Both my daughters accompanied me once – just once – to Take Your Child to Work Day. It turns out watching their father go through his day in middle management is way less exciting that school. Another Take a Child to Work Day passed on Thursday without my kids noticing. And anyways, they would be more excited to learn that April 25th was also National Zucchini Bread Day, an homage to an underrated baked good. It was also National Hug a Plumber Day because, well, plumbers need hugs too?  I couldn’t find any research that suggests plumbers receive fewer […]

In my review about The Voice show four years ago, I declared that I no longer believe in guilty pleasures. If I legitimately like something that most people – or even I – deem to be low brow, I embrace it. The truth is that I haven’t watched The Voice much since that column. That is probably because I only have room in my life for one reality TV show, and for the past two seasons that show has been America’s Got Talent.  Unlike talent-specific shows such as singing-based shows The Voice and American Idol, or dance shows like So […]

Lost and Found: Buena Vista Social Club Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes Two recent musical releases dig into hidden gems and leftovers to create new albums—Lost and Found, from the Buena Vista Social Club, and Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes. While these musicians are old by any standard and the music they play is thick with tradition, the sounds always make my body feel like moving. On Lost and Found you will experience a wonderful mix, from Manuel Guajiro Mirabel’s trumpet solos of “Habenero,” taken from the vaults when it didn’t make it onto […]

This is the first all-banjo album to be added to my collection, and a marvelous addition it is.

While The Stray Birds fit into the folk tradition, most of the songs don’t seem to cut into deep political ideas like those of former generations’ folk singers.

In the spirit of my National Mid-Year Music Award Day in July, I made up fake awards for these 14 songs. The awards may be bogus but the songs are legitimate winners.

This one is easier to digest than some earlier DiFranco work, but maybe not as filling.

The lyrics sound like they connect with the canon of traditional music, but you need to dig deeper.

Love songs tend to offer only one side of the story, or one emotional response.

The album, though mostly ignored at the time, clearly positions Cash in the tradition of the folk singer. This revisit doesn’t seem nostalgic, nor does it seem old, but uncannily still important.