Features

THE BACK DOOR FRONTMAN
by Tom Graves
Here is D. L. Menard, the musician who wrote the Cajun National Anthem.

BANJO
by Steve Martin
I wanted everyone in listening distance to understand that this was something very special, indeed.

STILL SMOKING
by John Lewis
One of rock & roll's founding fathers, Ike Turner, declines a quiet exit.

GONE TO JAZZ FEST
by Tom Piazza
New Orleans is filled with people who came for jazz fest and never left. 

NO HIDING PLACE
by Dave Marsh and Daniel Wolff
Dorothy Love Coates is the greatest singer you've never heard.

SWEET SONGS NEVER LAST TOO LONG
by William Gay
Navigating the darker currents in the music of John Prine.

Columns & Departments

PERSPECTIVE

Transcending Sight
by Randall Curb

FAMILY LIFE

A Long Gone Daddy
by Connie May Fowler

Married to the King
by Carol Henderson

ARGUMENT

Crescent City Rising
by Stanley Crouch

Mozarts of the Sahara
by Phillip Ratliff

SCRAPBOOK

The Greatest Garage Band Ever
by Diane Roberts

Aerosmith in My Garage
by Wendy Brenner

They Were Our Heroes
by Willie Morris 

DEPARTURES

The Queen of Blond Soul
by Jerry Wexler

Fishing with Charlie
by Larry Brown

Our Poet of Loss
by Douglas Brinkley

SOUTHERN GALLERY

June Carter Cash
by Holly George-Warren

Bobby Bland's Influential Voice
by Les Black

Nina Simone
by Kristine McKenna

Bill Wyman
The OA Interview

So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star?
Interview with Jason Morphew

SPOTLIGHT

Hold On! He's Comin'!
by Ron Carlson

Hot on the Heels of His Own Genius
by Alan Jacobs

Tell Your Mama, Tell Your Papa
by Scott Billington

Rough-Cut Diamond
by Jay Orr

West Coast Fiddler
by Grant Alden

Bob Dylan's Mississippi
by Andria Lisle

The Contrarian
by Bill Friskics-Warren

From Disney to Daemon
by Karen A. Mann

Doing It Right
by John Leventhal

It Ain't Over Till the Fat One Sings
by John Jeremiah Sullivan

SHORT STORY

Leadbelly in Paris
by Madison Smartt Bell

MYSTERY

Who Was Geechie Wiley
by Greil Marcus

Where the Blues Was Born
by Tom Freeland

POETRY

The Donated Organ
by Michael Chitwood

Blackface
by Anthony Walton

HISTORY

Introduction to Another World
by Robert Gordon

COMICS

Hunting for Old Records: A True Story
by R. Crumb

PRIVATE LESSONS

Flatpicking with a Gentleman
by Craig Havighurst

RECORD LABEL

In the Company of Soul
by John Morthland

CUISINE

Barbeque Swinger
by John T. Edge

BOOK REVIEW

The End of Elvis
by John Shelton Reed

MUSIC REVIEW

Rescued from Oblivion
by David Gates

INSTRUMENTAL

Devil's Box
by Philip Stevens

Dealer's Choice
DOC WATSON'S GIFTS
by Hal Crowther

Gone Off Up North
THE BLUES AND THE GRAY
by Roy Blount Jr.

 On the cover: Collage by A. Newt Rayburn