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West Virginia 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...

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

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?

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

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."

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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…”

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...

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...

Buffalo Radio Show Tonight: Doug Jones (Blind Willy), Rick Cash (Silver Travis), and Author A. Lawrence Haskins

Tonight at 7 pm/est, the Buffalo Radio Show welcomes A. Lawrence Haskins, a novelist whose book "The Whisper of Serpents" is an astounding crime drama. Lawrence is also the mastermind behind his own multi-media empire which includes online talk shows and much read more...

GRITZ Compilation Volume 5 FREE Dowload Ready!

We are proud to present the new Gritz Stone Ground & Southern Compilation Volume Five. A FREE dowload for the readers of GRITZ! This time we have read more...

GRITZ Salutes All Veterans Today, With Thanks

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...

Dylan, Petty & Drive By Truckers Participate In ‘Back To Black Friday’

Dylan, Petty & Drive By Truckers Participate In ‘Back To Black Friday’ In support of independent record stores, November 26 stands as ‘Back To Black Friday’. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, The Drive By Truckers, Iron & Wine, U2, read more...

Nobel Peace Prize Campaign For Willie Nelson

Nobel Peace Prize Campaign for Willie Nelson A Nobel Peace Prize Campaign has been launched for Willie Nelson and his FARM AID efforts. For the last 25 years Nelson has assisted the American farmer through FARM AID as well as raised awareness of healthy foods.

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...

Southern College Football - Week 4 Themes

LEAD STORY Week 4 will be ‘Definition Saturday’ in our Swampland Footprint, especially in the SEC West. We should begin to see the true identity of many of our teams and what they have the potential to achieve in 2010.

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...

Bloodkin Opens First Shows of Widespread Panic's Fall Tour This Weekend

Bloodkin Kicks Off Panic Tour As fall descends, the interesting season of live shows begin…Bloodkin’s Daniel Hutchens,

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

NFL Draft Impressions: Rams Get Their Man; Jags Disappoint Their Fans

Did your team improve? Is your fan base excited about the direction of your squad? We will take an in-depth look at the NFL Draft over the next couple of weeks, but wanted to give our read more...

Celebrate Record Store Day 2010!

Record Store Day 2010 is read more...

Big East Teams In Our Region Have Great Potential

As we wrap up our coverage of Signing Day and recruiting, there are three Footprint teams in the Big East that deserve a mention.

Jimmy Hall Added to GRITZFEST LIneup

We are happy to announce the addition of Jimmy Hall to the lineup for GRITZFEST II, to be held at Crossroads Music Hall in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday evening, February 26th beginning at 7:30 PM. The concert will benefit GRITZ Charities, with portions of proceeds going to read more...

GRITZ Presents All New Volume II Free Compilation Download

The second "Gritz Stone Ground & Southern" compilation is now available! The FREE album download features another

National Signing Day: Christmas Morning for Southern Football Fans

It’s finally here- a virtual holiday in our Swampland Footprint.

Buffalo's Top Ten List For The Week of January 29, 2010

Howdy guys. Well it's Friday and we are under a winter storm warning so I have assembled a playlist that i feel will warm up anyone's cold day. Check 'em out. 1. Lady

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...

Sunday Southern Rock Videos

Here are a few videos for your Sunday spotlighting some of the artists featured on our free Stone Ground & Southern Compilation. Check 'em out and if you haven't yet downloaded your free album,

Download The New GRITZ Digital Compilation FREE

It's quite a special day in the Swampland. Today we begin our monthly series of digital music compilations. and every month we will be offering you the GRITZ reader a FREE download of new music from many of the artists you read about here in GRITZ. The first read more...

Looking Back at 2009

On the last day of 2009, I thought it only made sense to recount the ten most imortant events of the year from the GRITZ perspective. 1. The Allman Brothers Band read more...

Merry Christmas

Mystery And Manners Christmas Dispatch Ho Ho Ho Folks, Merry Christmas! I'd like read more...

2009 Top 20 New Music Releases

Top 20 Mystery And Manners 2009 Music Releases I hate to split hairs, and even begin to rank music but read more...

A Little Help From My Friends: A Big Thank You

I would like to say a public “thank you” to those who helped us out during the past few months. Some donated items for an auction to help with medical bills and equipment, while others made cash and in kind donations to help both GRITZ and the ol’ Buffalo himself. read more...

Daniel Hutchens' Long Hustle

Daniel Hutchens' Debut Swampland Feature After a long wait, I can now publish Daniel Hutchens' debut read more...

The Best Releases of 2009

Well, it’s time once again to run down the GRITZ Best Albums of 2009. It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of good music this year, but we narrowed it down to our twenty best. Let us know what you think.

The GRITZ Top Ten for Friday, December 11, 2009

1. “Monday Morning Meltdown” Gov’t Mule From their new (and red hot) release. Just one of Warren Haynes’ amazing new compositions. Got Mule? 2. “Tougher read more...

The GRITZ Top Ten for Friday, November 27, 2009

Every Friday GRITZ brings you our “Top Ten,” a playlist of songs past and present that we have been listening too here in the office - songs you just can’t live without. Check ‘em out and please leave a comment. 1. Amos Moses

The GRITZ Top Ten for Friday, November 20, 2009

Every Friday GRITZ brings you our “Top Ten,” a playlist of songs past and present that you just can’t live without. Check ‘em out and please leave a comment. 1. “Ramblin”

Mystery and Manners Announces Guest Writer Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens

Swampland's Upcoming Guest Writer Daniel Hutchens Greetings folks, I'm proud to announce my old friend and Bloodkin's read more...

The GRITZ Top Ten for Friday, November 13, 2009

Every Friday GRITZ brings you our “Top Ten,” a playlist of songs past and present that you just can’t live without. Check ‘em out and please leave a comment. 1. Save The Planet Dixie Tabernacle From the

Yesterday's Conversation with Widespread Panic's Todd Nance & Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens

Ain't Life Grand When I called Widespread read more...

Swampland Search Engine and Links

Dear Y'all, I have had many people asking me about our site search engine, and I want to assure you all that it is being worked on. We are aware of the issues with the searches and the bad links and our webmaster is working to resolve the issues as soon as possible. We are read more...

Gritz Fan Page On Facebook to Offer Special Surprises

The Gritz Fan Page at Facebook is up and running. I hope you will all take the time to

Buffalo's Top Ten List For The Week of September 29th, 2009

1. Kris Kristofferson Closer to the Bone (CD) I wear this one like a warm winter coat. To me, it is what music is all about - great songs, no frills, read more...

Buffalo's Top Ten List For The Week of September 19th, 2009

1. Swampdawamp Rock This Country (CD) The singer has one of the most unusual voices since Jim Dandy, and the band just plain rocks, read more...

SEC Daily Fever: Chizik Tries To "Manage" Auburn Fans' Expectations

SEC Daily Fever is the top SEC story of the day. Disagree? Let us know. Auburn fans have had more than a little frustration with their offense over the last few seasons.

No Holds Barred: Blackjack Mulligan

Of all the wrestlers I have seen step into the squared circle, none was more exciting than the “man in black,” the Texas giant known as Blackjack Mulligan.

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

Toby Keith's Controversial New Video, See It Here

Toby Keith has never been one to hold back on his feelings. Now he has a new song and video that are already stirring up controversy. Imagine that. I'll leave the commenting up to you, our readers. Let us know what you think! Meanwhile... Keep it Real. Keep it read more...

Thoughts On The Death of Mike Seeger

The music world lost another good one last week with the death of folk pioneer Mike Seeger. Derek Halsey turns in a thoughtful memorial to one of the best. Check it out read more...

More Legends Added to Photo Scrapbook

Howdy y'all. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. It's time once again to add another page to our ongoing Legends of Southern Rock Photo Scrapbook. No theme this time, read more...

In Defense of Steve Spurrier: How The Ole Ball Coach's Honest Humility Might Help Carolina

Is the SEC seeing a new side of Steve Spurrier in the wake of what seemed to be an uncharacteristic performance at this year's SEC Media Days? His current situation hinges around a piece Swampland Sports wrote last February

Summer Tour Notes Volume 5: Music Maker Relief Foundation

Mystery And Manners' Summer Tour Notes Number 5: Music Maker My friend

Can the Big 12 or the ACC catch the SEC?

With every football season, the conversation around the nation leads to the inevitable question- who is the best conference? Many fans answer the same every year (their favorite) while others look a little more objectively. I found it interesting a couple of weeks ago when separate read more...

Orrin Hatch's Folly: Senator, College Football Is About Conferences, Not Teams

After concluding Senate hearings about the BCS, Senator Orrin Hatch wrote an op-ed piece that appeared on ESPN.com. Here's a selection of that article: During the June 7 read more...

The Shocking Loss of Steve McNair

So there I was in Nashville- relaxing by the water with friends on the 4th of July like most of us like to do. Then I heard something that made the festive holiday mood fade quickly; “Steve McNair had been shot”. Could this really be, or maybe it was just bad read more...

Time Flies Like An Arrow

“Time read more...

Southern Baseball Leads the Way Again

On the eve of the College World Series and Major League Draft, we thought we should take a look at some of the top baseball prospects in our Swampland read more...

Allman Brothers, Bonnie Bramlett and More Posted On New Legends Scrapbook Page

Hey gang! More new Southern Rock photos have been posted in the Legends Scrapbook. Allmans, Tucker, Bonnie Bramlett and much more. Check it out here! Keep read more...

Win a Dean Guitar Signed by Legends of Southern Rock

Hi Guys. It's time for the much talked about, long awaited Legends of Southern Rock Contest, brought to you by Swampland and the Facebook Groups

Random Notes, Hoopee Jam, Boxmasters and Such

Greetings, Sports Fans. I was hoping to have our new Boxmasters interview ready for you today, but it turned out to be quite an opus. Still transcribing. But man oh man, is it a good one. I had the opportunity read more...

Parcells Formula Works Again in Miami

Retirement and South Florida mix very well for many of us, but not for Bill Parcells. He left the comforts of retired life to return to football and resuscitate the fading Dolphins, who had been such a successful franchise for many years. Coming off a 1-15 debacle in 2007, the read more...

Texans Need to Break Through the Wall of Mediocrity

The pressure will be coming from the top for the Houston Texans to have their first winning season and first postseason appearance in their eighth year in the NFL. Dom Capers, who read more...

2009 Season Represents a Change in Philosophy for the Cowboys

We must start out by saying that our thoughts and prayers here at Swampland are with the Dallas Cowboys family after the horrific collapse of their read more...

Bengals Have Glimpse of Hope with Stellar Draft

Marvin Lewis is entering his seventh season as the Bengals head coach, and 2009 could very well be his make-or-break season to get the culture of losing changed in Cincinnati.

Panthers Making Every Effort to Win Now

It all seemed to be falling into place for John Fox’s club last season. Coming off a losing 2007 campaign where Jake Delhomme only played three games, Carolina rediscovered their physical running game identity in 2008 and won the NFC South. At 12-4 and the #2 seed in the NFC, read more...

Falcons Future Looks Bright with Dimitroff in Charge

To borrow a line from Robert Randolph, the Atlanta Falcons are now a team that is definitely “going in the right direction". Just two years ago, this organization was in turmoil. Their franchise quarterback, Michael Vick, was arrested on federal charges and consequently read more...

Swampland's NFL Draft Impressions

How did your team do? That’s the question that NFL fans are trying to answer following this weekend’s annual NFL Draft. We will take an in-depth look at each team in our read more...

NFL Teams Draft Their Identity This Weekend

Well it's finally here-Xmas in April for football fans. The ultimate convergence of pro and college football happens today with the annual NFL Draft. This is a day of hope for every fan base, and it's also the day(s) that NFL executives decide on the identity of their respective read more...

Should NFL Teams Lean Towards Drafting Local College Favorites?

A theme that seems to arise every season in our Swampland footprint is the choice of NFL teams to draft a local college favorite. Most professional organizations will deny that this decision ever enters their thinking, and that they always select the next best player on their Draft read more...

Back To Where it All Began: The Southern Rock Era

I have pretty much decided that the whole "Southern Rock" thing began in 1969. Sure, there were many rock and rollers and rockabillys that lead up to this new genre at the time. Not to mention all the country, blues and gospel players that served as influences on read more...

Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens Writes A Note On Swampland

Daniel Hutchens Pens Ode To Swampland There's too many articles, interviews, reviews I'm working on to mention them all now in a list. However, I did put up read more...

Part Four of Interview with Bloodkin's Eric Carter

Eric Carter Interview Part Four Here’s the long-awaited Part Four of my interview with Bloodkin’s

Big Medicine Come Soon

"Beyond the horizon, in the Springtime or Fall Love waits forever for one and for all." --Bob Dylan Greetings read more...

Bloodkin's Eric Carter Interview Part Three

Eric Carter Interview Part Three In Part Three read more...

Join Our Southern Rock Group On Facebook

I am very happy to announce our new "Legends of Southern Rock" group on Facebook. If you are a Facebook member, just follow the Legends link above and join us. We have one discussion already read more...

Bloodkin's Eric Carter Interview Part Two

Eric Carter Interview Part Two In Part One with read more...

Interview with Bloodkin's Eric Carter: Part One

Eric Carter Interview Part One On the heels of the release of their new CD--

Mickey Rourke and The Nature Boy: Pro Wrestling and The Oscars

I am more excited than usual about this year’s Oscars, for several reasons, but the primary reason is the one movie that just blew me out of the water lately. That movie was

Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens Talks Songwriting

Daniel Hutchens Discusses Songwriting In this interview excerpt with

SEC Dominance - From the Field to Recruiting (And It Isn't Stopping Soon)

The reaction to Signing Day is always interesting as every coach in America is thrilled with their class while fans have mixed reactions to their school’s ranking and new players. Everyone that followed Wednesday's coverage saw plenty of ESPN's favorite big-market teams read more...

Xmas in February for Southern College Football Fans (SEC, Big 12, ACC, Big East)

It’s finally here! National Signing Day is upon us, and this is the time where quality programs establish themselves for the upcoming years. The welcoming of a new recruiting class energizes fans and provides coaches with the opportunity to show that their school will be-or read more...

Daniel Hutchens Reports On Bloodkin-Drive By Truckers Shows Last Weekend

Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens Talks About Shows with The Truckers Last night I spoke with my old friend

UNC's Butch Davis Challenges the ACC to Rival the SEC

With the rapid approach of National Signing Day, we’ve focused recently on the critical lifeblood known as recruiting. One of the new players that has emerged in read more...

In Defense of Bob Stoops, the BCS (again), and the Big 12 (and a Look at the 2009 Season)

Proof, in college football, always comes over at least a two year period. This means that Heisman winners and BCS Championship opponents almost always have to have a strong previous season leading into their big year.

Bloodkin: Working Class Heroes

Bloodkin: Working Class Heroes 1/3/09 …

Night Before The Bloodkin Show with Daniel Hutchens

Night Before The Bloodkin Show with Daniel Hutchens 1/2/09 Tomorrow night

Swampland's Legends of Southern Rock

Hey gang, check out our Swampland Legends of Southern Rock Series. We are always adding new bands and updating the existing pages, which chronicle the histories of these awesome bands and link to various articles and interviews within GRITZ. Phone the neighbors, wake the read more...

On The Killing Floor With Bloodkin

On The Killing Floor With Bloodkin 12/22/08 "I stole the kisses When the bride was young With a razor blade

The Best Releases of 2008

We are happy to present what we feel are the very best album releases of the past year. Please let us know what you think. Buffalo

SEC and Big 12 Championship Game Reax

The college football regular season ended by giving us the matchup that made the most sense--the SEC Champion vs. the Big 12 Champion. The BCS title game should be a high-scoring, exciting affair and one that all of the fans in our Swampland footprint will appreciate. Florida will read more...

Saturday's Slate: Conference Championships

Here we are, after a week off due to technical difficulties, to find ourselves on the verge of crowning some conference champions and setting up the BCS Title teams. It has been a long and exciting year. Luckily for us, today's games have the potential to live up to the read more...

Mystery And Manners' Top 25 Releases of 2008

Mystery And Manners’ Top 25 2008 Releases 12/5/08 Here’s a list (in no specific rank or order) of Mystery And Manners’ top 25 releases of 2008. The category includes new releases, DVDs, books, re-issues and relevant CDs that read more...

Snowman's Six-Pack of Reax from Saturday

1. It has finally happened. For the first time since 1982, the Vanderbilt Commodores will be eligible to go to a bowl. Vandy rode D.J. Moore read more...

Time to Cowboy Up

Yeeee hah! Legacy Recordings celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Finals Rodeo with an absolutely killer boxed set of cowboy songs, old and new. This one really brought back memories of my old Roy Rogers guitar, playing in the back yard with my little black read more...

Saturday's Slate: SEC vs. Big 12 South Looking Good!

After a season of many a wild ride, a little clarity emerged from last week's games. The SEC has their championship game set. The Big 12 is now down to three (maybe four) potential BCS participants. The rest of our TF conferences have a ways to go, but none of read more...

Snowman's Six-Pack of Reax from Saturday

1. After all of the Nick Saban drama last week in Baton Rouge, we finally got a close game from a SEC marquee matchup. Alabama and LSU staged a very hard-fought battle, but as we’ve written about so much this season in the SEC, the quarterback play was the difference. Alabama read more...

Saturday's Slate: The November Home Stretch Begins!

College football remains the Footprint's most compelling and spectacular sport. The 2008 season has delivered us yet again a roller coaster ride of sporting goodness. The stakes have been high all season. So far, at least two key programs (Tennessee and read more...

Snowman's Six-Pack of Reax from Saturday

1. Wow – what an instant classic in the Lonestar State. Texas Tech pulled off an amazing upset of #1 Texas with one second to go and sent their raucous fans read more...

Saturday's Slate: Top Games in Each Conference Will Decide Champions

Georgia and Florida in Jacksonville The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has more at stake than ever – read more...

Buffalo's Soap Box: The Economy, The Election and Stealing Music

I'm stepping back up onto my reinforced industrial strength Soap Box. You have been warned. Something has to be done. No matter who becomes the president in a few days, there is a huge task ahead. The economy has never been so bad, at least in my life time. It seems read more...

Snowman's Six-Pack of Reax from Saturday

1) The biggest difference between teams in the SEC this season is simply quarterback play. Alabama, Georgia, and Florida came into the season with experienced/quality signal callers, and they have been the class of the league. Lack of experience or just poor play at quarterback has read more...

Saturday's Slate: A Bit of Relative Calm Before the Storm

Although you can't take a week off in college football, this week seems like a palate cleanser before some of the biggest homestretch games are played. November will feature great game after great game and next week's

Saturday's Slate: BCS Busters vs. Disciplined Talent

Last week was a lesson in symmetry. Many teams met on the field that looked like mirror images. Something had to give, and it did. 3 of the top 5 teams lost giving the nation a new number one, Texas, who beat Oklahoma in what was probably a top 10 of all time Red read more...

Pro Wrestling in The Seventies: Ox Baker

I am really excited about our brand new, ongoing series No Holds Barred. The series will look at the stars and memories of the hey day of pro wrestling in the south, especially here in the Mid Atlantic area. I will be profiling many of the stars of the sport during the read more...

Saturday's Slate: Symmetry Saturday

We've already been treated to upsets throughout the Tribal Fever landscape, but let's not forget that upsets require a precondition of disparity between teams, etiher real or imagined. This Saturday's games are of a different sort. It seems across the board that all read more...

Pro Wrestling in the South Back in the Day

I was on the phone with a friend last week, just catching up on this and that, when my buddy posed a question. “Did you ever get into pro rasslin’?” Now, for the record, I spell it

Saturday's Slate: Picking Up The Pieces

Last week had USC losing on Thursday which appeared to set up big things for Georgia and Florida. Then, both stumbled last week, but both have a chance to redeem their season. This shapes up to be another great season filled with surprises as another team with destiny read more...

Saturday's Slate: Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead!

Of course, this means that the two perennial pretenders that stand in our way, Ohio State and USC, have both lost and neither appear to have the right kinds of games left to springboard back into the national title hunt. That should mean that the national championship game read more...

Special Edition of Magazine Features Great Southern Rock Articles

Heads up, Southern Rock fans. There’s a magazine out on the stands right now that you are going to want. It’s called Guitar Legends, and the issue is called “The Complete History

Saturday's Slate: Barometer Games (Intra- and Inter-Conference)

This weekend marks the beginning of some classic early season rivalry games inside the SEC. TF has a rundown of all the key games. BEST INTRA-CONFERENCE GAMES

Despite the Drumbeat of ACC Criticisms, the Big East Remains the Bigger Problem

The ACC has been this season's early whipping boy thanks to Clemson's beatdown in Atlanta handed to them by Alabama. However, we don't see that game as any long term indicator. That game result resulted primarily because Alabama has a coach that understands how to read more...

Gamecocks Destruction of Wolfpack Serves Notice to Clemson and the ACC

Last night was the glorious kick off to the 2008 college football season. Teams from almost every conference had games allowing us some very early previews of what might be coming in the weeks ahead. Everyone now knows about the

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...

Barbeque is Not a Verb: A Musical Tribute To Southern BBQ

There's nothing us Southerners like more than barbeque. Football comes close, as does Southern Rock, NASCAR, professional wrestling and cold beer, but when all is said and done, the pork will always rise to the top. Well, some guys from read more...

Ten More Defining Moments in Southern Rock History

Did any of you see Gregg Allman in the movie Rush? He played a drug dealing king pin, and a pretty spooky character. That movie disturbed me more that ten Stephen King flicks, because it was so real. That's why Gregg's role in the movie made our list of

GRITZ Movie Review: X-Files Film Will Thrill Fans

The great thing about the new X-Files movie is the human element. Rather than concentrating on aliens and the TV series’ past mythology, Chris Carter hands us a

Still More of The Defining Moments in Southern Rock History

Hi guys. My apologies for the two days of down time. We experienced a problem with our DSL internet service that virtually crippled the GRITZ offices for almost two days. We are happy to come back kicking with the

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...

Southern Rock's Most Defining Moments

You've all heard of "going the extra mile" for your art, right? Well, fellow babies, The Buffalo has been doing that for a few days now, assembling a list of The 100 Defining Moments in Southern read more...

GRITZ Radio Hour Premieres Online

Hey guys. As an experiment of sorts, we are presenting a pilot episode of The GRITZ Radio Hour, a two hour program of music hosted by yours truly, and airing over the Mighty Field of Vision internet radio station, now read more...

New Documentary Project Will Present the Definitive History of Country Music

I just got the word that Shout! Factory Records and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are planning to produce a multi-part original series of specials on the history of country music for television and DVD. The partners will seek worldwide broadcast read more...

Watch and Listen: Ten Great DVD's for Southern Rockers

Man oh man do I love movies. I guess movies are my second favorite entertainment besides music. Well, truth be told, books rank right up at the top of that list as well. But when you combine music and movies, look out, you have my attention. For my new list, I wanted to read more...

It's All About The Song: The Greatest Songwriters of The Southern Rock Era

I am probably going to get some other opinions on this one. We're happy to present our list of The Ten Best Songwriters of The Southern Rock Era. Check out the list and let us know what you read more...

With Leadership In Flux, the BCS Proves Its Worth to the Big East

Tribal Fever will never stop its defense of the greatest sport in our Footprint - college football. How a sport that has record ratings and revenue would ever be under scrutiny is beyond us, but we believe the heart of that line of criticism lies in its "limited" read more...

Wash Boards and Chicken Coups: The Ten Best Instrumentalists of Southern Rock

Let me begin by wishing everybody a GREAT weekend. Only one week until the big annual Winters Brothers Band Summer Jam. See you there! Our latest Top Ten list runs down the

A Trip to The Keys: Southern Rock's Greatest Keyboard Players

And the lists just keep on coming... This time we run down the Greatest Keyboard Players of the Southern Rock Era. They're all here, the Hammond B-3, the piano - from Chuck Leavell to Taz read more...

Four Strings and An Attitude: Southern Rock's Best Bass Players

How about another Southern Rock List? This time we run down the Ten Greatest Bass Guitar Players of The Southern Rock read more...

The Top 25 Songs of The Southern Rock Era

And the lists just keep on a comin.' Our latest addition to our Southern Rock Lists is our accounting of the 25 Greatest read more...

Conference USA Must Step Up to Avoid Potential College Football Upheaval

Last year, Tribal Fever presented a modest proposal about conference realignment for teams in the Swampland Footprint. The proposal came from our understanding of the love and passion of college football in read more...

South Dominates College Baseball

by Patrick Snow There is one more week of college baseball before the conference tournaments, and the teams in our Swampland footprint are looking very strong. I had the pleasure this past weekend to attend a great 3-game series between Vanderbilt and Georgia. The Bulldogs read more...

New GRITZ List: Top Vocalists of the Southern Rock Era

"Way down in Alabama/Shoutin' Bamalama..." What a rocking song. What a great singer. I never get tired of listening to Jimmy Hall. Never. Which is why he landed in the top spot in our list of

New Features, Capricorn Records, Southern Rock Lists

We are happy to add a couple of new ongoing features here at GRITZ. The first is our Tribute to Capricorn Records Page, which features links to all of the articles and interviews related to the Southern read more...

The Legends of Southern Rock, a Guide

Greetings from Carolina. We are happy to present our new index page for our Legends of Southern Rock series. From here, you can always surf over to your favorite Southern Rock band's Swampland read more...

Why Swampland Sports Loves the BCS

Despite winning back to back national titles in football, the SEC susre seems to hate the BCS. Lately, this hatred has been reaching a new level. It all started when University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams announced a proposal for

Vintage GRITZ Articles Unearthed; Hatchet, Skynyrd, Tucker, Ricky Skaggs and More

It's time once again to add a few more Vintage Gritz articles to the archives, and I hope you'll check 'em out for a "blast from the past." Added today is one of our first interviews from 1999 with

Outward Bound

“The eye and mind would be functioning as a camera. The writing would be selective and necessarily interpretive—but once the image was written the words would be final.” --Hunter read more...

Snowflakes: Southern Sweet 16

Here a quick primer for our teams in this weekend’s NCAA Tournament. East – This is definitely the Heavyweight bracket for our Swampland region. With #1 overall seed North Carolina playing near home in Charlotte, the Tar Heels have to be read more...

Snowflakes: C-USA/Big East Hoops

* West Virginia has won 3 of their last 4 and really seems to be coming together at the right time. One of the main reasons for their solid play of late is that post man Joe Campbell has averaged 25.5 points a game in the last 4 contests, including 32 in the Mountaineers’ huge read more...

Snowflakes: Big East Hoops

Louisville got a monster win last Saturday night when they knocked off first place Georgetown. The Cardinals are playing much better ball of late, having won 5 of 6, and looking solid for a good run in the postseason. However, I’ve got to give at least an assist to Rick read more...

Season Summary: St. Louis Rams

Quick Summary: This was the first year SPF covered the Rams, and it wasn't an auspicious beginning. It shouldn't have been so considering the Rams finished the previous season at 8-8 and signed their franchise QB Marc Bulger (a West Virginia alum) to a read more...

Snowflakes: C-USA/Big East Hoops

by Patrick Snow * Could this week finally bring the contest where #1 Memphis actually loses a conference game? The last time that happened was at UAB on March 2nd, 2006. On Wednesday night, the undefeated Tigers travel to Houston to battle the 15-3 Cougars. After read more...

My Favorite Southern Rock Song?

I was talking to one of my pals down Florida way the other day when the conversation shifted to great Southern Rock songs.We started reliving the first time we heard this song or that song, and how much particular songs meant to us.

GRITZ Best Albums of The Year

Lots of great music rocked my world in 2007. Here are my choices for the 15 best of the best. Feel free to log on and comment. Let me know if you agree or disagree. read more...

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...

TF Conference Championship Preview

Today is the day we find out whether it will be an all-Swampland matchup in the BCS Championship Game. If all goes according to plan it should be Missouri vs. West Virginia. Still, there are a few other game worth watching. It has been a great year for college read more...

TF Rivalry Week Preview

Rivalry games define college football. More than bowl games or even conference championships, a win against your rival means 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...

TF Saturday Preview: The Year of Transition Nears An End

The wild year continues. In many ways this was just a sign of the transition college football around the Footprint has experienced. In some ways, it shouldn't be as surprising as it has been. Nick Saban's arrival lit a fire under everyone. The ante was read more...

TF Saturday Preview: Everything's Still To Be Decided

Patrick Snow has it right. This year's season of college football has shown that it is one of the most compelling sports to follow as a fan, especially in the Footprint.

TF Saturday Preview: Pole, er.. Bowl Position

If you aren't a Florida or Georgia fan, this weekend might be a good one to spend with the kids. This is a pretty thin weekend for good games in the Footprint. That's why Athlon's college football preview spends most of its time previewing games outside our read more...

TF's Saturday Preview: Act Like You've Been There Before!

It's the old saying when a player celebrates a little too much - act like you've been there before. This rules seems to also hold true to some of our Footprint's winning neophytes. When programs are new to winning, they don't know how to handle themselves. That's read more...

TF's Saturday Preview: The History Behind SEC Dominance

Tribal Fever would like to start this weekend's festivities by directing everyone to a fantastic series on ESPN.com about the SEC. Which leads us to this week's focus - the historical read more...

Tribal Fever's Weekend Slate (10/6/2007)

Let's start with this week's College Football Preview from Athlon. Swampland's own Patrick Snow hosts each week. (Read Patrick's new column on the state of baseball in read more...

Upset Saturday, or not?

Patrick Snow mentioned in his last column that he was looking ahead to next week's games. Based on yesterday's game result, so were too many top 25 teams in the Footprint. TF Upsets read more...

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

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...