Carlene Carter A Strong Country Lady  ‘This hell-raising angel’s had a fair share of heartache. . ./But you’ll never know just how it feels/’Til you fall all apart and your heart don’t wanna heal,’ she pines on the title song. A plaintive piano ballad sweetened by strings, the song also throbs with longing for her late sister. […]

Amy MacdonaldYoung Glaswegian songstress, now a truly International star—but a star that still believes the music comes first—talks to Jim Soars Anyone with a modicum of interest in music will by now have heard of the phenomenon that is Amy Macdonald. The twenty-year-old singer-songwriter from Glasgow hit the headlines in July 2007 when her sizzling debut […]

With two awards already under her belt, Luan Parle is ready for and capable of incredible success. She bagged the Irish Tatler music award for Woman Of The Year and the Meteor award for Best Irish Female Artist last year. This has been a fantastic achievement and the support she has received from her homeland […]

Tell someone you play the 5-string banjo and you’ll get one of two responses: a mocking, grinning attempt at When I’m Cleaning Windows sung back at you, along with obligatory air ukulele, or a request for Duelling Banjos, the DELIVERANCE theme tune. Needless to say, we as a nation, know very little of this marvellous […]

News that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were collaborating wasan eyebrow-raiser. It certainly didn’t sit too comfortably withdie-hard bluegrass fans who had had to tolerate the bluegrassdiva recording duets with such rock icons as John Waite, not tomention interpreting non-bluegrass material from the likes of theBeatles, Bad Company and the Foundations Outside of bluegrasscircles there […]

Blake Shelton is pure Country—and that’s no bull. Because there’s not a hint of pop or even rock inflections in his vocals or musical arrangements, he has not always enjoyed the kind of chart consistency that the major labels demand. Since making his debut in 2001, he’s achieved several number one hits with such memorable […]

Garth Brooks is more, much more, than just a country music phenomenon. From the outset of his career, the Oklahoma-born singer showed himself to be different than your average country music performer. Known for manic highs, he would sometimes throw guitars across the stage and even danced down tabletops in honky-tonks, kicking beer bottles all […]

Corb Lund column June 21, 2007 Corb Lund is currently one of the heavyweights of the Canadian music scene, capturing “Roots Artist of the Year” and “Album of the Year” awards at last year’s Canadian Country Music Awards. Getting his start with popular indie rock band, the Smalls, he describes his current sound as scruffy country, […]