Ranchers 4 Peace Mark Trayvon Martin Anniversary, Ready 2nd EP

RANCHERS 4 PEACE, the father-daughter duo of Charles and Ray Duncan, marks the anniversary of the Trayvon Martin shooting and continues work on its new EP. Free download for Deep Roots readers.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Sail On, Friend, Sail On

PHILIP CHEVRON, guitarist-songwriter for THE POGUES, lost his battle with cancer on Oct. 8. Herewith a friend reflects on the remarkable heart that made this Irish bard someone special indeed.
by David McGee
 

 

 

How To Have Fun With a Serious Song (Field Notes from a Music Biz Life, Part 3)

In this installment of his autobiography, MICHAEL SIGMAN recounts some amusing incidents following in the wake of his father CARL SIGMAN's now-classic hit song 'EBB TIDE.' JERRY COLONNA makes an appearance.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Video Moment for the Ages

From BURT BACHARACH's 1972 TV special, ANTHONY NEWLEY and SAMMY DAVIS JR. in once-in-a-lifetime golden moment, assaying classic selections from the Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse songbook.
by David McGee
 

 

 

‘It’s Like Someone’s Speaking Through Me’

Jamaican singer-songwriter BRUSHY ONE-STRING (so named because he plays a one-string guitar) evokes the likes of Percy Sledge and Louis Armstrong on his first studio album, DESTINY. 'It's like someone's speaking through me,' he...
by David McGee
 

 
 

At Thanksgiving, ‘Signs of the Times’

'Signs of the Times'--Paul Laurence Dunbar's dialect poem in honor of Thanksgiving, originally published in his 1897 book of verse, Lyrics of a Lowly Life.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Andrew Oldham: Stone Free At Last

ANDREW OLDHAM, the svelte, shadowy figure who guided the Rolling Stones from London's blues clubs to international infamy, has published the third volume of his memoirs, STONE FREE. MICHAEL SIGMAN tracks him down.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Beatles ’64: Surmounting Media Skeptics, Fab Four Carve Out a Career

THE BEATLES were greeted by a skeptical, sometimes dismissive mainstream media as Beatlemania broke out abroad. On Feb. 9, 1964, the Fab Four dismissed the naysayers. Plus: The Beat Alls on The PowerPuff Girls.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Reality Check

On April 5, 1968, the day after MARTIN LUTHER KING's assassination, ROBERT F. KENNEDY addressed 'The Mindless Menace of Violence' in a speech in Cleveland that resonates ever louder in 2015, after Charleston.
by David McGee
 

 
 

The Deep Roots Elite Half-Hundred of 2017 (Part 1)

The Best of the Rest: The Elite Half-Hundred of 2017 honors 50 outstanding albums of the year newly completed. Part 1 includes gospel, classical, bluegrass, blues, world music and unadulterated rock 'n' roll (thank you, Chuck B...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Gutless Vandals Desecrate Tommy Johnson’s Grave; Eddie C. Campbell Benefit Set

Gutless vandals desecrate Delta blues giant TOMMY JOHNSON's grave; benefit set for Chicago blues guitar great EDDIE C. CAMPBELL, who suffered a heart attack and stroke while on tour.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Video Moment of the Week

TRAVIS TRITT and his impressive 15-year-old daughter TYLER REESE are terrific on a remake of the 1992 rock smash 'Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough'
by David McGee