Tom Ewing presents fans of bluegrass music with an in-depth and long-awaited biography on the Blue Grass Man himself, Bill Monroe. Called “insightful” by The Wall Street Journal, Bill Monroe: The […]
Category: biography
A Q&A with Walter Aaron Clark, author of “Los Romeros: Royal Family of the Spanish Guitar”
Walter Aaron Clark is Distinguished Professor of Musicology and the founder/director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Music at the University of California, Riverside. His books include Isaac Albéniz: Portrait […]
Q&A with Himanee Gupta-Carlson, author of “Muncie, India(na): Middletown and Asian America”
Himanee Gupta-Carlson is an associate professor at SUNY Empire State College. She recently answered some questions about her new book, Muncie, India(na): Middletown and Asian America. Q. Muncie, Indiana is […]
Q&A with Naomi André, author of “Black Opera: History, Power, and Engagement”
Naomi André is an associate professor in the departments of African and Afroamerican Studies and Women’s Studies and the associate director in the Residential College at the University of Michigan. She […]
In search of Lincoln’s hand
The Railsplitter always remains newsworthy. Perhaps you remember the recent Lincoln-related crime wave in Kankakee, Illinois, where a thief or thieves took a plaster sculpture of Abraham Lincoln’ hand. Let’s go […]
In praise of suckers and P. T. Barnum
We are now three years and one day removed from this unforgettable event: Diaper-Wearing Service Kangaroo Kicked Out of Wisconsin McDonald’s You know who else liked kangaroos? P.T. Barnum. You […]
Happy Birthday Steven Soderbergh
Born on January 14, 1963, in Atlanta, Steven Soderbergh found filmmaking in his teens. His Hollywood apprenticeship included work as a cue card holder and a director of concert films. In […]
Curly Seckler RIP
During the holiday break, we received the sad news that bluegrass pioneer Curly Seckler had passed away at the age of 98. “The greatest tenor singer of all time,” said Marty […]
Happy Birthday Frank Sinatra
One hundred-and-one years ago, Francis Albert Sinatra entered the world in Hoboken, New Jersey. He proceeded to live one of the more completely lived lives this side of Casanova. Though foiled […]
Who Was Jesse W. Weik?
Seven-year-old Jesse W. Weik was in the crowd when Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train passed through Indianapolis on its way to Springfield. Weik’s father, an immigrant baker and grocer, lifted his […]
The King and Us
This week marks the anniversary of the death (?) of Elvis Presley, a transformative cultural figure of the twentieth or any other century. If you have memories of that afternoon in 1977, […]
Backlist Bop: Soviet conspiracy unveiled!
Comrades, The Press has asked me, The Bolshevik, to pause from my advice column to fill in with the popular Backlist Bop feature. And good timing it is, for today […]