Music

It's difficult to imagine American roots music without the banjo. The instrument's distinctive twang practically personifies country and bluegrass. While the banjo, and many of the sounds that make country music what it is, originate in West Africa, scholars have debated its exact origins.Gambian ethnomusicologist Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta points to the Senegalese and Gambian ekonting (also spelled “akonting”) as a particularly likely source. On Feb. 4, Smithsonian Folkways released Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia, with liner notes by Laemou-Ahuma.The ekonting, a three-stringed gourd instrument, is played...

On Sunday night at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, hip-hop pioneer Dr. Dre was honored with an award that will newly bear his name – the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. The honor is a project of the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective, which debuted the Global Impact Award last year, simply as such. The Collective was established after the mass protests of 2020, fueled by the murder of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor by police. And for some, Dre’s moniker upon this award also fuels indignance...

Beloved bluegrass trio Nickel Creek will embark on their first headlining tour in nine years this spring.Members Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins will kick off their 2023 trek with a stop in Cincinnati's Andrew J Brady Music Center on April 15. They'll continue the tour through mid-June, stopping at theaters, clubs and music halls across the U.S., including The Fillmore in Philadelphia and The Eastern in Atlanta, before wrapping things up at Kansas City's Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.Select dates will feature opening sets from multi-talented Guatemalan...

Perpetually Late The song will appear on the band's upcoming album This is Why, out February 10 What’s the rush? ? Hayley Williams refuses to race against the clock on Paramore’s latest song, “Running Out of Time.” The band premiered the track during an album release show in Nashville ahead of their upcoming album This is Why, out Friday, Feb. 10. “This is a song about how I’m always late to everything,” Williams told the audience at the Grand Ole Opry. “It’s really not that deep unless you want to...

On Feb. 7, 1995, Shania Twain released her second album, The Woman in Me. The Canadian musician co-wrote the album with her then-husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange; the latter also produced the full-length.Although the well-crafted songwriting points to Twain's future pop success, the LP is squarely in the country realm. However, The Woman In Me has a song for every mood, as it boasts tender ballads ("The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)," "Raining on Our Love"), sentimental breakup songs (the piano-driven waltz "Leaving Is the Only Way Out"), searing...

Sore Loser No good "sorry" starts with "I would like to apologize if you took offense" After Chris Brown lost the award for Best R&B Album to critically acclaimed pianist Robert Glasper, the pop culture villain with a history of resorting to violence with women, complained on Instagram: “Y’all playing. Who da fuck is this?” A day later, Brown attempted to apologize for his reaction to his loss. On Monday, Brown shared an Instagram DM he sent to Glasper showing a half-apology to the musician.  “Congratulations my brother…I would like...

Reid Haughton grew up in a tiny town in North Alabama, playing music in his church until he left to start his life in college. Once at Auburn University, the curly-haired kid filled to the brim with talent continued playing music in the local bars until he left for Nashville.And now that the singer-songwriter has arrived in Music City, he still can't quite believe it."Somehow, I ended up here in Nashville with a publishing deal at River House," Haughton says with a sense of astonishment during an interview with The Boot. "I...

The Grammy Awards celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop Sunday night with a 14-minute performance, packed with luminaries from the genre’s past and present. More than 20 of hip-hop’s biggest artists ascended onto the Grammys stage for an exciting cross-generational medley that became one of the highlights of this year’s awards ceremony. Fans across the world, and spectators in attendance (like Jay-Z), were enthralled as they watched hip-hop’s pioneers and rising stars both get the showcase they deserved on “music’s biggest night.” Nowhere else have we had the chance to...

The 2023 Grammy Awards are taking place today (Feb. 5), and Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson and Cody Johnson are among the early winners of the evening.Carlile kicked off the night by earning the trophies for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for "Broken Horses." Nelson nudged out Zach Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini to snag the award for Best Solo Country Performance with his 2022 rendition of "Live Forever."A full list of country, Americana, folk and bluegrass-focused 2023 Grammy Awards categories, as well as other categories featuring country and Americana...

Benito's World The superstar kicked off the event by performing "El Apagon" and "Despues De La Playa" Bad Bunny already made history at this year’s Grammys with Un Verano Sin Ti, which became the first Spanish-language LP to be nominated for Album of the Year. Still, because he’s Bad Bunny, he took his impact even further by opening the 65th Annual Grammy Awards with a vibrant ode to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, putting Caribbean culture centerstage during the music industry’s venerated event. The Puerto Rican superstar started offstage,...

Sitting on the land that Brit Taylor calls home is a series of stairs that stand up against a tree that she refers to as her 'staircase to nowhere.'"It's been out there since I got the place," the Kentucky native remarks during a recent interview with The Boot. "Somebody just stuck a staircase out in the woods that has turned into my little meditation place to read a book or go out to pray or just chill."Mere steps from that mysterious stairway sits Taylor's home, which she has lived in for...

When Ohio-born rapper Trippie Redd first burst onto the scene in 2017, Donald J. Trump was about to start his first presidential term, Juice Wrld and XXXTentacion were alive, and SoundCloud rap was the new transgressive genre making waves. Back then, Redd contributed to the urgent-sounding genre with his first commercial mixtape, A Love Letter to You. A Love Letter to You was Soundcloud rap, but it also strategized Redd’s rapping ability, first and foremost; songs would be showcases. “Can You Rap Like This?” is a boom bap song, reminding...

CMA and ACM-winning country star Carly Pearce has announced a brand new live album, Written in Stone (Live From Music City). The 19-track record will arrive on March 24.Produced by Pearce and David Clauss, the LP was recorded during an April 2022 concert Pearce held at Marathon Music Works in Nashville. The special night also featured special guests Lee Brice (“I Hope You’re Happy Now”), the Isaacs (“Easy Going”), Matthew West (“Truth Be Told”), Jenee Fleenor (“29”) and Ashley McBryde (“Never Wanted to Be That Girl”) — all of whom...