Author: Peter Blackstock
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #16 July-Aug 1998
Whiskeytown – Borderline (London, England)
“I think I’m the only one in the band who still drinks whiskey, so cheers,” fiddler Caitlin Cary proclaimed during the encore of Whiskeytown’s debut performance in London. Indeed, these shows seemed largely focused on how well leader Ryan Adams could adjust to yet another lineup change, as well as a change in his own [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #16 July-Aug 1998
Butch Hancock – The Wind’s Dominion
It’s tempting to call The Wind’s Dominion Butch Hancock’s Blonde On Blonde, given that Hancock has often been referred to as “the West Texas Dylan,” and that this epic double-album arguably stands as his greatest studio achievement. Originally released in 1979, The Wind’s Dominion must have struck like a coming-of-age lightning-bolt for fans of Hancock, [...]
Bound - Book Review from Issue #16 July-Aug 1998
Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide & Directory
If alternative country — whatever it may be — is to reach a fundamental level of public awareness, much of it will depend on the efforts of those who seek to provide it with a respectable place in the cultural spectrum. That includes radio formats such as Americana, which treat roots-music artists as bona fide [...]
Hello Stranger - Editor's Note from Issue #16 July-Aug 1998
Hello Stranger from Issue #16
I met John Krajicek purely by chance at a 10,000 Maniacs/Balancing Act show in Dallas eleven years ago. He was a corporate tax accountant who didn’t really belong in such a job; I was a college student with aspirations of becoming a music journalist. (In fact, I’d just that week written my first music feature [...]
Hello Stranger - Editor's Note from Issue #15 May-June 1998
Hello Stranger from Issue #15
For two years in a row now, we’ve managed, quite unintentionally, to schedule our final production weekend for the May-June issue in synchronicity with the final two rounds of The Masters. Some of you may be aware of my occasionally obsessive fascination with that sport in which folks try to hit a little white ball [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #15 May-June 1998
Pernice Brothers – American stars & bars
It’s South by Southwest weekend in Austin, Texas, the year’s biggest gathering of up-and-coming musical acts, with more than 800 artists crammed into three dozen or so clubs, bars, coffeehouses and parking lots over a five-day stretch. Daytime parties and in-stores make it easy to do nothing but see live music from the moment you [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #14 March-April 1998
Alejandro Escovedo – The true believer
For all the stories he could tell — all the adventures he actively sought out or accidentally stumbled upon, all the characters he has known and loved along the way, all the highs and lows flowing through five decades of dreams chased in glory or in vain, and all the memories that remain — Alejandro [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #14 March-April 1998
Various Artists – Legends Of Country Music: The Best Of Austin City Limits
In recent years, discussion about the PBS series Austin City Limits has often centered on whether the program caters too much to the kinds of already-established Nashville stars seen frequently enough on CMTNN, at the expense of promising new talent and deserving artists on the fringes of the mainstream. (Priorities seem to have refocused admirably [...]
Hello Stranger - Editor's Note from Issue #13 Jan-Feb 1998
Hello Stranger from Issue #13
It took me a few days to notice the parallel, when I heard around mid-October that Butch Hancock was reviving his old self-run record label, Rainlight, to release his latest album. A little over a year ago, Butch left the rat race behind, leaving the daily operations of Lubbock Or Leave It — the art [...]
Screen Door - Last Page Essay from Issue #13 Jan-Feb 1998
Screen Door from Issue #13
“Mostly it’s the spaces between things where I feel comfortable. There are not usually crowded places.” With those words, Picking Up The Tempo: A Country Western Journal was launched more than two decades ago, its debut issue a mere eight pages of newsprint containing a single, solitary, wandering, rambling, epic adventure of an article centered [...]
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