Link Wray is one of the fathers of rock ‘n’ roll guitar. With his fuzztone, power chords and special effects, he (along with Bo Diddley) defined the outer parameters of the instrument. But Wray was born in North Carolina and came of age musically in Washington, D.C., then as now a bluegrass center. His earliest [...]

Before there was “No Depression,” “Americana” or “Western Beat,” they called this stuff “Rig Rock.” And, as anyone who owns the Jeremy Tepper-produced Diesel Only compilations Rig Rock Truck Stop and Rig Rock Jukebox can attest, the Blue Chieftains were genuine Rig Rock Superstars. They even had a Bud Dry sponsorship, which landed them closer [...]

Somewhere along the way, Steve Earle started talking about his albums in terms of which box they fit in. “This is gonna be a bluegrass record,” he’d say, or “Next time I’m gonna make a rock record.” Trouble is, Earle’s omnivorous sensibilities have never lent themselves to confines of any sort. That’s part of what [...]

Among the second generation of bluegrass artists, few entertainers maintain a higher profile than Del McCoury. His current band is the most awarded group in the history of the International Bluegrass Music Association. Their broad fan base includes tie-dyed PhishHeads and Steve Earle rockers, alongside ardent disciples of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the [...]

What we’ve got here, above all, is a return into circulation of hits and key records by of one of the biggest voices ever to come out of a singing country girl — hillbilly division. Belter Wilma Lee Cooper and fiddler husband Stoney sang and played almost every sort of old-time and new-fangled country for [...]

Depending on how you categorize Aretha Franklin (and with P.J. Harvey and Corin Tucker classified as works-in-progress), Bonnie Raitt stands as the rock era’s pre-eminent female artist. In part, her achievement is simply a function of longevity; few women have braved rock ‘n’ roll’s decidedly male leanings for as long as Raitt. Yet her endurance [...]

Johnny Paycheck long ago acquired a cult following for his commercially unsuccessful Hilltop and Little Darlin’ sides of the 1960s. But there’s always been more to Paycheck than warped ditties like “(Pardon Me) I’ve Got Someone To Kill” and “He’s In A Hurry (To Get Home To My Wife)”. Sony Legacy’s new, and long overdue, [...]

When Roy Acuff signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1953, he was 50 years old and a country music superstar, even though he hadn’t had a hit in many years. He ruled the roost every Saturday night on the Grand Ole Opry, but his string-band style was already something of an anachronism, having lost [...]