Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:  GRACE PETTIS Video Premiere:  “I TAKE CARE OF ME NOW”      DOWN TO THE LETTER WITH AMERICANA’S WORKING WOMAN GRACE PETTIS   by Rodeo Marie Hanson An American juvenile cinéma vérité, reminiscent of 1985’s The Breakfast Club, unfolds within every school’s granite and brick corridors, monochromatic carpeted classrooms and institutionalized cafeterias. In this microcosm,... 

VIDEO PREMIERE & WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW   Musician:  DANA COOPER   Video Premiere:  “THE GHOST OF TUCUMCARI”      DANA COOPER—AMERICANA’S COOL HAND LUKE RESURRECTS THE GHOST OF TUCUMCARI   by Rodeo Marie Hanson Tucumcari is believed to have come from the Comanche word tukamukaru, which means to lie in wait for someone or something. Dana Cooper’s visual imagery of “The Ghost of Tucumcari” takes the listener... 

RACHAEL SAGE “No Regrets” Video Premiere – with Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:  RACHAEL SAGE   Video Premiere: NO REGRETS     RACHAEL SAGE EXPLORES “THE OTHER SIDE” WITH NO REGRETS  15th Album Transcends Alternative-Pop Singer-Songwriter’s Artistic Borders   High cheekbones, brunette tresses adorned with flowers, and an inviting smile suggestive of a kindred artistic spirit, Rachael Sage could be the cool... 

AARON LACOMBE “Dream Along with Me” – with Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:  AARON LACOMBE Video:  “Dream Along with Me”     SINGER-SONGWRITER AARON LACOMBE “BREAKING GROUND” ON TEXAS RED DIRT AND AMERICANA WITH FOURTH ALBUM At first glance, Aaron LaCombe seems to be the quintessential Texas-based singer-songwriter, wearing faded jeans—just the right shade of blue, flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up and work boots. Visual... 

JEFF FASANO Behind the Photos   THE WAR AND TREATY   Veteran photographer Jeff Fasano has 1 day to go for his Kickstarter campaign—to publish his first fine-art book: AMERICANA PORTRAIT SESSIONS. For a $100 pledge, you can choose to get an autographed copy of his book and a choice of a signed B&W Silver Gelatin Print (one of six B&W photos). There are also options for one of three Color Fine Art Pigment Photo Prints. Today, we feature... 

JEFF FASANO Behind the Photos MARTY STUART    Veteran photographer Jeff Fasano has only 3 days left with his Kickstarter campaign—to publish his first fine-art book: AMERICANA PORTRAIT SESSIONS. For a $100 pledge, you can choose to get an autographed copy of his book and a choice of a signed B&W Silver Gelatin Print (one of six B&W photos). There are also options for one of three Color Fine Art Pigment Photo Prints. Today, we feature... 

JEFF FASANO Behind the Photos   KRIS KRISTOFFERSON   Veteran photographer Jeff Fasano’s Kickstarter campaign ends in 4 days. He is set to publish his first fine-art book: AMERICANA PORTRAIT SESSIONS. You can be a part of this groundbreaking, comprehensive view of Americana music and its history. For a $100 pledge, you can choose to get an autographed copy of his book and a choice of a signed B&W Silver Gelatin Print (one of six B&W... 

NAMM 2022 “BELIEVE IN MUSIC” — VIRTUAL EVENT NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) is both a cultural melting pot and an extended family for music lovers all over the world. Actively engaging in corporate goodwill, the NAMM Foundation supports Save the Music, which has put music instruments into the hands of countless students in public schools. The organization’s spirit of inclusiveness and diversity was clearly present during... 

Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Musician: DANA COOPER Video: “Bluebird” DANA COOPER IN TOP FORM WITH NEW ALBUM I CAN FACE THE TRUTH Like meeting an old friend for the first time, Dana Cooper’s latest release, I Can Face the Truth, rewards the homesick heart and will make you declare, ‘Finally! They actually do make them like they used to.’ Full of friendly surprises, new and nostalgic, you will find yourself wanting to lean... 

Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Musician: DAVID BENOIT Video: “A Midnight Rendezvous” DAVID BENOIT IS AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME WITH RELEASE OF NEW ALBUM A MIDNIGHT RENDEZVOUS by Rodeo Marie Hanson Pianist, composer, and arranger are some of the hats David Benoit has donned during several decades in the music business. Benoit’s unique style of smooth jazz has earned him three Grammy nominations and top jazz chart positions on Billboard. He... 

CONCERT REVIEW OF TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA by Rodeo Marie Hanson TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA’S CHRISTMAS EVE AND OTHER STORIES 2021 TOUR Live performance of debut that raised the standard for concept albums, a feast for the auditory and visual senses on 25th anniversary of release Twenty-five years ago, lyricist, composer, producer and impresario Paul O’Neill had a dream to create great art that just might catch on if luck allowed. O’Neill... 

Musician: The Band of Heathens’ ED JURDI & GORDY QUIST Video: “South by Somewhere”  THE BAND OF HEATHENS’ ED JURDI & GORDY QUIST FEATURED AT BLUE ROCK’S COOL NIGHTS 21 THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 Ed Jurdi & Gordy Quist of The Band of Heathens will be featured at Blue Rock aLive! Cool Nights 21 livestreaming concert series—this Thursday, December 9. The Band of Heathens recorded Stranger with Tucker Martine (The Decemberists,... 

  Musician: NOBODY’S GIRL Video: “Waterline”  NOBODY’S GIRL KICKS OFF BLUE ROCK’S COOL NIGHTS 21 THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 Nobody’s Girl (Grace Pettis, Rebecca Loebe, BettySoo) will be featured at the Blue Rock aLive! Cool Nights 21 live streaming concert series—this Thursday, October 21. You can buy a Season Pass for only $105—and have a seat in the house by sending in your headshot. They will place the large headshot on a... 

Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Artist:  MEGAN NADIN Video:  “The Joker”  POP VOCAL SONGSTRESS MEGAN NADIN PREMIERES EMOTIONALLY HAUNTING “THE JOKER” Canadian pop vocal songstress Megan Nadin’s vocal style is radio-ready to rocket up the charts. What makes her even more powerful is that she genuinely cares about the songs she writes. She wants her songs to be used for positive change: “‘The Joker’ highlighted the... 

LESLIE ANN JONES TO RECEIVE THE NAMM TEC HALL OF FAME AWARD  Leslie Ann Jones is a renowned recording engineer and pioneering producer and mixer who helped redefine the craft of engineering in the 1970s and 80s. She is well known for her long list of successful and award-winning projects. Starting her career at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles in 1975, she moved to Northern California in 1978 and joined David Rubinson and Fred Catero at The... 

VIDEO PREMIERE & WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Musicians: THE FAB FAUX Video: LADY MADONNA Performance at SiriusXM Studios with The Hogshead Horns & The Crème Tangerine Strings Songwriters: Paul McCartney (Lennon-McCartney) THE FAB FAUX PERFORM THE BEATLES’ WHITE ALBUM IN ITS ENTIRETY The Fab Faux (Will Lee, Rich Pagano, Jimmy Vivino, Frank Agnello and Jack Petruzzelli) bring the Beatles’ records to the stage, note-for-note. Introducing... 

Musician:  STEPHEN BENNETT Video:  “Reverie” Video Produced by TrueFire Stephen Bennett is one of the most prolific and original finger-style guitarists of his generation. He is also a leading exponent of the harp guitar. A challenging teacher, a gifted composer, and a performer of great sensitivity, the Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association once referred to him as “the Jedi Master of Fingerstyle Guitar.” Bennett has performed around the... 

Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Musician:  RONNIE SPECTOR Video:  “Be My Baby” Iconic singer and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ronnie Spector solidifies her status as the Rosetta Stone for female rock performers of today. Christmas tour is set to kick-off. Critical respect is at its peak, and Ronnie Spector continues to thrill—inspiring and empowering a new generation of fans as an enduring, transcendent figure, who has... 

THAT BEATLES MAGIC According to Jeff Alan Ross It was one of those truly bizarre moments. I’d gone over to the Grand Hyatt Hotel to see if I could get into The Fest for Beatles Fans with the wristband a friend of mine, from my hometown of Madison, Wis., had handed me the night before. I figured they’d change the color the next day, and I was right. I wanted to catch Peter Asher’s wonderful show Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir Of The ’60s and... 

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN  At 70, the guitar virtuoso still revels in his dynamic musical journey By Jeff Tamarkin  John McLaughlin remembers some odd advice he once received from Miles Davis—cryptic words at the time, but later made perfect sense. It was 1969, and the young guitar master was working in the studio with the jazz titan when “Miles made this Zen statement,” recalls McLaughlin. “He told me, ‘Play like you don’t know how to play guitar.’”... 

Ringo Starr Y Not [Hip-O Records/UMe] For most of his solo career, Ringo Starr got by with a little help from his friends—the strength or weakness of his albums tended to rise and fall depending on the caliber of guest songwriters and players on hand, most particularly his former Beatles bandmates. His partnership with producer Mark Hudson changed that beginning in the late 1990s, allowing Starr’s star to shine with or without the aid...