Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

In some way, Kathy Mattea has always been trying to get back home. Her songs have tracked restless journeys of yearning (“Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”) as well as lives buffeted by the storms of life (“Walk the Way the Wind Blows”) and tossed on the rough waters of loss and love (“Where’ve You [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Kathy Mattea — Calling Me Home"

Thomas Wolfe was wrong: you can go home again. At least if you’re West Virginian Kathy Mattea, who returned to the folk music of the Appalachians in 2008 with the release of critically-acclaimed roots album, Coal. New record Calling Me Home (out tomorrow on Sugar Hill Records) finds Mattea singing the music of her home state once more. [...]

Continue reading "“It’s About a Great Song”: Kathy Mattea and the Music of the Mountains"

With her 2010 debut, The Way I Remember It, Teea Goans quickly established herself as heir to country music royalty. On that album of covers of classic country songs, Goans demonstrated a canny ability to select the tunes that showed off her incredible vocal range, recalling Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, and Suzy Boggus, among others. [...]

Continue reading "Album Review: Teea Goans — That’s Just Me"

A legion of country music legends and industry professionals expressed their admiration for Country Music Hall of Famer Kitty Wells after her death this week at the age of 92. Rightly heralded as Queen of Country Music, she was a ground-breaking force who challenging authority even as she maintained a traditionally feminine image. No less [...]

Continue reading "Kitty Wells’ Legacy and the Future of Women on Country Radio"

Born down in the low-country near the Mississippi River, country singer Jason Eady grew up on the soulful musical combination of gospel, soul, and blues. He headed to Nashville where a signed and failed record contract left him somewhat disillusioned with the direction country music was going. A move to Texas, with its unique and [...]

Continue reading "Jason Eady Seeks AM Country Heaven"

Dwight Yoakam will celebrate his 54th birthday on Saturday. You could celebrate by squeezing into the tightest jeans in your closet, watching some of the movies in which he’s appeared, or chowing down on some frozen foods from Bakersfield Biscuits (not advised if you actually want to fit into those jeans). Me, I’m going to [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: Dwight Duets"

Happy June, everybody. Summer’s in the air and it seems like everywhere you look, flowers are blooming uncontrollably. As it turns out, June’s birth flower is the rose. Thus, that’s the theme for this month’s playlist. There are literally hundreds of songs that fit this topic (more if you count songs about women named Rose, [...]

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When was the last time the excellent Patty Loveless was heard with any regularity on commercial country radio? In 2003, her cover of “Lovin’ All Night” cracked the Top 20, and three years before that, “The Last Thing on My Mind” did the same. Now, she’s hoping to find her way onto mainstream radio once [...]

Continue reading "Patty Loveless – “Drive”"

Tomorrow would have been Boudleaux Bryant’s 90th birthday. There are few songwriters who’ve been as important to music as Bryant. He and wife Felice are responsible for “Wake Up, Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Brand New Heartache,” “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma,” and quite a few other classics. Below are some of my favorite renditions [...]

Continue reading "Friday Five: The Songs of Boudleaux Bryant"

Where will you be Tuesday morning? Probably picking up a copy of Mountain Soul II, one of the year’s most anticipated releases. I was the lucky 9513er who got to spend a few minutes this afternoon chatting with Patty Loveless about the album, songwriting, and fishing. JULI THANKI: It’s been eight years since Mountain Soul [...]

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