An Irish pub in a college town on a Friday night — the crowd is festive, to say the least. Troy Schoenfelder brushes back his dark, curly hair and introduces Buckskin Stallion’s seismic travelogue “New Town” as a song “about pain killers and whiskey”; the joint erupts with approval. A dozen university kids tumble, beers [...]

It’s all naked sun and cloudless skies on Friday, as late-afternoon Texas humidity chokes the air with temperatures in the high 90s. A first-timer in Austin, I’m drenched in sweat and sunburned, walking on at least three blisters before the first evening falls over the festival. “This is August weather in September, man,” says an [...]

We expect to hear Steve Earle boundlessly posturing on the night of a presidential speech — and as he takes the stage a half-hour late, there’s no doubt he’s been standing in front of a television backstage watching George W. Bush’s discourse in its entirety, presumably loading up on fresh ranting material. Surprisingly, he unleashes [...]

Londoners know what we’re talking about, friends. Walk into Tower Records here at Piccadilly Circus and find two 25-deep rows of Townes Van Zandt discs. Gillian Welch’s section is stocked full. The entire catalogues of Uncle Tupelo and the current offshoots are represented. A similar level of recognition can be expected for Kelly Joe Phelps, [...]