Artists
21 posts
The Secret History of R.E.M. and the Indigo Girls
Two Athens bands, one club, and forty years of friendship.
The Traveling Wilburys Were an Accident
How a B-side in Bob Dylan's garage turned into the best supergroup in rock history.
What Was Lilith Fair?
The season we sang a whole festival instead of one artist.
Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac
Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac have a history, that's for sure. A lot of it is based on the fact that Stevie Nicks is a Tom Petty superfan.
Fleetwood Mac cast of characters
Fleetwood Mac is a crazy cast of characters and I tried to figure them out. Following the individual members is like a tour of 20th century rock. You could…
How to Play Guitar Like James Taylor
Okay, wait. There are limits to what a blog post can accomplish. James Taylor is an amazing guitarist. As I'm trying to figure out how to play some of his…
u2?
I have a confession to make: I'm not a big U2 fan.
When the Man in Black Married Into the First Family of Country Music
The Carters, the Cash hits, and the best line about why anyone sings.
Cash and the Carter Family: Graphic Biographies
As the Newton Family Singers prepare for a set of songs written and performed by Johnny Cash and his in-laws, the Carter Family, I read two graphic novel…
Beatlemania
Are you a Beatles fan?
Gone At Last featuring Phoebe Snow
I'm embarrassed to admit that a month ago, I had no idea who Phoebe Snow was.
Album Study: There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Paul Simon's album There Goes Rhymin' Simon was his third solo album, although most people think of it as his second.
Album Study: Graceland
Paul Simon's Graceland was written in a very odd way. (The Talking Heads are going to appear by the end of this blogpost.)
Graceland films
Paul Simon was already headed for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from his work with Art Garfunkel in the 1960s and 1970s.
Paul Simon!
Paul Simon! Paul Simon!
Peace, Love and Understanding: the Songwriter's songwriter
Sometimes you hear someone described as a "writer's writer" or a "musician's musician." The idea is that the subject might not be the most famous to the…
Alternate program notes
Hope you all enjoyed our Pete Seeger-themed Spring concert as much as we did.
On Woody Guthrie's 100th Birthday, as Relevant as Ever?
To mark the centennial anniversary of Woody Guthrie's birthday, Newton's own Tom Ashbrook recently devoted an hour of his On Point show on WBUR to an…
Seeger Family Tree
This season our song selection revolves around Pete Seeger and works he wrote, popularized or inspired (in the case of "Pete and Woody"). Pete is an icon of…
Get to know Carole King
Pete Seeger continues to inspire
In fact, Pete inspired me (Jack Cheng) to write an article about him which was published in the Newton TAB this week. This is how it starts: