Though it is not the easiest task to take the sum of a man, Neal Lucas seems like the sort unlikely to stake his identity in ego. His grasp of the beautiful simplicity which makes life meaningful is apparent in both his demeanor and his music. He sings of green-eyed girls keeping secrets, and the worst parts of ourselves we drag home to our partners at the end of the day, and about how, just…
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The stage at a Chickasaw Mudd Puppies show looks more like the setting for a play based on a Faulkner novel than a backdrop for a band melding country blues, rockabilly, and punk.In their early 1990s prime, Brant Slay, the stringy-haired singer, percussionist, and multi-instrumentalist, perched himself in a ratty ladder-back rocking chair. He teetered with nervous energy throughout songs, dragging a rhythm with spoons on a washboard around his neck, or playing harmonica, dancing…
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A whistle, a banjo. A guitar and a washboard. A fiddle, an accordion, and a beautiful voice singing from beyond the world. Highland jigs and ghostly woods, a lover’s quest and a good day’s work, and another morning coming after rest. This is the soul of Wolf & Clover, an “Irish-ish” band that dives deep into traditional Celtic music before surfacing again with new tweaks and twists and interpretation to share. The Columbus band’s new…
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ArtHaus Radio airs Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. and can be streamed from the website arthausradio.com. The show is lovingly curated by Bo.
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Saturday, May 11th marks the date of the fourth annual Paws Humane Society Barks & Blues Festival. What began as a modest attempt to bring more families onto the Paws campus drew such a crowd that we had to move it to Woodruff Park last year. This year we expect over 3,000 attendees and we can hardly wait till the music starts at 4:00 pm. The Festival now has its own website www.barksandblues.com where you…
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The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical inspired by a true story returns to the Springer Opera House May 3 through 18. On Dec. 4, 1956, four music legends–Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley–found themselves together at Sun Records in Memphis. Lucky for us, Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n Roll,” pressed record. The rest is history–and, for us, a night of incredible music and story that will have you coming back…
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Neal Lucas chipped his tooth “bushwhacking” on his dad’s land, but it doesn’t stop him from smiling. From Talbot County, Ga., the singer-songwriter appeals as much to the “long-haired hippy people” as the “good ol’ boys,” with original tunes like “I Don’t Want No Other Love.” He writes, produces and records his own music, and has played with too many bands to mention. He juggles these roles by setting aside time each day to write while maintaining a cool demeanor and salt-of-the-earth integrity. Like…
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On Nov. 10, long-time admirers and first-time visitors alike will enter a new phase in the life of Pasaquan, Eddie Owens Martin’s outsider art environment in Buena Vista, Ga., at the first Pasafest, a music and art festival combining the southeast’s best outsider art with some of our areas most interesting music in a one-day, fun-for-the-whole family celebration of all things beautiful and exuberant. When Eddie Owens Martin returned home to Buena Vista, Ga. to…
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Getting compared to Eric Clapton is a big deal for any blues guitarist, and 23-year-old Skylar Saufley frequently draws the comparison from those who are captivated by his playing. Born in Virginia, Skylar moved to Columbus in the 3rd grade, when his father was stationed at Fort Benning. He’s been here ever since and considers himself a Columbus native, but when people hear him play, they often ask, “where did he come from?” Some also…
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“I don’t sound like I look—people say that to me all the time,” Emily Stilwell explains when asked how such a big-volume, bluesy vocal delivery can arrive from such a diminutive stature. Talking over a noon-hour coffee and pastry last month at Fountain City Coffee, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter discusses both her musical inspirations and inhibitors in an unassuming, full-disclosure fashion—a refreshing blend of humility, honesty and artistic purity—shortly before her shift at Whitewater Express…
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