January/February 2010

Robert Plant: The Unlikely King Of Americana(9)

January 18, 2011

Buy This Issue A fiery orange color dominates the sky above Clearwater, Florida, as the sun begins its descent. The air is hot and humid, and it feels kind of like you might imagine it would feel if you wrapped yourself in a dripping-wet thermal blanket and went for a long walk in the heat [...]

Robert Plant: The Unlikely King Of Americana

Legends: Richard Thompson

It’s a crystal blue morning in Santa Monica, a few blocks from the Pacific, and Richard Thompson is waiting at a table in a little coffee shop. Around him, there’s a tranquility and a warmth, and although this legendary British songwriter lives in this vast city during much of the year, he seems untouched by [...]

A History Of Legendary Guitars

A HISTORY OF LEGENDARY ACOUSTIC GUITARS References to a guitar-like stringed instrument date back nearly a thousand years, but honestly, none of these lute-ish, uke-ish oddities qualify as a guitar. There is a lot of debate about when the guitar was invented, but it’s generally believed that a mere 150 years ago, a Spanish carpenter [...]

Legends: Rickie Lee Jones

She speaks softly, not unlike the way she sings—soft, soulful passages, almost like secrets to the closest of friends—punctuated by bursts of exultation. It’s much like the span of emotion in her work, and in her new record, Balm in Gilead, which veers from the pure, naked heartbreak of “Bonfires” to the elation of “Old [...]