photos: Nicholas Stock *** The North Mississippi Allstars are on tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut—and seminal blues album—Shake Hands with Shorty. This Hill Country masterpiece was a collaborative effort featuring some of the greatest performers in the history of the subgenre. But the story goes back even further, to “Mississippi” Fred McDowell […]
It’s been 14 long years since Alison Krauss released an album with Union Station, her go-to group since the late ‘80s, but it’s not as if she’s been lazing around in the interim. Since that 2011 offering, Paper Airplane, Krauss has released another solo album (Windy City, her fourth) and a second collaboration with Robert […]
Phantom Orchard at Big Ears 2025 *** The harp was prepared, but I was not. When Phantom Orchard took the stage at Knoxville’s cozy but regal Bijou Theatre, I had zero idea what to expect, having never heard of Ikue Mori nor Zeena Parkins, two veterans of New York’s experimental “Downtown” scene. But my interest […]
