Juli Thanki is a graduate student studying trauma and memory in the postbellum South. She tries to live her life by the adage “What Would Dolly Parton Do?” but has yet to build an eponymous theme park, undergo obscene amounts of plastic surgery, or duet with Porter Wagoner (that last one might prove a little difficult, but nevertheless she perseveres).
When not writing for PopMatters, Juli can generally be found playing the banjo incompetently, consuming copious amounts of coffee, and tanning in the blue glow of her laptop.
Features
Thursday, July 1 2010
The Carolina Chocolate Drops Shine a Light on Country Music's Neglected Roots
"We listen to a lot of traditional music but we can only use it as it's relevant to us," Robinson says. Instead, the goal is to keep the "bare bones" of the original song and then incorporate their own varied influences.
Friday, December 19 2008
The Best Bluegrass of 2008
The year's best bluegrass music is chock full of harmonies that recall classic dueting brothers, tight-knit family pickin', and even bluegrass for people who don't like bluegrass.
Thursday, December 18 2008
The Best Country Music of 2008
The year's best country music may be topped by archival releases from deceased artists, but the living managed to offer a strong alternative to the Nashvegas machine.
Columns
Wednesday, December 9 2009
The Music That Matters: Ralph Rinzler and Bill Monroe, Part Two
During the height of his career, Bill Monroe fielded a baseball team that would organize pickup games in each town in order to drum up publicity for that evening's concert.
Wednesday, November 4 2009
The Music That Matters Part One: Bill Monroe and Ralph Rinzler
In the late '30s and '40s, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys were the biggest stars in country music, but when he appeared onstage at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, he did so after a number of years spent toiling in relative obscurity.
Wednesday, October 7 2009
Rosanne Cash on Johnny Cash's List
Johnny Cash was a serious scholar of music, and this knowledge was reflected in his own work, which included covers of everyone and everything from Jimmie Rodgers to Nine Inch Nails, oldtime hymns to reggae.
Tuesday, September 8 2009
Louisiana Woman, Texas Troubadour
Need more duets in your life? Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb are among country music's best partnerships.
Wednesday, August 19 2009
Hockey Skatin’ Singing Cowgirls
Country music ain’t the sole purview of the southern part of the northern hemisphere: Canada has its share of fireside soul(ful) singers, too.
Reviews
Thursday, December 10 2009
Adam Steffey: One More for the Road
If this isn't the best bluegrass record of the year, it's because Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Chubby Wise have returned and formed the Undead Mountain Boys.
Friday, August 14 2009
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver: Lonely Street
Doyle Lawson is no spring chicken, but he delivers traditional bluegrass music with the energy of a man half his age.
Wednesday, August 5 2009
King Wilkie: King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers
Imagine the Royal Tenenbaums as portrayed in a concept Americana album, only without Ben Stiller and Gwyneth Paltrow (trust us, it's better this way).
Monday, August 3 2009
Tift Merritt: Buckingham Solo
Alt-country songbird flies solo on an excellent live album.
Wednesday, June 24 2009
Slaid Cleaves: Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
This is the album of Slaid Cleaves's career. It's also the best alt-country album of 2009 thus far.
