The thing I like about traditional murder ballads is that there doesn’t have to be any motive for the murder. There’s just these two people and he takes her down to the river and he kills her and he throws … Continue reading →
The recipients of the Awards for excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research of the twenty-first annual ARSC (Association for Recorded Sound Collections) award ceremony have been announced. Recipients for works in History include Lightnin’ Hopkins: His Life and Blues, by … Continue reading →
In this interview mentioned in the last post, Nick Cave explained how his musical inclinations were forever changed when – as young boy in a small town in Australia – he started watching the Johnny Cash Show. The first episode of the show … Continue reading →
This week, I’ll explore the dialogue between Johnny Cash and Nick Cave, two great modern murder balladeers who wrestled with themes of redemption and retribution as they explored crime, death, love, isolation, religion and the myths and musical roots of … Continue reading →
The D.K. Wilgus article I mentioned in my first post this week divides the American versions of what it refers to as the “Rose Connoley” ballad into two forms. The first is what Wilgus calls the “Come-all-ye” form, which normally … Continue reading →
“Death Gospel and the Heart of Saturday Night” The above-linked short essay on Adam Arcuragi and “Death Gospel” music came out today in “Sightings,” an on-line journal of the University of Chicago Divinity School’s Martin Marty Center for the Advanced … Continue reading →
Holly Hunter and Nicholas Cage in “Raising Arizona” Watching this pitch-perfect clip from Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Raising Arizona,” reminded me of Pat’s introduction to “Two Sisters” , where he mentions that he first heard Clannad’s version … Continue reading →
The thirty eighth annual SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) award winners were announced. Those honored include Joe Mullins for Bluegrass DJ of the Year; Leigh and Eric Gibson for Bluegrass Song Writer of the Year … Continue reading →
[Notes: Thanks to Pat for the title. I’m going to add some songs in here that are not murder ballads, but they fire some of the same synapses, and their relevance to the story I tell below should … Continue reading →
“Down in the Willow Garden” brings us a tune with slightly different roots, and an interesting story about branches. It’s the first ballad we’ve taken up with distinctively Irish origins. For our first post this week, we’ll introduce the ballad … Continue reading →
