Mahalia Jackson

Ten facts 'bout Minnie Pearl on her 100th birthday

For over fifty years she was an integral member of the Grand Ole Opry, and today, Minnie Pearl would have been 100 years old. In honor of the most beloved character in country music this side of Little Jimmy Dickens, here are ten essential facts you should know about the Gossip from Grinder's Switch ... More >>

Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom on Coffee Mugs, Valentines, & Jim Eno

​Heartless Bastards are gearing up for the release of their fourth album, Arrow on February 14. It just so happens that Arrow is the band's strongest record to date. It features a more versatile mix of psych, glam, classic rock, porch blues, R&B, funk and spaghetti-western. Singer/guitarist ... More >>

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Notes and photos from the field

Photos by Rick Mason​New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalMay 6-8, 2011New Orleans Fair GroundsBY RICK MASONAs the searing Louisiana sun sagged through the gathering Delta dusk west of New Orleans' Fair Grounds last Sunday, the electric atmosphere in front of the towering Gentilly Stage arced a ... More >>

Mavis Staples

Talk to Him

Oral historian Studs Terkel gets 20th-century singers to spill it

Been Down So Long, Looks Like Up To Me

Lou Barlow's broken spirit; Jean Grae's faulty turntable; an olympic hopeful fan's fall

Almost Famous

Two singing families came out of Gary, Indiana. One got lucky.

The Girls on the Bus

Fifty hours and 2,400 miles after setting off for the Million Woman March in a big maroon van, nine Minneapolis teens had learned precious little about the symbolism of the event, and volumes about themselves.