For KDHX Radio, St. Louis In “Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail,” his latest solo release, Noam Pikelny has created a moving, playful collection that features so much top-flight playing it can make your head spin. Pikelny’s main gig these days is as banjo player for the Punch Brothers, a band that he co-foundedContinue reading “Noam Pikelny’s “Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail””
Author Archives: editor
Top Discs of 2011
For KDHX Radio, St. Louis Music isn’t a sport though the idea of a top 10 list can make it seem competitive. It isn’t like that, of course, but there are some recordings that are, well, better than others. The Wailin’ Jennys, “Bright Morning Stars” Good lord I love this recording, I could go onContinue reading “Top Discs of 2011”
Top 10 Banjo moments of 2011
Derided in countless jokes, often by the very people that play it, the banjo just might be poised to show us why it really is the greatest instrument ever. Or, at the very least, to make a good case as to why it isn’t the worst. Jens Kruger releases the “Appalachian Concerto,” an homage toContinue reading “Top 10 Banjo moments of 2011”
Sarah Jarosz’s “Follow Me Down”
If Sarah Jarosz is unfamiliar to you, the support she has on her second album, released just shy of her 20th birthday, will ring lots of bells: Bela Fleck, Edgar Myers, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin, Darrell Scott, Mark Shatz, Jerry Douglas, Chris Thile, Noam Pikelny, and the list of guest artists just keeps going. ByContinue reading “Sarah Jarosz’s “Follow Me Down””
Si Kahn then, Si Kahn now
Published in Penguin Eggs, Autumn, 2010. Si Kahn first learned of the power of song—perhaps like so many in the 60s—from his work in activism. In his recent book Creative Community Organizing: A guide for rabble rousers, activists, and quiet lovers of justice, he writes about his experience as a skinny, dewy kid from theContinue reading “Si Kahn then, Si Kahn now”
Glen Herbert 