On Monday, December 19th, poetry and roots music from the edge of Appalachia will be taking to the airwaves and cyberspace when Kelsey and I appear on Knoxville WDVX's Blue Plate Special program along with Tennessee poet laureate Maggi Vaughn and Sweet Fancy Moses, the band that Kelsey's in. The one-hour show broadcasts live before a studio audience at noon EST from the Knoxville Visitors Center on the corner of Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive in downtown Knoxville. We're hoping a number of … [Read more...]
Don’t Forget This Song: Celebrating the Carter Family and Other Roots Musicians
November 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
You may forget the singer, but don’t forget the song, the Carter Family bade listeners of one particularly mournful tune they recorded more than eighty years ago. The writer of those lyrics needn’t have worried. Today the songs of America’s roots music are not only remembered but thriving – in forms that both recreate the authentic sound and remake it in fresh ways – in the widely diverse Americana music genre. These old songs continue to spark artists of all types, yours truly … [Read more...]
A New Site
November 22, 2011 By 2 Comments
After more trials and errors, fits and starts, and re-reading of FAQs than this computer science major would like to admit, I'm excited to announce that my all-new integrated website and blog is live. It's got enough gadgets and widgets to make Tim the Tool Man Taylor of the old TV show Home Improvement grunt in approval: online ordering for my books, social media buttons, options to deliver blog posts by email or reader feed, and an email newsletter signup. Recently I was giving some thought … [Read more...]
Poetry Book Giveaway and Talk with Irene Latham, The Color of Lost Rooms
January 30, 2011 By 16 Comments
I'm not sure if it's a late new year or an early Valentine's here on my blog, but I’m excited to be celebrating any day with a poetry book giveaway. The book is THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS, a new collection from Irene Latham. I’m a big fan of Irene’s first full-length poetry collection, WHAT CAME BEFORE, which was named Alabama State Poetry Society's Book of the Year and earned a 2008 Independent Publisher's (IPPY) Award. More recently, she’s been attracting a lot of attention with her debut … [Read more...]
My Favorite Things of 2010
December 13, 2010 By 5 Comments
For reasons I won't go into, 2010 has not been my favorite year. But, inspired by the year-end list posted by fellow Tennessee writer Susan Cushman on her Pen and Palette blog, I've realized there have been plenty of things I've enjoyed, especially in the area of books and music. So here are my personal favorites of 2010, which I share in hopes that you might find something here that will inspire you. Happy reading, happy listening, happy following your muse. POETRY Favorite new poetry … [Read more...]
