Michael Elliott's Blog, page 3

Country Musings: Hal Ketchum

Early in 1991, I was a few months shy of becoming a Program Director for the country station where I worked. By then, I’d been in radio for about five years and had witnessed the “New Traditionalist” movement of the mid-to-late 1980s. Yet the excitement of artists such as The Judds, Foster and Lloyd, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, kd lang, and Lyle Lovett had given way to the reliable blandness of Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and, yes, Garth Brooks.

Then a single on Curb—a label I usual...

'Warming up to the Ice Age' at 40

What follows in an excerpt from “Adios to California,” Chapter 9 of Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story. You can pick up a copy here or wherever you buy books, although I urge you to support your local bookstore whenever possible.

Riding With the King is the album most representative of where Hiatt would be headed musically over the rest of his career. At the time, however, critics were lukewarm at best, with David Fricke stating in his three-star review for Rolling Stone that it was “a goo...

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez in Raleigh; A GoFundMe to Help a NC Rock Legend

On March 19, 1965, UNC student Bebo White (left), snuck backstage at Reynolds Coliseum with his friend, Steve Berkowitz, to meet Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.Bob Dylan and Joan Baez in Raleigh, 1965

A Complete Unknown has thrust one of our greatest songwriters back to the forefront of pop culture. While 60 years ago, during the very era the new film chronicles, two students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ended up backstage at Raleigh’s Reynolds Coliseum with folk music’s power co...

Last of the Soul Men

In the introduction to Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story, I talked briefly about Sam & Dave.

My dad was a die-hard soul fan. I grew up marveling at the jackets of his Atlantic soul compilations: Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Don Covay—titans of soul. It was raw. They would scream, shout, croon; Sam Moore of Sam & Dave would have tiny bouts of involuntary laugh spasms in the middle of a line. Even when these artists were pouring their hearts out on a soul-wrenching ballad, they s...

The Best I Could Do in 2024

As we head toward 2025, here’s a roundup of the writing I’m most proud of this year.

Hemingway’s typewriter. Photo taken at Hemingway’s house, Key West, FL, August 6, 2022.For the Mixtape"We Quit Doing Rock" - WQDR and the Death of Rock Radio

40 years ago, one of the premiere Album Rock stations in America flipped to Country, and I’m still not over it.

Truth'll Set You Free: Talking With Mother's Finest About 'Another Mother Further'

Co-founders Joyce 'Baby Jean' Kennedy and Glenn 'Doc' Murdock, al...

How it Feels Watching 'A Complete Unknown'

I really liked A Complete Unknown. I just couldn’t resist that subhead.

Back in 2015, I caught author Elijah Wald giving a lecture at the UNC Southern Folklife Center about his book, Dylan Goes Electric! Now, that book has been made into, as they say in the biz, “A Major Motion Picture.”

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I am not a fan of biopics. I knew what I was getting going in. I knew the filmmakers would play fast and loose with the f...

The Christmas Mixtape

Around this time of year, I usually hear a handful of joyless Debbie Downers talk about how much they “hate” Christmas music, as if Christmas music was a genre. It’s not. It’s a subject. Holiday songs come in all forms and styles. Below is a mixtape of just a handful of some of my favorites from several different genres and eras. I hope you’ll discover something you like, or rediscover an old favorite.

Here’s hoping you and yours have a peaceful and delightful holiday season, and don’t let the so...

Happy Birthday, Paul Rodgers

Yes, Paul Rodgers was the voice of Free and Bad Company, but he also fronted The Firm, The Law, and had quite a few brilliant moments as a solo artist. Unfortunately, his magnificent 1993 tribute to Muddy Waters, Muddy Water Blues, is currently out of print (but you can find it on YouTube). Curiously, The ‘Original’ Bad Company Anthology is also unavailable on streaming services. A pity, because the 1999 collection celebrated Rodgers reuniting with the original lineup for the first time since 19...

The Best of 2024

Here they are, the 30 best albums of the year. When I say “best” - it should go without saying, but still… - I mean the ones that ended up either on my stereo, in my car, in my earbuds, or on my mind more than any other. Nothing more complicated than that.

What I’ve noticed over the last few years, but what has especially come to the fore in 2024, is that the album as an art form is returning. Through the 2000s and into the 2010s, the focus turned to EPs and singles (just like the pre-Beatles er...

From the Archive: Best of 2023

Originally published elsewhere on January 24th, 2024.

Best 15 Albums:1. Jason Isbell - Weathervanes

Throughout his career, Isbell has possessed a gift for observing and detailing characters in struggle, against family members, partners, society’s expectations, their own demons. He also understands the power of specificity as well as building drama through storytelling. Read the full review here.

2. boygenius - the record

Last year was the beginning of the boygenious era, and we’re all fortunate to b...