Ronald D. Cohen: An Introduction
James E. Akenson Managing Editor Ronald D. Cohen is a distinguished scholar of the Folk Revival. Managing Editor James Akenson and Cohen have connections to the University of Minnesota. They became friends at the International Country Music Conference at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2014 Cohen and his colleague social activist Si Kahn […]
Is It Time For a Revival? A Second Coming: Is The Time At Hand?
James E Akenson All the signs point to a coming revival if not the end-of-the-world. Or…at least the Second Coming of Christ. In the last days there shall be much coming and going. The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible 2nd Timothy Chapter 3, Verses 2 and 3 makes clear the social media […]
Abi Miller: Woman On a Country Music Mission
James E Akenson Mission Impossible. Good Luck, Jim. A ‘fur piece’ back in another television universe the opening sequence of Mission Impossible gave agent Jim Phelps a task on audio tape that before it self-destroyed said “Good Luck, Jim.” Not only did I enjoy the series, but I enjoyed the fact that actor Peter […]
Plato, Aristotle, William James, Wittgenstein: No…Willie Nelson!
James E Akenson Sam Cooke mentioned that he didn’t know much about the history, French, geography he took…or other subjects. I’m not quite as deficient as what Sam Cooke made himself out to be. BUT…I do know that I don’t know a whole lot when it comes to philosophy. Just enough philosophy knowledge to […]
Black Pearl: You’ve Been in the Background Much Too Long
James E. Akenson Years ago during the Civil Rights movement Sonny Charles performed a song that stays with me to this day. Its intriguing how issues, lyrics, and melodies stay in your mind. Later, they become special in different ways that I couldn’t have expected when I first heard them. Black Pearl makes a […]
ICON For The People: Good Golly Ms. Dolly!
James Akenson Goodness gracious….as they oft time out in the country…it seems like Dolly Parton is everywhere these days. Yes! Dolly Parton may not constantly be on the Country Music charts or on Country Music radio, but she is constantly in everyone’s Country Music hearts. How strong is Dollymania these days, you ask? Natalie Weiner […]
Proto Billy: Who’s On First
James Akenson In a classic comedy routine, Abbott and Costello bumble and stumble on the question Who’s On First? It’s baseball oriented, not cricket, and involves all sorts of miscommunication about meaning. It’s kind of like another, more serious, dilemma faced by a poor soul trapped in the bureaucracy of the legal system in Franz Kafka’s […]
Morgan Pieri: On The Long and Winding Road
Morgan Pieri: On The Long and Winding Road James Akenson My good mate Malcolm Patterson Quillen (a.k.a. Pat)….a music guru in his own rite….likes to humorous quote former major league baseball pitcher Joaquin Andujar. In an interview, Andjuar responded to a question with I have two words for that. You never know. Andjuar may […]
Talking Black, Nashville, and Country Music
Talking Black, Nashville, and Country Music James Akenson I’m greatly concerned with the issues related to social justice that boiled over with the death of Breonna Taylor and Georgie Floyd. Yet, as I begin this Country Underground Australia piece I’m also thinking about The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. Both performed stellar versions […]
O Brother Where Art Thou. Happy Anniversary!
O Brother Where Art Thou. Happy Anniversary! James Akenson August comes and goes. Then it comes and goes again. Since the death of LP (Life Partner) Mickie’s parents in the early 2000s we visited Vicksburg, Mississippi each August through 2018. Couldn’t make it in 2019 and COVID-19 stopped a planned 2020 Vicksburg visit. We cleaned […]