Gary Williams – The Traveling’ Blues Boy
Andrew Smith I was introduced to Gary Williams during late 1970s when I imported his A Tribute To Jimmie Rodgers vinyl album on the German Folk Variety label (FV 12013). (Folk Variety was the forerunner of Bear Family.) At the time, there were two other Folk Variety albums of his (My Reflection, FV 12004, and […]
Willie Nelson – Bluegrass
Andrew Smith Continuing in the tradition of mainstream country singers who have recorded “Bluegrass” albums – from Rose Maddox (Sings Bluegrass, 1962), Porter Wagoner (The Bluegrass Story, 1964), George Jones and Melba Montgomery (Bluegrass Hootenanny, 1964) through Carl Smith (Sings Bluegrass, 1971), Buck Owens’ album of Bluegrass standards (Ruby, 1971), the award winning Dolly […]
On The Honky Tonk Highway with The Brother Boys
Andrew Smith The Brother Boys, founded in the late 1980s by Ed Snodderly and Eugene Wolf, are from East Tennessee. They’re still active today, performing music that has been described as “new hillbilly”. Alana Nash characterised it as “a smart amalgam of the tongue-and-groove vocal harmony of the Wilburn Brothers, the lonesome quality of […]
John Edwards: Collector, Researcher and Discographer Extraordinaire
Don Cusic, Andrew Smith, Mickie Akenson, James Akenson Managing Editor’s Note: Once again Andrew Smith in Tasmania, Australia provides a fascinating discussion of an important Country Music topic. A description of the John Edward collection at the University of North Carolina may be found at https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20001/ . It is particularly interesting how some international […]
Doc Watson Life’s Work: A Retrospective
Andrew Smith Managing Editor’s Note: Once again Andrew Smith of Tasmania lends his substantive expertise in Country Music to an important four CD release with 101 tracks and an 86 page book from Craft Recordings. Doc Watson (1923-2012) holds a special place in the history of Country Music…broadly defined….and merits all the attention from scholars, journalists, […]
Satan is Busy in Knoxville: A Review
Andrew Smith Managing Editor’s Note: We’re pleased once again to have a contribution from Andrew Smith in Tasmania. Smith is exceptionally knowledgeable about Country Music not just in Australia, but the entire scope of Country Music history. His forth coming biography of Australian Country Music pioneer Tex Morton will be published in Spring, 2023 by […]