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No Depression has been the foremost journalistic authority on roots music for well over a decade, publishing 75 issues from 1995 to 2008. No Depression ceased publishing magazines in 2008 and took to the web. We have made the contents of those issues accessible online via this extensive archive and also feature a robust community website with blogs, photos, videos, music, news, discussion and more.

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Author: Mark Ray

Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #2 Winter 1995

The Schramms – Cicero’s (St. Louis, MO)

Halfway through their spirited performance in Cicero’s intimate lower quarters, The Schramms’ chief scribe/singer/guitarist and namesake, Dave Schramm, asked if he was mumbling too much. Before anyone in the small but enthusiastic crowd could reply, Schramm followed with a smirky, “Well, I ain’t got nothin’ to say anyway.” Schramm could be excused for being cranky. [...]

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Town and Country - Shorter Artist Feature from Issue #5 Sept-Oct 1996

Stillwater – Running wild

“That’s blood.” Upon closer inspection, it’s clear Chris Grabau isn’t kidding. Sure enough, those are faint blood stains on his yellow Fender Telecaster. “We were playing a show in Columbia, Missouri,” explains the soft-spoken singer-guitarist for Stillwater, “and it was a couple of songs before I realized I’d cut my hand on the bridge.” Grabau [...]

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Town and Country - Shorter Artist Feature from Issue #4 Summer 1996

Wagon – They’re all spokes in the wheel

A few beers into our conversation in an old Westside pub, it occurs to me that none of the members of Wagon have interrupted one another. Not once. In fact, the only disturbance is the booming voice of a very large bartender across the room, whose insolence doesn’t seem to bother the band at all. [...]

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Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #3 Spring 1996

Doc Watson – The Vanguard Years

Doc Watson may have recorded for many labels over the years, but the folks at Vanguard Records have wisely recognized their cut of the pie (from 1963 to 1971) as some of Watson’s most seminal work. As a result, they’ve issued this cohesive and complex document of Watson’s most influential period of artistic growth. By [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #3 Spring 1996

Grain Belt Rock Review – Off Broadway (St. Louis, MO)

Since Uncle Tupelo split and moved on, and The Bottle Rockets left town to tour about 366 days a year, the question has been nagging: Is the community that spawned these seminal bands still vital? By the end of the Grain Belt Rock Review, a two-night celebration of Midwestern twang-rock, a few hundred people would [...]

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From the Blogs

  • CD Review - I See Hawks in L.A. "Mystery Drug"
    Cinematic and atmospheric Alt-Country After nearly 50 years as a music fan and 15 as a reviewer I still get excited about discovering new bands and having my breath taken away by songs and tunes that I’ve not heard before. I was aware of I See Hawks in L.A. but only owned 3 tracks on VA compilations when this album arrived, so was only mildly interested at t […]
  • CD Review - John Reischman "Walk Along John"
    As a west coast Canadian, bluegrass has always seemed like an exotic musical form.  When I hear it, I think of mountains, forests, rivers, and a rural lifestyle that has long past and gone.  Artists like Ralph Stanley and the Monroe Brothers loom like Biblical characters in my imagination, leathery, rugged and indisputably American. In the same way that I al […]
  • CD/DVD Review - Leonard Cohen "Live At The Isle Of Wight"
    Good new for those awaiting the release of more old Leonard Cohen from the days when he was still depressed and very much on the edge. In 2009, a CD/DVD package was released on Columbia of a concert that took place on The Isle Of Wight for the English version of Woodstock in 1970. Both the CD & DVD are complete with many charming Leonard songs from his s […]
  • An Interview with Bahhaj Taherzadeh of We/Or/Me
    We/Or/Me is Bahhaj Taherzadeh, a Chicago-based, Irish-born artist whose music has quietly and gradually been attracting the attention of critics over recent years. Jon Martin calls it “the soundtrack to your most quiet moments”, Sean Michaels says, it's a salve and a peace, and Robin Hilton at NPR has been a consistent advocate of the “wise and slightly […]
  • A Double Shot of Southern Comfort With Tom Petty and the Tontons
    The Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, isn’t all about the headlining acts such as Kings of Leon and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The pride of Gainesville, Florida, Petty had sort of the home-field advantage Saturday night on the Hangout Stage, playing just one state over and practically a direct Interstate-10 shot from Heartbreakers… […]
  • CD Review - Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters "Just For Today"
    Just For Today Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters It's Ronnie Earl's band, but he doesn't dominate it. Recorded live at a couple of venues in his home state of Massachusetts,the Stony Plains release is a seamless blend of jazz, soul and r&b by a band of seasoned vets comfortable enough with one another to have an intense musical conversation […]

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