orleans' Preservation Hall Benefit Album
Preservation Hall Benefit The Preservation Hall opened its doors in 1961. Located in The French Quarter—three blocks from the Mississippi read more...
Bob Dylan & The Blind Boys of Alabama Prepare for White House Performance Wednesday
A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement
A Timeless American Lineage: The Six Degrees of the Dickinson Family
The Six Degrees of The Dickinson Family Dispatch The late Jim Dickinson--along with his sons read more...
Mavis Staples Still Singing Soulful Gospel Music
Gospel Great Mavis Staples at 71
Frigid February Is Hot Month for Arts in South
Temperatures may be hovering around freezing in the south in February, but the mercury is rising in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama when it comes to the fine arts The first weekend in February marks the 7th Annual Oxford read more...
Book Reviews of the Past: Adventures in the Literary Realm
Mystery and Manners Book Reviews of the Past On this Tuesday evening, I thought I’d lash together a book review read more...
The Drive By Truckers' Secret To A Happy Ending
The Impending Onslaught of The Drive By Truckers Congratulations to
Neil Young, Levon Helm, Booker T. and Steve Earle All Win Grammys
Downhome 2010 Grammy Winners So, after a tribute to
The Long Awaited Lance Ledbetter Interview
The Long-Awaited Lance Ledbetter Interview The story of Dust To Digital is a divine one. In the late 1990s, Lance Ledbetter set out to discover read more...
The South Memphis String Band's Home Sweet Home
The South Memphis String Band's Debut Release The South Memphis String Band is Luther Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart read more...
Favre Still Rules Though Saints March and Vikings Retreat
I would not want to be Brett Favre this morning---over forty, utterly frustrated, and physically and emotionally devastated. However, this Mississippi born grand old man of football is my hero, and he's not done read more...
Prelude To Interview with Dust To Digital's Lance Ledbetter
Prelude To Interview with Dust To Digital President Lance Ledbetter This evening I finished transcribing my interview with the President of read more...
Neil Young Talks About The Grammys
Neil Young Honored At Grammys In
Paul Hemphill's Home Movies For The Folks
Home Movies For the Folks In my friend Paul read more...
Sunday Sounds: Take Me To The Water
Sunday Sounds: Take Me To The Water The Spiritual Oasis of Dust to Digital (Lance Ledbetter Interview Prelude)
Crimson Tide Rules: Alabama Celebrates in Life and Art
It was like the closing of the Red Sea in the Rose Bowl Stadium in
Leon Russell Recovering From Brain Surgery
Leon Russell On The Mend Leon Russell’s website read more...
Bobby Charles RIP
Bobby Charles Dead at 71 Louisiana songwriter Bobby Charles collapsed and
Johnny Cash's Final Studio Album American VI Out February 26
American VI Out Feb. 26
The Early Recordings of Waylon Jennings
The First Six Waylon Jennings Albums Reissued Last week I received Texas-born Waylon Jennings’ first 6 albums—Folk read more...
Happy BIrthday Week: Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips (Sun Records)
Today, January 8, Elvis Presley would have celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. On Tuesday, January 5, Sam Phillips, the man who read more...
Willie Mitchell RIP
Legendary Producer Passes Away at 81 Willie Mitchell--one of Al Green's read more...
Yellow Dogs and Blue Dogs: Alabama's Three? Dog Night
I know what a Yellow Dog is. A Yellow Dog is a Democrat who would vote the Democratic ticket even if he or she had to vote for a yellow (aka "yaller" dog). But what on earth is a
Merry Christmas
Mystery And Manners Christmas Dispatch Ho Ho Ho Folks, Merry Christmas! I'd like read more...
T-Bone Burnett: O Brother, Where Aren't Thou?
The Latest T-Bone Burnett Ongoings This
Between A Memory And A Dream: Tom Petty's Live Anthology
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' The Live Anthology This new Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Live Anthology--4 read more...
Widespread Panic Redux
Six Degrees of Widespread Panic Revisited The mighty Widespread Panic wave is about to roll in again...I'd like to direct everyone's read more...
Alabama Stocking Stuffers
Still stumped for stocking stuffers this Christmas? What about giving the lasting gift of art, music, film, or literature by Alabama authors, artists, musicians, and filmmakers this holiday season ? Here are just a few of the must-haves that will please any readers on read more...
Guest Writer for this Week Reminds us To Count Our Blessings
As Christmas grows closer and 2009, which has been a difficult year for everyone, draws to a close, some of us may find it a bit more difficult than usual to count our blessings. The South has been extremely hard hit by the recession. Friends have lost their read more...
Luther Dickinson: The Hardest Working Man In Rock And Roll
Luther Dickinson: The Hardest Working Man In Rock And Roll
A Christmas Miracle: White Pelicans Return to Elk River
White Pelicans are a rarity on Elk River. I had never seen one north of Gulf Shores, but on Christmas morning of 2007, a read more...
Levon Helm's Electric Dirt Earns Grammy Nomination
Electric Dirt Nominated For Best Americana Album of 2009
Dust To Digital's Take Me To The Water Earns Grammy Nomination
Take Me To The Water Earns Grammy Nomination Two weeks ago, Dust To Digital’s latest release the book (with CD)—
Alabama Actress Kim Dickens in HBO Series "Treme"
Treme, a made for television series set the the historic area of
A Big To-Do About The Drive By Truckers
Drive By Truckers Upcoming New Disc The Big To-Do Athens, Georgia’s own,
SEC Championship: The Long Road to the Rose Bowl Stadium
The day was September 12, 1970. The integrated football team of University of Southern California met the all-white team of the University of Alabama at
Potato Hole Nominated For 2 Grammys & 2010 Drive By Truckers Tour Dates
Potato Hole Nominated For 2 Grammys & 2010 Trucker Tour Dates Booker T. Jones’ latest album,
Jim Dickinson Featured In Memphis Storytellers Project
Jim Dickinson In New Memphis Legend Storytelling Project The late Jim Dickinson appears in a Memphis-produced DVD titled “The Music read more...
Sunday Sounds
Sunday Sounds Mystery And Manners’ Sunday Sounds counts as a soulful, reflective glance read more...
Dust To Digital's Holiday Spirit & Soul
Dust To Digital’s Holiday Soul & Spirit “Two white horses side by side Oh, me an my Lord gon’ take a read more...
A Conversation with The Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Director Lisa Love
The Latest From The Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Director My latest conversation with The Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Director, Lisa Love, read more...
Shades of Thanksgivings Past: Post Thanksgiving Stress Disorder
As we approach another holiday season, I thought I would repost an article I wrote the week after Thanksgiving one year ago. I called it "PTSD: Post Thanksgiving Stress Disorder." . ------- December 7, 2008 Well, here we are again. Thanksgiving has read more...
The Drive By Truckers Contribute To Eddie Hinton Tribute
Very Extremely Dangerous Singles Shake It Records has released a series of limited-edition 45-rpm vinyl singles, and
Winter 2009 Interview with Kirk West On The Way
Kirk West In The Big House In the next two weeks I will interview Kirk West for the second volume of our interview series. Kirk oversees
Levon Helm's Sunday Midnight Ramble
November 15 Ramble This Sunday—November 15—Levon Helm hosts one of his read more...
SEC Football:Don't Spill Bourbon On My Mink--Or My Donna Karan
This Friday's Wall Street Journal published an intriguing
Luther Dickinson's Sons of Mudboy Musical Tribute To Jim Dickinson
Onward And Upward On Tuesday Luther Dickinson and The Sons of Mudboy's Onward and Upward CD was released. This collection of songs read more...
No "Lazybones"--Happy 100th Birthday Johnny Mercer, RIP
According to The Business Insider, fourteen of the twenty-five laziest cities in America are in the south (ie,, in the Swampland footprint). with
November 9, 2009 Interview with Chuck Leavell
2009 Interview with Rolling Stones Keyboardist Chuck Leavell Greetings folks, I'm pleased to present today's interview with The Rolling read more...
Excerpt Two From Fall 08 Chuck Leavell Interview: The Rolling Stones
Fall 08 Interview with Chuck Leavell Excerpt Two In Part Two from my Fall 08 Interview with
Dust To Digital's Fertile Athens and Atlanta Roots
Dust to Digital's Deep Georgia Roots One of my favorite organizations—hands down—stands as Lance Ledbetter’s read more...
A Message From Patterson Hood
Latest notes from Patterson Hood on what’s going on in Drive-By Truckers’ world.... Y'ALL: Decompressing from our late October read more...
Patterson Hood Solo Gigs This November In Georgia
Drive By Truckers Front Man Books Solo Shows Close To Home
Meet Alabama Poet Harry Moore
Dr. Harry Moore, professor emeritus of English, is the guest author for this week on Swampland. Harry has been a friend and colleague of mine for over three decades. He
Guest Swampland Victuals Editor: Southern Soul's Griffin Bufkin
Griffin Bufkin's Soulful Recipe For Smoked Oysters Griffin Bufkin owns
Announcing Our New Athens, Georgia Pages - on Swampland and on Facebook
Join Swampland Facebook Pages Hillsides of kudzu lead you into the town of Athens, Georgia. Athens, located on the Oconee River, serves as the home to The University of Georgia, read more...
At The Intersection of Bell, Williams, Parsons & Redding
A Brief Note At An Intersection of Country Soul The second volume of
Spotlight On The Classic City: Athens, Georgia
Spotlight On The Classic City: Athens, Georgia This week I’d like to shine a spotlight on Athens, Georgia. Like many, I graduated from The read more...
Geezefest 2009: Yankee, Come Home!
On September 25, 2009, forty-four years after students from New Jersey, New York, and environs first appeared on the campus of Athens College (now Athens State University),
Jonathan Wilson's Emerald Triangle Tour 2009
Jonathan Wilson's 2009 Emerald Triangle Tour Jonathan read more...
North Mississippi Allstars Record Song For Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Album
Dickinsons Pay Homage To Mississippi Group The North read more...
Halloween In New Orleans: Panic, Truckers & NO Musicians Clinic Conjure Good Mojo
A Season of the Witch in The Crescent City: Widespread Panic, Drive By Truckers & New Orleans Musicians Clinic Help At Halloween In this read more...
Johnny Depp and Tom Waits In New Terry Gilliam Film
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Kentucky native Johnny Depp stars in a new Terry Gilliam film with
Meet John Lee of "When The Buddha Met Bubba"
Writing under the pseudonym of Richard "Dixie" Hartwell, John Lee, the best-selling author of The Flying read more...
Tom Waits Live Double CD Hits Stores November 24
Glitter and Doom Live Tom Waits' new read more...
Jerry Wexler Memorial Celebration October 30
Tribute To Jerry Wexler In New York City on October 30 a memorial will be held for the great
Meet Kelly Kazek: Swampland Guest Writer
Journalist and author Kelly Kazek joins us on Swampland to write about an exciting events to take place this weekend in Athens, Alabama: the
An Evening of Respect To Otis Redding
November 5 Atlanta Tribute To Otis Redding On November 5, 2009, at the Atlanta Woodruff Arts Center an All-Star musical tribute to
Pat Conroy "South of Broad" Contest Winners Announced
Congratulations to all of those who participated in the Pat Conroy "Win a Copy of South of Broad Contest" sponsored read more...
Widespread Panic Archivist Horace Moore Begins To Document Panic-Allman Brothers Tour
Panic Archivist Documents Widespread Panic-Allmans Current Tour On Saturday and Sunday, The Allman Brothers and
Topic for Final Week of the Pat Conroy Contest: Place in Southern Writing
In William Faulkner's masterpiece Absalom, Absalom!, Canadian Shreve McCannon who is Quentin Compson's roommate at read more...
The Black Crowes, Widespread Panic and Bloodkin Week on Mystery and Manners
Mystery And Manners Highlights Three Rock and Roll Forces This week on Mystery And Manners read more...
The Dictionary of Superstition
The Dictionary of Superstition For hundreds of years folks have used superstitions to explain mysterious circumstances. Some read more...
Sam Carr RIP
Sam Carr RIP Sam Carr, the last of the great Delta drummers, died Monday. Carr’s drumming made him a sought after musician read more...
Robert Johnson's Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Robert Johnson’s Last Fair Deal Gone Down A Journey Into The Heart of Folklore “Early this morning when you knocked upon read more...
Poets Jeanie Thompson and Kathleen Driskell at Athens State University
Poets Jeanie Thompson and Kathleen Driskell will be reading from and talking about their latest collections of poetry at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, at
Pat Conroy Contest Week 3: Relationships in Southern Writing
The Pat Conroy Contest enters week three on September 23. There are some great posts on the
Jim Dickinson Memorial Folk Festival Tonight In Memphis
Jim Dickinson Memorial Folk Festival Tonight in Memphis at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park, the
Levon Helm's Latest Schedule
Levon Helm's Latest Musical Paths Behind his latest release,
16th Trail of Tears Ride and Commemorative Sculpture in Tennessee
Tne Sixteenth Annual Trail of Tears Remembrance Motorcycle Ride will begin this weekend (Saturday, September 19) in Chattanooga, TN. Held annually on the third Saturday in September, the
Pat Conroy Contest Topic #2: The Significance of Family in Southern Writing
"You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood stick to you" says the barn-burning father Ab Snopes to his ten year old son Sarty shortly before Ab burns yet another barn and Sarty turns his back on his father and runs away into the dark read more...
The Timeless Artwork of Wes Freed
Tribute To A Virginia Artist Born in 1964, Virginia artist Wes Freed is best known for his artwork gracing the cover of
In Memory of Four Little Girls: Birmingham Church Bombing 1963
On this the 46th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four little girls, I am reposting an piece I wrote over a year ago. Here are the opening lines of the
Mystery And Manners' Honorary Southern Artist Volume 9: Sam Shepard
Mystery And Manners’ Honorary Southern Artist Volume 9: Sam Shepard Born in Illinois, Sam Shepard’s writing, acting and musical read more...
Bob Dylan & The Band 1974 Concert Unearthed
Rare 1974 Los Angeles Recording Discovered A free streaming website called
Pat Conroy Has Always Been a Favorite Writer of Mine
It’s no secret how much I love reading. I guess that holds true for any writer. It sure does for me. Now, one of my favorite writers is fellow South Carolinian Pat read more...
An Affirming Flame: Remembering 9/11
I wrote this essay three days after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City (September 11, read more...
Fishing Camps & Gator Hunting
Fishing Camps & Gator Hunting In South Georgia Today I conducted another interview with my old friend Michael Gowen, proprietor of
Johnny Colt's At Full Volume Premiers on The Travel Channel Monday September 7
Full Volume Premiers Monday September 7, PM on Travel Channel North Carolina native Johnny Colt ranks as a self-made business mogul. Colt read more...
Pat Conroy Sweepstakes : Win Copy of South of Broad
Beginning on Wednesday, September 9, 2009, Swampland.com in conjunction with our Writers of the South Facebook Group and Nan A. read more...
Widespread Panic's Todd Nance Calls From Chicago
Widespread Panic’s Todd Nance Courtesy Call With all the current and upcoming excitement regarding this
Today's Conversation with Widespread Panic Bassist Dave Schools Regarding Current Tour with The Allman Brothers Band
Widespread Panic Bassist Discusses Tour with Allman Brothers Band An hour or so ago I just got off the phone with
Charlie Watts Quits The Stones?
Charlie Watts To Quit The Stones Well, bad news for Rolling Stones fans...word on the street is the band's original drummer--Charlie Watts--has read more...
Woody Guthrie's Bound For Glory
Ode To an Oklahoma Hero Woody Guthrie ranks as a great American poet. His songs such as “This Land Is Your Land”, "Pastures of read more...
The Black Crowes & Levon Helm Band Rock Boston Last Night
Crowes & Helm Rock Boston Last night at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston,
Bob Dylan Releasing Christmas Album
Christmas In The Heart I know it's early, but since
Art Scene in Athens, Alabama: Local Southern Authors Rule
The literary scene is booming in the small town of Athens, Alabama. In the past year at least four authors have published their work.
Mystery And Manners' Honorary Southern Artists Volume 8: Lowell George
Mystery And Manners' Honorary Southern Artists Volume 8 Born in Los Angeles, California, Lowell George's guitar playing and songwriting categorize read more...
Widespread Panic-Allman Brothers Tour: Double Dose of Potent Music
Brothers Panic On The Road If the first two nights of the run is any indication, it looks like the
Possums Tales and Other Southern Fare
I was inspired to write about possums when I first saw this sign in front of Hickory Barn read more...
Charlie Musselwhite Writes On The Passing of Jim Dickinson
Harp Legend Praises an Old Friend In pursuit of collecting quotes about the sad passing of
Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens Writes About Jim Dickinson
Daniel Hutchens' Fond Memory of Jim Dickinson I've been reaching out to many friends and musicians to speak about or write about
Widespread Panic & The Allman Brothers Prepare For Historic Tour
Widespread Panic & Allmans Embark On Historic Tour This Weekend This weekend the
The Late Great Jim Dickinson's Swampland Contributions
Jim Dickinson's Favorite Films, Musicians and Barbecue Articles
Trailblazing Playwright Judi Ann Mason Dies at 54
Judi Ann Mason, who died of a ruptured abdominal aorta Wednesday July 8, 2009, was widely known in the film and television industry. Born in 1955 in
Jim Dickinson RIP
Another Brave Man Is Dead And Gone With great sadness, it is difficult to write
Bloodkin Performing Gram Parsons Guitar Pull In Waycross
Athens Rockers Pay Homage To Gram Parsons Along with a plethora of other dates, the mighty
James Burton Travels To Memphis For Elvis Week
Elvis Guitarist Travels To Memphis It’s Death Week in Memphis. Elvis Presley’s guitarist,
Art from Alabama to New Orleans and Along the Trail of Tears
This week's feature is about Going Green in New Orleans--how one city is turning trash into treasures. As we become more and more environmentally read more...
Pat Conroy, Cassandra King, and Rick Bragg In Birmingham
I could not wait to pass on this exciting information from Alabama Booksmith . Pat Conroy is coming to
My Life According to Billy C Farlow--Lost in the Ozone
There is a clever little game making its way around the internet. The game is called "My Life According To ....." To play you simply substitute your choice of artist or band and then answer the questions with song titles recorded by the artist. I found it read more...
That's What I Like About the South: Whitt's, White Sauce, Dale's Sauce, and Sundrop
In this series of blogs, I would like to talk about victuals (pronounced "vittles") that are uniquely southern. The first stanza of the song "That's What I Like about read more...
Guest Writer Diane Lehr and Renowned Ceramicist James Watkins
Swampland is honored to have Diane Lehr as our guest writer for this month. Lehr graciously consented to do a feature on renowned ceramicist James read more...
Levon Helm's Electric Dirt Remains True To American Musical Soil
Levon Helm's Electric Dirt You can't say enough about
28th Handy Blues Fest in Florence, Alabama, July 17-26
W. C. Handy's autobiography Father of the read more...
Mississippi Delta Blues: An American Cornerstone
Cornerstone Mississippi Blues Artists Here's a cool little
Doctor from Alabama Obama's Choice for Surgeon General
Once again Alabama has made the national news. For the last two weeks the web has been buzzing about a speech that financial guru and CEO of Retirement Systems of read more...
An Excerpt From Tuesday Interview with Cody Dickinson
Excerpt From Tuesday’s Cody Dickinson Interview Two days ago I interviewed
Cody Dickinson: Q & A From the Tour Bus
Today's Interview with Cody Dickinson I just conducted an insightful interview with Cody Dickinson. He was riding on the tour bus on the way to Canada read more...
Billy C Farlow, Delta Blues, and More News from Elk River
Well, we have survived yet another holiday weekend on Elk RIver. This weekend we did not burn down read more...
Guns for God?
"I don't see any contradiction in this. Not every Christian denomination is pacifist." - Ken Pagano, the pastor of the New Bethel Church in read more...
Echoes of the Ebo Tribe
Echoes of the Ebo Tribe As I promised yesterday, here’s an old ghost read more...
A Dispatch From The Coast
A Dispatch From The Coast After business in Atlanta, I’m on the homeland fandango this weekend to
Advice to Mark Sanford: Never Put it in an Email and Never Lie to Your Staff
Unless you have been in the jungles of Borneo for the last four days, you know that
A Return From Outer-Space with Cody Dickinson
Greetings Good Folks, After some technical difficulty and personal turbulence, I’m able to get back online. Much to read more...
Not Everyone Can Be From Alabama
Continuing with my theme of levity for the rest of this month, I thought I would share with you this delightful guide to Alabama entitled "Understanding Alabamer" that has been making the rounds read more...
Medusa Meets Bride of Frankenstein: A Night at the Sleep Clinic
After my very serious piece about US Highway 72, I thought all of us could use a little levity. Hope you get a laugh out of my recent night at the read more...
Georgia Theatre Ashes To Ashes
Morning Fire Destroys Georgia Theatre The Latest From Athens-Banner Herald:
Prayers & Light For Paul Hemphill
Prayers & Light For Southern Writer Paul Hemphill I cannot explain the difficulty or pain it causes me to write these next lines... My friend read more...
Tennessee Rules: Places to Experience, Music That Rocks, Vistas That Amaze
This month I want to share with you the incredible diversity and exquisite beauty of my neighboring state, the "volunteer" state of Tennessee. From geography (Tennessee is often referred to as the read more...
Highway 72--Not the "Highway To Hell" but the "Highway From Hell"
My eyes are bleary and my hands are shaking as I write this blog. I had planned to post a cheery and humorous little piece about possums, but instead I am writing about senseless death. Tomorrow I will bury my second friend to be killed on Highway 72
Koko Taylor RIP
Koko Taylor 1935-2009 Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 28, 1935, the great Koko Taylor died today in Chicago at 80. Orphaned at 11, she began to read more...
Helen Keller Lives On in the "The Miracle Worker"
On the first day of June,1968, author and activist Helen Keller, born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, read more...
More Marshall Tucker Racing Memories
Not too long ago I wrote a dispatch about my old friend George McCorkle of
Alabama Blues: Freedom Creek Festival and Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza
Don't miss the chance to travel to the beautiful state of Alabama this weekend for some of the best and as well as some of the most original blues you will ever hear. Looks like Alabama will finally get a break read more...
Alabama and The Civil Rights Movement: Forty-Eight Years Later
On this day, May 20, 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama, read more...
Indie Filmmaker Tonya Holly Hits the Silver Screen
This week, May 11, When I Find the Ocean by independent filmmaker Tonya Holly will be shown in more than 90 theaters in 31 states including Alabama as an official
Smoke on the Water, Fire in the Sky: Mother's Day Weekend on ER
"No matter what we get out of this I know we'll never forget Smoke on the water, fire in the sky "
National Poetry Month and Kentuckian Wendell Berry
April is National Poetry Month, and I have been musing over one of my favorite poems that I keep posted on the door of my refrigerator. It is "The Peace of Wild Things" read more...
Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson On the Road Again
Dylan & Nelson Hit The Road Together Luminaries Bob Dylan read more...
Record Store Day Remembrances: Orlando's Park Ave CDs
Orlando, Florida seems an unlikely Southern musical hub. In the shadows of the all-encompassing mouse south of town, this ever-emerging city has seemingly yet to define itself culturally outside of Disney and its other famous tourist attractions.
Clothing Designer Billy Reid Moves Corporate Headquarters to Florence, Alabama
Who would ever dream that an internationally known clothing designer would base his corporate headquarters in Florence, Alabama. For the past four years, Louisiana native
Authors Michael Knight and Nanci Kincaid To Speak at Alabama Writers' Conferences
On Thursday, April 16, Calhoun Community College will host its Eighth Annual Writers’ Conference. The featured author for the 2009 conference will be Alabama native
The World's Oldest Living Person and My Nonagenarian Friends
The current adage “Old age is not for sissies” has never been more true. Gertrude Baines, who became the world's oldest living person on read more...
Atlanta's Dust To Digital Celebrates Grammy & New Box Set Last Night
Dust to Digital’s Atlanta Grammy Celebration & Release Party A few short notes as a prelude to an upcoming larger read more...
Rocking from Cleveland, Illinois, to Southern France: Spooner Oldham, Wanda Jackson, and Billy C Farlow
April is a huge month for southern musicians. On Saturday, April 4, my neighbor down the river Spooner Oldham and “the sweet lady with the nasty voice” Wanda
Songs & Stories: An Allstar Memphis Benefit Show
Memphis Heavies Perform Benefit On Sunday April 19, 2009, an allstar benefit show will take place at Minglewood Hall in Memphis. This show is not read more...
2009 Alabama Book Festival Includes Rick Bragg, Frank Stitt, and Nanci Kincaid
This year's Alabama Book Festival will feature a star-studded cast of authors, including author Rick read more...
Historian and Scholar Dr. John Hope Franklin Dies at 94
I first met Dr. John Hope Frankin in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1992 . He was the guest speaker at the
It's Not Just Southern; Everybody Does it: Misheard Song Lyrics, Malapropisms, and Mondegreens
Recently I decided to do a web search on Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," and I ran across this book:
Willie King Lives On in New Blues Song by Blind Albert
Vincent Gabriel (aka Blind Albert) has written a brand new blues song entitled "Ode To Willie King." Gabriel said that he was inspired to compose the song after reading the
Blues Legend Willie King Dies at 65
The music world mourns the passing of blues musician Willie King. Funeral services were held yesterday, March 15, in Aliceville, Alabama, for King read more...
Less Than Six Degrees of Separation: Deryle Perryman, Blind Albert, David Lyman, and Vietnam
For my great-grandparents, the war was the Civil War, for my parents’ generation it was WW II, but for my generation, the war was Vietnam. The Vietnam War shaped a
Horton Foote and William Faulkner: From Page to Screen
The award winning playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, who died last week at the
Sweet Home Alabama Just Gets Sweeter: Literary Events in March
March is definitely coming in like a lion in Alabama this year. March 5-8 marks the occasion of the 12th Annual George Lindsey Film Festival in and around the area of
Going Gonzo On a Friday Night with Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
It is no secret that, like my Swampland brother in arms James Calemine, I am a long time reader and die hard fan of the late
Ready For the Flood
Technical Difficulty & The Path Onward A drizzling rain hit Atlanta last night as I navigated through the shallow waters of technical difficulty…in read more...
Film in the South: Sixth Annual Oxford Film Festival Begins February 5
This has been an exciting weekend, and so if you have recovered from Superbowl Sunday you might want to make plans to travel to
Sweet Home Alabama: New Tags for Old
Sweet Home Alabama Lord, I'm coming home to you ----"Sweet Home Alabama" Lynyrd Skynyrd Band A brand new license plate featuring a pastel beach scene read more...
President-elect Barack Obama and The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was a blistering day in August of 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and read more...
Flannery O'Connor's Divine Grace
Flannery O’Connor’s Divine Grace “Necessity is the mother of several other things besides invention.”
Alabama In the New York Times and on NPR: Southern Sheriffs, Archaic Laws, and Colorful Criminals
From Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a Nat'ral Born Durn'd Fool to Smokey and the Bandit, read more...
Taking a Lesson from The Fat Man for 2009: Fats Domino and the Courage to Go On
Sunday night I watched the public television premiere of the documentary Fats Domino— Wallkin' Back to New Orleans. I found in that film a message of hope and inspiration for all of us for the coming read more...
Alvin Ailey, Otis Redding--and Fifty Golden Years!
I recently returned from taking a very small bite out of a very big apple. I traveled to New York City this past weekend with my daughter and a longtime friend to experience Christmas in the city and to attend read more...
PTSD--Post Thanksgiving Stress Disorder
Well, here we are. Thanksgiving has come and gone, the carcass has been picked (in more ways than one), the leftovers frozen, the hangovers have been medicated with the hair of the dog, and families continue to perpetuate the myth that
Art and the South: Spotlight on Athens, Alabama, and Native Son Paxton
The little north Alabama town of Athens may not be the Sante read more...
Not a Red South or a Blue South, but a New South
"...For the times they are a-changin." Bob Dylan On Monday, November 10, the New York Times ran an article entitled
Going to the Dogs
After all the seriousness of the last few weeks, I decided a little levity was in order. I hope reading this blog does you as much good as writing it did for me. In August of this year, our fourteen year old Labrador, who had been suffering with respiratory problems for read more...
The Gonzo Tapes
The Life And Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson 11/10/08 For the last three days I've been listening to this amazing 5 CD boxset called The read more...
A More Perfect Union
Where shall I start? I am overcome with emotion because today is a day I never thought I would live to see. When I was growing up in Alabama, waiting rooms, restrooms, and water fountains were still labeled White Only. You remember. You saw the movie
Back To The Island
Swampland/Mystery And Manners Travel To St. Simons Island for Cultural Celebration 11/02/08 "Odds and ends, odds and ends,
KO'ing Kudzu in Carolina
After my October 17th feature on Alabama filmmaker Max Shores, I decided read more...
Filmmakers in the South: Spotlight on Alabama
This week I would like to celebrate southern filmmakers, particularly those who hail from Alabama or who have made films about Alabama. One of these outstanding
The Elusive Legend of Robert Johnson
New Curses & Clues on The Legend of Robert Johnson 10/02/08 This in-depth
Auburn Rules!
If not on the gridiron, at least in the classroom. According to an article in the New York Times (September 21 ) entitled The read more...
Randall Bramblett Performs Before Georgia vs. Alabama Football Game
Randall Bramblett performs Before UGA vs. UA Football Clash 9/23/08 Bruce read more...
The Trail of Tears 2008
Today, Saturday, September 20th, some 150,000 motorcycles will make their way toward Florence, Alabama. This is the 15th Annual Trail of Tears read more...
The Only Serious Philosophical Question
The recent death (September 12) of novelist David Foster Wallace (I
Chuck Leavell Praises Widespread Panic
Chuck Leavell Praises Widespread Panic 9/14/08 In my interview with the great
A Place To Come To
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The End of Placeness,” columnist
Jerry Reed RIP 1937-2008
Georgia Legend Dies At 71 9/2/08 Legendary Georgia musician Jerry Reed passed away over the Labor Day weekend. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Reed read more...
Friends Flee Gustav
Here on Elk River we are opening our homes and hearts to friends who are fleeing the fury of Hurricane Gustav. My neighbor and former read more...
Paul Hemphill's Fall Tour
Atlanta Writer Paul Hemphill's New Book Tour 8/26/08
Video: Jerry Wexler On Bob Dylan
In our continuing salute to legendary record producer
Alabama Rules: From Blue-Eyed Soul to Soulful Blues
My friend Deryle Perryman, native of Florence and resident of Albuquerque, recently returned from the Porretta Soul Festival in
From Athens, Georgia To Jerry Wexler
From Athens, Georgia To Jerry Wexler: A Feast of Friends… 8/16/08 There’s not much time to write this read more...
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 football in the South versus our Northern counterparts. (This has been making the rounds via email so many of you might have already seen it - read more...
The Dog Star Rages and Leos Roar
It is August and the dog days of summer are upon us. The ancient Romans noticed that the hottest days of the year, late July and early August, coincided with the appearance of
Where Have All the Small Towns Gone?
The centuries old ubi sunt query—where are those who went before us? or where are the snow of yesterday?—has always been a question with no answer. But this particular question is not read more...
An Ongoing Journey To the Heart of Southern Culture
A Sunday Service On Southern Culture 7/20/08 “The artist penetrates the concrete world in order to find at read more...
Alabama in July
The Fourth of July is over and along with it Willie Nelson’s annual Fourth of July picnic near San Antonio featuring Merle read more...
A Forgotten Hero: Chips Moman
A Forgotten Hitmaker Chips Moman 7/13/08 "She's not just a plaything, She expects love just like a man."
Steve Cropper Remembers First Meeting with Otis Redding
Steve Cropper Remembers His First Meeting with Soul Legend Otis Redding 7/11/08 From coastal Georgia, near the Florida line, I'm enjoying the read more...
Words From Charlie
Charlie Musselwhite On Muddy Waters 7/5/08 ...I hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day... I wanted to send a few lines read more...
Alabama: A Place in the Sun
It is July in Alabama and the corn is literally as high as an elephant’s eye. Jungles of lush green flank the country roads. Where formerly one could see for miles, one can barely see the road directly ahead.
Booker T & The MGs, The Memphis Horns and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section Inducted Into Musicians Hall of Fame
Musicians Hall of Fame Announces 2008 Inductees 7/2/08 Yesterday I interviewed the great
An American Hero: Steve Cropper
Mystery And Manners Interview with The Great Steve Cropper 7/1/08 "I left my home in Georgia Headed read more...
New Hunter S. Thompson Documentary Bursts In Air On July 4
Gonzo: The Life And Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Released July 4 6/30/08 "...And this qualifier is the essence of what, for no particular read more...
Midnight Shakedown
Midnight Shakedown: Renaldo & Clara, Marc Ford & Widespread Panic...And Beyond 6/28/08 "Odds and Ends Odds and read more...
...A Dog Day Afternoon...
Georgia Falls In College World Series...Random Notes... 6/25/08 The Fresno State Bulldogs beat The Georgia Bulldogs tonight 6-1 in the read more...
Female Soul Opens the Summer
A Cast of Female Artists Bloom In Summer 6/23/08 "One day I woke up to find Right in the bed next to mine Some woman broke me read more...
The Great Charlie Musselwhite
An Interview with The "Greatest Living Harp Player" 6/19/08 He would never admit to it, but many legendary musicians have referred to read more...
Mystery And Manners Honorary Southern Artist Volume Seven: Neil Young
Mystery And Manners Honorary Southern Artist: Volume Seven—Neil Young 6/18/08 “I’m a vampire Sucking blood from the read more...
Chuck Berry & Sly Stone Headline Long Beach Blues Festival
Chuck Berry, Sly Stone, Booker T. Jones, Charlie Musselwhite and others Perform 29th Annual Long Beach Blues Festival 6/17/08 In Long read more...
Southern Literature Series to Premiere on Swampland
“The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past” ( Requiem for a Nun) In William read more...
Owsley "Bear" Stanley's Sonic Journal: Gram Parsons Liner Notes
Owsley "Bear" Stanley's New 'Sonic Journal' Notes on Gram Parsons Recordings 6/13/08 "This old town's filled with sin It'll swallow you in If you've come some money to burn, Take it home right away You got three years to read more...
Bingham, Merritt and Emmylou In Today's Camera Eye
Bingham's Nomination & Harris-Merritt Television Appearance 6/12/08 In Nashville today Ryan Bingham received a nomination for the New read more...
Father's Day and Rick Bragg
If you are looking for a gift for Father’s Day, look no further than Rick Bragg’s latest gem,
Friends of New Orleans and Swampland.com Join Together!
Swampland.com is proud to announce that we have joined Friends of New Orleans (FONO) as an official cultural partner for this worthy charity. Here is the mission statement of FONO direct from the official read more...
Bo Diddley RIP (1928-2008)
Bo Diddley RIP (1928-2008) Born Ellas McDaniel on December 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, Bo Diddley became one of the architects of read more...
Tying The Knot: East Meets West in the Deep South
This weekend I attended the wedding of two young friends at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The wedding (or more accurately the weddings) involved both a traditional
Amy LaVere & The North Mississippi All-Stars Storm Atlanta
Amy LaVere & The North Mississippi All-Stars Storm Atlanta: Notes From A Soundcheck 5/31/08
Birthday Greetings To Bob Dylan & Rich Robinson
Birthday Wishes To Bob Dylan & The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson 5/24/08 Mystery and Manners sends out birthday greetings to the great read more...
More Six Degrees: From Florence, Alabama, to Florence, Italy
On March 4, 2006, my old friend Deryle Perryman and filmmaker Moises Gonzales showed their documentary film Dangerous read more...
Mississippi Blues Commission
The Mississippi Blues Trail 5/14/08 The Mississippi Blues Commission serves as an interesting entity that explores the read more...
New Allman Brothers Documentary Premiere May 16
New Allman Brothers Documentary Premieres May 16 5/7/08 This afternoon Allman Brothers Tour Mystic
Mavis Staples To Headline Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival
Mavis Staples To Headline Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival 5/5/08 “I know no one can sing the blues
Mystery And Manners Honorary Southern Artist(s) Part Six: Clarence White
Mystery And Manners Honorary Southern Artist(s)—PART SIX Clarence White By James Calemine “Tempted and tried
Mudcrutch & Gram Parsons' Florida Roots
Mudcrutch & Gram Parsons’ Florida Roots 4/27/08 This
April in Alabama
Nothing could be more beautiful than April in Alabama and, in my case, nothing could be more exciting. I recently returned from the Alabama Studio Weekend in the
...Night Before Widespread Panic On The Beach...
A Prelude To The Spectacle 4/17/08 Before I take off for the three
The Blessing of Mavis Staples
The Blessing of Mavis Staples 4/14/08 Mavis Staples serves as a beacon of light in the sinister music business. Her golden voice appears on read more...
Alabama: Places to Be and People to See
The Alabama Book Festival held in Montgomery, Alabama, is only in its third season and already it offers a unique opportunity for participants to meet and listen to over seventy authors, among them read more...
A Shot of the Blues
A Daily Dose of Authenticity...Keith Richards...James Burton...MLK...Widespread Panic...The Black Crowes...Jim Dickinson... 4/4/08 As Spring read more...
The Legacy of Ardent Records
The Legacy of Ardent Records 4/2/08 In light of my recent interview with the great
The Road To Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions
A Few Insights For The Faithful On A Thursday Evening 3/27/08 Pollen read more...
Bound For Glory
“I was thirteen when I went to live with a family of thirteen people in a two-room house. I was going on fifteen when I got me a job shining shoes, read more...
The Southern Foodways Alliance Needs Your Recipes!
Swampland has the utmost respect for the Southern Foodways Alliance so we thought we would share this recent request for recipes that they have sent out to folks around the Footprint. Help them out if you read more...
Mudcrutch: Tom Petty's Florida Roots
The surprise announcement of Mudcrutch's reunion is welcome news to the Swampland Footprint. Mudcrutch is an essential chapter in Tom Petty's career. Mudcrutch evolved out of an early Gainesville, FL band of Petty's called the Epics. The Epics also featured a read more...
Alabama's Going Green: "Let's Get Dirty"
Huntsville, Alabama, has chosen “Let’s Get Dirty” by the Huntsville country music band
Chris Robinson's "Inhale! Inhale! Rock N Roll" Article
Chris Robinson's 1993 Article "Inhale! Inhale! Rock N Roll" 3/15/08 In light of the Black Crowes' new release,
The Dickinson's Mojo & The Black Crowes' Voodoo
Mystery & Manners Investigates The Mojo of The Dickinson Family & The Black Crowes' Voodoo 3/11/02 "Don't bring down the read more...
Alabama's Going Green
Holden Caulfield wanted to know where all the ducks go in winter. Ann (Andie MacDowell) in Sex, Lies, and Videotape was read more...
Dylan Organizes Recordings of Unfinished Hank Williams Songs
Bob Dylan Discovers Unfinished Hank Williams Songs 2/28/08 "Odds and ends, odds and ends, Lost time is not found read more...
Black History Month: Look Back, but Move Forward
“Look back but move forward” was the credo of civil rights activist Johnnie Carr who died Friday at the age of 97.
Latest Releases From James McMurtry & Otis Redding
Latest Releases From James McMurtry and Otis Redding 2/27/08
Down In the Groove with Widespread Panic's Todd Nance (PART TWO)
Down In The Groove with Widespread Panic's Todd Nance (Part Two) 2/26/08 I'd like to announce the second part of Mystery And Manners' read more...
Down In The Groove with Widespread Panic's Todd Nance (Part One)
Mystery & Manners Interview with Widespread Panic's Todd Nance (Part One) 2/25/08 I'd like to mention Mystery And read more...
Poetic Felony
MAXIM Magazine Reviews Black Crowes' Warpaint Without Hearing The Album 2/23/08 For some folks it's easy to hate the Black Crowes. Everyone read more...
Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop To Drink
Today the New York Times ran an article entitled “Georgia Claims a Sliver of the Tennessee River.” The quarrel is not just about boundaries. It is about water, read more...
Another Call To Harry Crews & Beyond
...An Ongoing Pursuit & Recording of the Mystery And Manners Saga...Widespread Panic...Jim Dickinson...Harry Crews and beyond... 2/19/08 “In the time I was with read more...
Levon Helm's Dirt Farmer Wins GRAMMY
Dirt Farmer Wins GRAMMY 2/11/08 Levon Helm's latest album,
It's Not Easy Being Indie
I always thought that in my next incarnation I wanted to come back as an independent documentary filmmaker. I held on to that dream until I sat in an darkened room in a warehouse in Huntsville, Alabama, on Friday afternoon and listened to independent filmmaker
Jim Dickinson On The Line
Mystery & Manners Interview With Memphis Legend Jim Dickinson 2/9/08 "She shivers just like jelly in the bowl."
Adventures In The (Pig) Skin Trade On Super Bowl Sunday
Roving Notes On Super Bowl Sunday 2/3/08 "There is some kind of back-door connection in my head between Super Bowls and The Allman read more...
The Day The Music Died
The day was February 3, 1959. At approximately 12:55 AM, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, the “Big Bopper,” and their twenty-one year old pilot boarded a small plane near Clear Lake,
Lest We Forget: Four Spirits
January 30, 2008, marked the 60th anniversary of the assassination of India’s political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi. It was Gandhi whose name was most invoked
The Best of All Possible Worlds or Is There Balm in Gilead?
I live in the boonies, the hinterlands of Northern Alabama. For years, I made do with erratic reception from local television stations, and then one day satellite TV and DSL changed my life. This week, thanks to a relatively new channel called
Luther Dickinson: Night Before theTour...
Luther Dickinson Talks Present, Past & Future 1/16/08 Things have been quite busy as of late. I've just about completed my interview read more...
Six Degrees of Separation
In the south we not only claim kin we also claim friends. I have learned that behind every new acquaintance there lies the possibility of finding an old friend—not to mention discovering a new one. Such was the case this week when I was working on a feature about read more...
...A Rising Tide of Georgia Rock And Roll...
A Rising Tide of Georgia Rock And Roll: David Barbe, The Drive By Truckers, Bloodkin & The Black Crowes 1/10/08 "Every read more...
2008 Year of The Crowe
...Atlanta's Black Crowes Prepare for the Warpath... 1/7/08 Today the Black read more...
LIghts, Camera, Action! Film Festivals and Film Debuts in the South
Late winter and spring of 2008 will see the blossoming of a host of film festivals in the South. A number of the festivals showcase original films and present cash awards to the best new films. Others bring classic, hard to find, topical, or thematic films to the read more...
Criteria Studios: 50 Years Later
Legendary Miami Studio 50 Years Later 12/30/07 Jazz fanatic Mack Emerman started the Miami, Florida, Criteria Studio 50 years ago. The read more...
Lead Belly: A Life In Pictures
A New Lead Belly Book Hits The Streets 12/29/07 A new 250 page book on blues great
Country's Top 100 Heartbreaks
A List of Country Music's Greatest Hurtin' Songs 12/28/07 Here's an interesting
White Pelicans on Elk River
White Pelicans are a rarity on Elk River. I have never seen one north of Gulf Shores, but on Christmas morning a friend down the river called to say that a dozen White Pelicans were winging our way in the midst of a flock of cormorants. I had despaired of ever sighting pelicans read more...
Full Moon Fever With Stanley Booth
Full Moon Fever With Stanley Booth 12/24/07 Full moon on the Little Satilla River...I return to my homesoil for the holidays, and it ain't the read more...
Music and Movie Making in Alabama
Sorry to have been incommunicado since Thanksgiving. This time I was overwhelmed by the holiday madness and computer problems (my three year old monitor died). But now all is well, and I am looking forward to an exciting 2008 on Swampland. Today I am posting a read more...
Honeydripper Star Plays Hometown
Gary Clark Jr. Plays Austin 12/21/07 Musician Gary Clark, Jr.
George Porter Celebrates 60th Birthday
New Orleans Musician Celebrates 60th Birthday 12/21/07 The great George Porter Jr. will celebrate his 60th birthday next week at The read more...
Blues Trail Marker For "Nighthawk" McCollum
A New Blues Marker Tribute 12/19/07 In Friar's Point, Mississippi, a
New Willie Nelson Album Out January 29, 2008
New Nelson CD, Moment of Forever, Hits Streets Early 08 12/19/07 Great American read more...
Mama Hill of H&H in Macon Passes Away at 94
Mama Inez Hill, the co-owner of Macon's H&H Restaurant has passed away at 94. Inez Hill, 94, died early this morning (Tuesday, December 18th) of natural causes at The Medical Center of Central Georgia. Hill, and her sister "Mama Louise" read more...
Montgomery Dedicates New Year's Eve To Hank Williams
On New Year's Eve Hank Williams Fans Gather In Montgomery 12/17/07 "The eeriest thing I ever had to do in my life was at Hank's funeral when read more...
Ike Turner Dead at 76
Ike Turner Dead at 76 12/12/07 The story of guitarist/songwriter
Southern Greats Play Post Led Zeppelin London Gig
Sam Moore, Ben E. King, Percy Sledge and Solomon Burke Perform Post Led Zep Gig 12/11/07 Ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's band, the
John Sayles Interview
Mystery & Manners John Sayles Interview 12/8/07 On Thursday I interviewed John Sayles. Sayles' new movie Honeydripper was filmed in Alabama. Honeydripper read more...
No Country For Old Men Voted Best Film
Joel & Ethan Cohen's Film Earns High Praise 12/06/07 Southern writer
...Into The Deep...
Mystery & Manners Dispatch 12/05/07 Today marks the birthday of southern writer
The Black Crowes Put On Warpaint
The Black Crowes New Album Warpaint Set For Release 11/27/07
TF Rivalry Week Preview
Rivalry games define college football. More than bowl games or even conference championships, a win against your rival means bragging rights for a year. That is why this weekend's game can often be the hardest to call. A team with a losing record can suddenly make read more...
Swampland Salutes Great Southern Writer Paul Hemphill
Mystery & Manners Highlights Writer Paul Hemphill 11/21/07 I'd like to take this opportunity to direct everyone's attention to the read more...
Johnny Cash's First Wife's New Book
New Book From the Late Vivian Cash 11/19/07 Vivian Cash,
Confessions Redux
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Auburn’s 1957 National Championship. Not only did the Tigers go undefeated that season, but they also held Alabama scoreless in the Iron Bowl while running up an astounding forty points. Saturday, November 24, is the golden read more...
Jerry Wexler Talks Bob Dylan, Doug Sahm and Muscle Shoals
Jerry Wexler Talks Dylan, Doug Sahm and Muscle Shoals 11/15/07 In these interview clips, the great Jerry Wexler discusses recording
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART FIVE: The Band
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART FIVE: The Band “Hail is beatin’ on the roof The bourbon is a hundred proof read more...
Music Maker Relief Foundation's Latest Project
Music Maker's Built For The Blues 11/13/07 Music Maker Relief Foundation operates as a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting poor read more...
Coen Brothers Adapt Cormac McCarthy's Book No Country For Old Men Into Film
Coen Brothers Adapt Cormac McCarthy's Book No Country For Old Men Into Film 11/11/07 A new Coen Brothers movie, based read more...
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART FOUR: The Rolling Stones
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s)PART FOUR: The Rolling Stones 11/8/07 "Will all your money Keep you from read more...
Blind Boys of Alabama 70 Years Young
Blind Boys of Alabama: 70 Years Young The Blind Boys of Alabama read more...
A Day In The Life of A Great American Guitarist (Marc Ford) PART THREE
A Day In the Life of A Great American Guitar Player: PART THREE Marc Ford In San Francisco 11/05/07 "Featherweight read more...
Mystery & Manners Dispatch From San Francisco
Dispatch From San Francisco 11/3/07 Notes written on a back porch facing Mt. Tamalpais, known to locals as "Mt. Tam". I arrived read more...
Tiger Rag
In the spring a young man’s fancy may turn to baseball, but in the fall in the South everyone’s fancy turns to football, and in Alabama there is only Auburn and
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART THREE--Tom Waits
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART THREE 10/31/07 "The quill from a buzzard The blood writes the word
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART TWO--Jerry Garcia
Mystery & Manners Honorary Southern Artist(s) Part Two 10/30/07 "I love the Dead. As far as Jerry Garcia, Jerry Garcia could walk read more...
SWAMPLAND Goin' Out West...Frisco Bound...
Mystery & Manners Goin' Out West To San Francisco 10/25/07
It is Raining on the River!
I guess I rattled my rain stick enough this weekend to wake up the clouds. We In North Alabama are reveling in what the Navajos call a gentle “female” rain, and I pray it continues all week. I especially hope it rains profusely on Atlanta, Georgia, where they are having read more...
Weirdness Way Down South
Weirdness Down South 10/22/07 People do crazy things, and every now and then I'd like to highlight their singular accomplishments. Recently, read more...
Birthday Cheers To Tom Petty
Mystery & Manners Cheers To Tom Petty 10/20/07 ...Raise a glass to Thomas Earl Petty, born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, read more...
Ryan Bingham And The Drive By Truckers Hit the Road
Ryan Bingham and The Drive By Truckers Hit The Road 10/17/07 Ryan Bingham and the
A Day In The Life of A Great American Guitarist (Marc Ford) PART TWO
A Day In the Life of A Great American Guitarist Part Two 10/15/07
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 ESPN.com about the SEC. Which leads us to this week's focus - the historical read more...
Thelonious Monk's North Carolina Roots
Thelonious Monk's North Carolina Roots 10/11/07 Yesterday marked 90 years since the birth of
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART ONE--Bob Dylan
...Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s)...PART ONE... 10/11/07 "Beat a path of retreat
Haggard's Horizon
Merle Haggard Gives Insight To Future In Billboard Q & A 10/9/07
A Pearl in the Heart of South Carolina
Down the road from me in Bishopville, South Carolina, there lives a man named Pearl. Pearl Fryar, a sixty-six year old African American who literally defines the term “self made man.”
Marc Ford Burns Through Atlanta
A Day In The Life of a Great American Guitarist: Marc Ford Burns Through Atlanta 10/7/07
William Eggleston: The Father of Color Photography
The Photography of William Eggleston 10/4/07 Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1939,
Ray McKinnon Randy and the Mob Blog
Ray McKinnon's Recent Blogs About His Latest Film, Randy and the Mob 10/3/07 As posted
The Paintings of Woodie Long
The Paintings of Woodie Long 10/2/07 Today I'd like to bring the reader's attention to the work of Woodie Long. Born in 1942, Long read more...
Otis Redding Film Premier October 8
Dreams To Remember Premier October 8 10/1/07 The new Otis Redding documentary, Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis read more...
Arrivederci Roma, Ciao Athens (Alabama)
I have just returned from ten days in Italy (Venice, Florence/Tuscany, and Rome) and am way behind on my blog, so please bear with me. I am somewhat jet-lagged, and I am preparing to leave for Jackson, MS, on Wednesday to participate in the
People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
Tompkins Square Releases Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs This Week 9/29/07 This week Tompkins Square released this
Blues Great Memphis Minnie Honored
Blues Great Memphis Minnie Honored 9/28/07 In Walls, Mississippi, the female guitarist and songwriter Memphis Minnie was honored with a read more...
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 Fever, Swampland.com's dispatch dedicated to college sports in the South. We have new features up including Patrick Snow's latest read more...
Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino
GOIN' HOME: A TRIBUTE TO FATS DOMINO 9/26/07 Yesterday Vanguard released
Excerpt from Paul Hemphill's The Good Old Boys
Excerpt from Paul Hemphill's The Good Old Boys 9/24/07 In preparation for my upcoming article on
Ray McKinnon's Randy and the Mob
Ray McKinnon's New Film Randy and the Mob 9/22/07 From Capricorn Pictures...Here's the trailer for Adel, Georgia, native Ray McKinnon's new comedy Randy and the Mob. The Drive By Truckers' Patterson Hood contributed a song to the soundtrack. read more...
SPF Friday Fishwrap-up: the Cowboy/Redskin paradigm
We've just posted a new analysis of the Wayne issue in Florida, Weaver in Jacksonville and Huizenga in Miami. Team Identity is our focus as always. That's why we start our Friday dispatch with read more...
Dylan Plays The Ryman
BOB DYLAN PLAYS THE RYMAN AUDITORIUM IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 9/21/07 Thursday Bob read more...
CD and DVD releases for week of September 18, 2007
New Releases Doyle Bramhall Is It News (Yep Roc) Jim Dickinson
The Shadow And the Truth
9/19/07 ...THE SHADOW AND THE TRUTH... It's important to realize how blurred the fine line between reality and illusion co-exist. At read more...
Emmylou Harris Retrospective "Songbird" Hits Streets Today
Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems Out Today 9/18/07 A new Emmylou Harris, 4 CD-1 DVD, retrospective was released today. read more...
Macon's Tribute To Otis Redding
Macon's Tribute To Otis Redding 9/16/07 At the Georgia Music Hall of Fame read more...
More Alabama Authors: Eric Smith
Eric Smith is assistant professor of English at the University of Alabama-Huntsville where his speciality is Post Colonial Literature. Over ten years ago, Eric was a student in my classes at Athens State University. After completing his B.S. at ASU, Eric attended read more...
Steve Gaines' Birthday Today: The Late Ace Mooreland Talks About Steve (Video)
Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines has been gone from us for 30 years now, this October. Today, September 14, is would have been Steve's 58th birthday. Another late great guitarist, read more...
Patterson Hood Song In New Ray McKinnon Film
Patterson Hood Song In New Ray McKinnon Film 9/12/07 Patterson Hood read more...
"When I die, the brush dies": Remembering Jimmie Lee Sudduth
Jimmie Lee Sudduth, celebrated Alabama folk artist, died Sunday, September 9, in Fayette, Alabama, at read more...
Blind Willie McTell Named Stateboro's Second Legend In the Arts
9/9/07 Blind Willie McTell Named Statesboro's Second Legend In the Arts On September 7, 2007, the blues great Blind Willie McTell was read more...
Sounds of the South
9/8/07 Sounds of the South "Jack of diamonds told Queen of spades Gwine with me, Be on yo creepin way."
Lost Gram Parsons Shows From 1969 Set For Release
Lost Gram Parsons Shows Found For over a year dust of rumor circulated that lost Gram Parsons performances were unearthed...turns out this is true. This read more...
Breakfast With Paul, Drinks With Dan
8/19/07 Yesterday proved noteworthy. I met up with southern writer Paul Hemphill at
Hot and Wet or Hot and Dry?
The state of Alabama made the national news on two consecutive days this week: first regarding the referendum that could have reversed the legal sale of alcohol in the city of Athens (billed as "Alabama City Mulls Return to Prohibition") and secondly for the read more...
DEATH WEEK
The 30 year anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death falls on August 16, 2007. Like it or not, Elvis ranks as a southern icon. Elvis changed the way people looked at music the way Ted Turner changed the way people look at TV.
Turtle Tracks
In the fall of 2005, my sister Peggy bought a 1985 Toyota Dolphin RV from her son in Seaside, CA, and in late October Peggy, our friend Carol C, and I flew out to California to drive the vintage RV the three thousand miles from the west coast to north Alabama.
...A Call To Harry Crews...
7/27/07 One of my heroes remains the Georgia writer Harry Crews. Some of Crews' books such as Feast of Snakes, Florida read more...
CD and DVD releases for week of July 24, 2007
New Releases Billy Bob Thornton Beautiful Door (New Door) Billy Ray Cyrus
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 for his home state in the recent issue of Oxford read more...
Look Homeward, Angel: In Memoriam Doug Marlette
On Tuesday, July 10, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette was killed in a car wreck on a rain soaked road in north Mississippi. Marlette and the driver of the truck, the theatre director at Oxford read more...
The Last Outpost of Time
7/9/07 “All that we see is but a dream within a dream.”
Fire On The Mountain
6/25/07 read more...
The Rise And Disappearance of Sly Stone
6/20/07 Few groups ever attain the musical power and wide commercial appeal of Sly & The Family Stone. From 1967-1974, the group proved a formidable band whose music crossed all social and musical barriers.
Johnny Cash Radio & Elvis Auction Items
6/18/07 The Sun Records boys are in the news again... Bill Miller is now hosting
Fathers Day: Hot Fun In the Summertime
6/17/07 Happy Father’s Day… …A few scattered notes from a spot overlooking some hills here in north Georgia on a read more...
The True Adventures of Stanley Booth
6/10/07 THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF STANLEY BOOTH As I wrote in the intro to my Charlie Louvin
A boom for Jacksonville's economy?
A new day may be dawning in Jacksonville. Long a home for north Florida and south Georgia farmers looking for a better economic future, Jax has been a "deep South" stronghold in read more...
Arkansas athletics in turmoil
ESPN is known for its quick soundbite-style of sports journalism, but they have many fine writers on their website, ESPN.com.
New Carter Family Documentary Released
3/25/07 A new hour long documentary on the Carter Family--Will The Circle Be Unbroken--highlights the career of the legendary country group.
Appalachian Culture: Shaped-note Singing
3/20/07 In this Asheville, North Carolina, news article, old vocal traditions are highlighted and how they integrate with Appalachian culture. These vocal traditions are old as storytelling, or beating on a drum. James Calemine