Author: Jack Austin

On ‘Making Moves,’ Danni Nicholls turns a stretch of self-doubt, relocation, and upheaval into songs about rebuilding trust in her voice, her writing, and herself.

“We Got Our Own Book. We Got Our Own Tree.” The Hill Country guitarist discusses musical inheritance, the stories that forged him, and why no tradition survives by standing still.

The Tennessee guitarist spent years bouncing between bar gigs, legal setbacks and second chances. Now he’s telling the story on ’15 Seconds of Fame.’

R.L. Burnside’s grandson reflects on heritage, migration, and carrying Hill Country blues forward.

A son’s campaign to restore the name—and the meaning—of his father’s music

“It’s the most honest music we have,” Jesse Cotton Stone says of the blues. Survival, lineage, and a cross-traditional musical vocabulary inform his work.

Lightnin’ Malcolm on juke joints, Hill Country blues, and a career built from the road up.

Left-handed and fiercely dedicated, Paul Kaye turned early obstacles into a lifetime pursuit of the ‘big sound,’ making one guitar carry rhythm, bass, and melody all at once.

Growing up, Stud Ford was no stranger to gritty blues clubs with dim lighting, smoke filling the room, and loud music in the air. As a child, Stud would sleep on the floor of blues clubs like Red’s Lounge in Clarksdale, Mississippi, as his grandfather, the Hill Country legend T-Model Ford, played from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. T Model Ford, born James Lewis Carter Ford, was the primary parental influence in Stud’s life and began teaching him music when he was about six years old. Stud said the two were very close, and that his grandfather was the “only…

Crate digging, Mississippi masters, and Chicago rhythm — Carter’s blues reflects a singular journey.