95 North. . . The Newspaper

Jason Isbell certainly has a penchant for writing detailed, heartbreaking country-tinged folk tunes. For perhaps his saddest, look no further than "Elephant" off of his excellent 2013 album Southeastern . Although this is a song specifically about cancer, like the best written songs, it is about so much more: denial, substance abuse, communication, and the valuing of human connections in the midst of suffering. Vivid details color the track: sitting on a bar stool, doctors notes, country songs. You can picture the relationship between the two in the song- not talking about the cancer- drinking in bars- both their minds covered over with the gloss of sickness, drinking, and unsaid words. Pair it with Isbell's sweet n' sad southern drawl and minor chord guitar patterns, and out comes this tear jerking classic from a master songwriter.

If you're human like me, you sometimes get angry: angry listening to morning radio, and how the advertisements are so loud and obnoxious (but you still want to hear Bob Maxton's weather forecast anyway on WTIC 1080 ), angry when reading political news, and angry when the car behind you kindly tailgates ya' all the way to work. Sometimes, I think about sacrificing the '04 Camry just to make a point. Heck, the other morning all it would've taken was a light tap on the break. Of course, the better angels of our nature often show up when we need them. For some, these angles come knockin' when we need them most. As long as we keep them fed. Here are some songs that can help us all along the way: Jason Isbell: "Something to Love" Neil Young: "Good to See You" Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Willie Nelson: "Amazing Grace" Nina Simone: "Feeling Good" Lo...

November: skies darken, snow might make an appearance, the leaves have fallen, and winter comes callin'.If you happen to visit New York City this month or the next, you'll see all the lights, all the action, the big grey buildings, the cold grey sea and the statue of liberty. There is a palpable sense of possibility as you poke your head out of the underground train at Grand Central from sleepy Connecticut- the world is ready for you. You've got to hustle to take part it in it. To see what it has to offer. If anything, the song "New York Morning" is about this feeling. Importantly, "New York Morning" is a song in disguise. It was originally penned by the relatively unknown songwriter Peter Illeyni. In its present form below, it is featured as the standout track on Lang Lang's 2011 album New York Rhapsody . Lang is a composer, classically trained musician, and pianist. Here, he brings these skills to the masses, uplifting the grey building...

For the “Singer/Songwriter” portion of my musical map, I’ve selected artists that generally write and play their own music. For example, the Beatles would not be considered singer/songwriters, since they collectively made music as a band. John Prine, on the other hand, wrote his own songs and often played them solo on his acoustic guitar. Included below is a Spotify playlist with one song from each artist as well as my attempt to write a brief description of their music. I’ll do the same soon with other music genres. Without further ado, here is my map of singer/songwriters. Genres covered: folk, rock, country, blues, and indie rock. classics                               country                       singer/song                indie folk BOB DYLAN : The most prolific musical artist of all time....

It's the first weekend in November. You might be bogged down with lots of work-so why not take a load off and listen to Jason Isbell's stunning live performance of his 2015 song "Something More Than Free"? Here, Isbell is accompanied by his wife, Amanda Shires, who plays a fiddle that manages to add some beautiful atmosphere to this rock-solid folk tune. "Something More Than Free" stands as a living testament to all the workers out there in the world, longing, and thankfulness-touched with just the right amount of sadness and hope. For a beefed up, full band version of the song, listen to this cut: Here, Isbell is totally alone. I recently heard Neil Young state, in an interview, his appreciation for any artist who can deliver a song directly with just a guitar and their voice. There's just something about that simple form of communication that is transcendent: Lastly, I'd not that the phrase "something more than free" is deep...

I'd never really listened to Josh Ritter  much,   but I've seen the guy live. While he didn't make a huge impression at the time, as I was anticipating the headline act Jason Isbell's performance, it seemed like Ritter had a few good songs in his back pocket. After a few listens, it's clear that  " Girl in the War " is one of 'em. It's a steadily building tune that soars underneath a veneer of piano, xylophone, and a steadily plucked acoustic guitar. Lyrically, "Girl in the War" contains multiple Biblical references, and ultimately stresses a belief in the need for spiritual and moral flexibility when encountering those who are suffering. When there's a "girl in the war", even the religious (Peter and Paul) know that the "rules are the first to go". Ritter's hands sound tied here, but the power of the music and verse nearly bust everything loose thanks to the muscle of sheer moral determination. The soaring...

I've recently been diving into the work of Oklahoma singer/songwriter John Moreland. He's right up there with Jason Isbell as a modern day ace songwriter. I'll detail an "essential list" in a later post, but for now, check him out:

How about a band with not one, but three verified songwriting aces’s? Sounds good to me. And no, they're not the Beatles. Who are the Truckers? They hail from the music hotbed of  Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and are known to generally play alt-country, rock, folk, and blues. Their de facto leader is Patterson Hood, but the band has been strongly influenced by two other songwriters: Jason Isbell and Mike Cooley. Isbell, who is much younger than Hood and Cooley, was separated from the band sometime around 2007. You can read about Jason's best work here. Just like the Beatles, the band seems to follow the rule "if you write the song, you sing it". Despite the different songwriting voices that populate the Truckers albums, all three songwriters are deeply rooted i n, yet critical of, southern culture. In fact, they coined  “the duality of the southern thing" phrase, which spoke to the contradictions and complexity of southern culture. The band works hard, aren...