“COWBOY CARTER.” I don’t really like modern country music, at least the mainstream country that gets radio airplay and genre awards. Even beyond my issues with its exclusionary practices and politics, nearly all of it feels derivative. It’s been so insular for so long it’s gone full Habsburg. So…

Willie Nelson performs at the 2016 Bridge School Benefit show on Sept. 22 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif. Paige K. Parsons. Iconic songwriters and artists Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will share the stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre on. Aug. 3 when their Outlaw Music Festival Tour hits…

Willie Nelson, “Bluegrass.” It’s been said the mark of a good popular song is one that can be performed with only an acoustic guitar and a voice and still resonate. Bluegrass Willie Nelson Legacy Recordings, Sept. 15 8/10 Get the album on Amazon Music. A similar theory posits that…

Lukas Nelson & POTR, “Sticks and Stones.” Lukas Nelson seems like a fun guy. Even if his musical wanderings aren’t the easiest to nail down. Sticks and Stones Lukas Nelson & POTR 6ACE Records/Thirty Tigers, July 14 7/10 Get the album on Amazon Music. The country influence is obvious.…

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit perform at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on June 8, 2019. Joaquin Cabello/STAFF. A year ago I finally did a column about country music on account of going to a rodeo in the far northern reaches of the state. Well, I was at the…

George Michael performs in Rotterdam, Netherlands on April 12, 1988. He’s finally in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns. First off, I want to acknowledge that one of my favorite musicians, Gordon Lightfoot, died this week. I will be doing a tribute…

Choose your dystopia. I’ve mentioned it before, but for the past couple years I’ve waited until the last minute to write these columns because the news moves too fast. Every time I write ahead, something catastrophic happens before they run and I look like a complete jerk for ignoring…

Willie Nelson, “A Beautiful Time.” The 14 songs on A Beautiful Time, the new album from Willie Nelson, don’t appear to have been purposefully written or assembled as a goodbye or a final statement, but this new series of songs has an undeniable overall theme of rumination on the past.…

Just nine months after his tribute album to long-time friend Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, now 88 and a half years old, is back with his second album of 2021. This time around, he’s employed the talents of his children and sister, as well as his backing band since the…

Sturgill Simpson doesn’t seem one for doing things in the traditional way. He had already released three albums in the last two years—one rock and two bluegrass, despite mostly being a country musician. Then he announced that his latest album—The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, almost exactly a month…