No Mercy at All – “The Cyclone of Rye Cove”

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    Introduction Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, “I’m going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that’s tough. I am going to snow anyway.”    – Maya Angelou, from Conversations with Maya Angelou It’s … Continue reading →

Jon Langford interview, Part Three

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Lofty Deeds, Jon Langford This is the final installment of our interview with Chicago musician and artist Jon Langford. After recording three albums of murder ballads, he seemed like the ideal candidate for a Murder Ballad Monday sit-down. You can … Continue reading →

Jon Langford interview, Part Two

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Jon Langford (Photo by Barry Phipps, courtesy the artist and Bloodshot Records) Today we continue our conversation with transplanted Chicagoan and jack-of-all-trades (music, art, comic interludes, storytelling) Jon Langford. You can read Part One here; Part Three appears Friday. Today … Continue reading →

Musician Jon Langford on the appeal of the murder ballad

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Without A Doubt, Jon Langford (2007) Introduction When I was just a baby, my Mama told me, “Son Always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns,” But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. … Continue reading →

The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle

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“David ‘Stringbean’ Akeman” (image from Dirk aka Dave Kelly, via myspace) Murder in Music City Although the story behind this week’s song, “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle,” is forty years old, it’s in the minority of songs among our … Continue reading →

Sweet Annie Was Loved Both Far and Near…

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Introduction Our first post this week dealt with the lyrics and the provenance, as well as we can know it, of the ballad “Willie Moore.”  If you’re looking for information and discussion along those lines, I encourage you to click … Continue reading →