With 23 years behind them, Blackberry Smoke are still one of the best examples of Southern rock in the modern era ā but what does that even mean, right? Led by singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Charlie Starr, the band does indeed have roots pointing straight to hard-driving ā70s icons like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman…
Thereās something special that occurs when music is rooted in friendship and a shared mission. Perhaps no one exemplifies this better than Sam Grisman Project, founded by the youngest son of "Dawg music" pioneer David Grisman. Seeking to honor the likes of his father, Jerry Garcia & the Grateful Dead, and other musical heroes, SGP…
The members of American Patchwork Quartet present an array of diverse backgrounds ā both musical and cultural. The group is made up of Clay Ross, multi-Grammy winning guitarist and founder of Gullah group Ranky Tanky; Grammy-winning Hindustani classical vocalist, Falguni "Falu" Shah; internationally acclaimed jazz bassist, Yasushi Nakamura; and Juno Award-winning drummer, Clarence Penn. However,…
The first time I saw Willi Carlisle was in Buffalo, New York, in the tiny basement of an old protestant church that Ani DiFranco bought. There couldnāt have been more than thirty or so people there ā a queer couple or two holding hands, a mom and a dad plus their kid, a cluster of…
Brittany Ann Tranbaugh is the first artist weāve featured in Out Now that I have yet to meet. She runs in queer music circles, playing with many LGBTQ+ artists ā including Liv Greene and Jobi Riccio, who were featured on this column last year, as well as other queer-identifying artists like Sadie Gustafson-Zook and Mya…