I once followed Metallica through a coliseum's fluorescent underground maze to a pitch-black stage.... more

Though they were the books of the summer, Jonathan Franzen's Freedom and Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad share the dying-light c... more

Those anticipating a prim evening of courtly amusements at the opening night of BAM's inaugural Opera Festival had their powdered wigs blown back. ... more

Though it produced a body of work kaleidoscopic in its variety and intersecting interests, the search for answers to deceptively simple questions drove more

Spend any summertime in the lowland South and it won’t be long until some Cracker Barrel Confucius allows as how it ain’t the heat, it’s the humidity, yessir, it surely is.... more

Spiritual, haunted, rollicking and fiercely independent: Nathan Salsburg and a group of like-minded artists pay tribute to a singular voice from the Blue Ridge, E.C. Ball.

In 1936, a 21-year-old Alan Lomax, on his first solo ethnographic expedition, discovered a nation redefining its identity. He struggled with personal and technical challenges, but returned with 1,500 recordings and film — now available for the first time from Harte Recordings, the Lomax archive, and the Library of Congress.

Lonely woods and lost loves, deadly encounters and a waiting noose… the dark history of the murder ballad. Exclusive video interview and three original performances from country-music hero Charlie Louvin, and a murder ballad playlist. Two of Charlie's recordings were recently nominated for Grammy Awards.