Mood Music
At Largehearted Boy, essayist, literary experimentalist, and scholar Mary Capello shares an annotated playlist for her new essay collection, Life Breaks In (University of Chicago Press). She describes mood as…
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Music
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Swinging Modern Sounds #76: American Songbag
In the broadest sense, I think of this work as being about the stuff of life: excitement, love, disappointment, pride, nature, cities, war, loneliness, work, class distinction, communication.
These Small Little Containers
I think that poets and songwriters have a lot in common because a songwriter really has to be a poet first. That’s how we live our lives. It’s the same…
The Rumpus Interview with Lee Clay Johnson
Lee Clay Johnson discusses his novel Nitro Mountain, growing up with bluegrass musician parents, and what people are capable of under the right set of circumstances.
America Again
I felt urgently that it was the moment to tell the story of what I’ve learned about American music—or maybe about being an American.
This Land Is Their Land
In Brooklyn Magazine’s “The Musical Map of the United States,” writers create a soundtrack of place association. The 50+ essays on songs and their states are sweet and sad and…
The Book Lady Is Back
Dolly Parton, pop culture’s resident “Book Lady,” has written a children’s book based off of one of her hits, “Coat of Many Colors.” The book is to be released on…
Wanted/Needed/Loved: Lucy Dacus’s Journals
What I write in my journals is a personal record of the events in my life, and my reactions to them.
Words & Music
If you were to hear a story with its own soundtrack, it’s going to affect how you feel and interact with that story, even if you’re not directly paying attention…
Swinging Modern Sounds #75: The Petra Haden Story
At every turn, Haden’s decisions, while labor-intensive and rigorous, feel fresh, passionate, funny, and new.
Albums of Our Lives: Rosanne Cash’s Black Cadillac
In her voice, I am held, cradled even. I am equal parts longing and hope. I am home.