‘I WONDER AS I WANDER’

STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS: JOHN JACOB NILES's own account of writing 'I Wonder As I Wander,' plus an online discussion of the meaning of 'on'ry' in the first verse.
by David McGee
 

 
 

The Deep Roots 2016 Yuletide Baedeker

A guide to the Christmas content published over the years in TheBluegrassSpecial.com and Deep Roots, including our 2016 Christmas album picks.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Raymond Myles and the Rocky Road to Redemption

MICHAEL SIGMAN on the late New Orleans gospel icon RAYMOND MYLES and a documentarian's attempt to finish a film about Myles's tragically short life and timeless musical legacy.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Deep Roots Albums of the Year, 2019

KEB MO' is honored with two Albums of the Year selections for 2019 and he's joined by MARTY BROWN, MARC COHN and BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, KIRK WHALUM and VINCE GILL, among others.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Gospel at Christmastime

Bob Marovich's overview of gospel music at Yuletide, from the Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers (1926) to the Edwin Hawkins Family (1985).
by David McGee
 

 
 

‘O Holy Night’

Attacked for his opposition to inequality, slavery, injustice and other kinds of oppression, French poet PLACIDE CAPPEAU insinuated his unpopular thoughts into an 1847 poem that became 'O Holy Night'
by David McGee
 

 

 

Of The Word, Dark Secrets and Inconvenient Truths

A review of gospel authority ANTHONY HEILBUT's new book of incisive, informed essays, The Fan Who Knew Too Much, which includes a lengthy examination of the gay subculture within the gospel world. Also: an interview with Mr. He...
by David McGee