I watched a couple clips of American Idol the other night. Miraculously, I've made it through 33 years without so much as seeing a snippet of the iconic show. I knew of it, of course—it was hard to avoid American Idol, especially in its heyday, when America still legitimately seemed to watch the same TV … Continue reading On when we stopped thinking of musical interpretation as art
Tag: songwriting
On songwriters knowing their songs
It should be no surprise that songwriters have a good ear for songs. But it never fails to surprise me how tribute albums to celebrated songwriters—like the recently released one for Nanci Griffith—are not merely a collection of greatest hits covers. Some of the songs on this album are classics—including one of my favorites, “Love … Continue reading On songwriters knowing their songs
On Nanci Griffiths’s “Love at the Five and Dime”
There’s a new cover version of “Love at the Five and Dime” out there—a lovely duet recorded by the late John Prine and Kelsey Waldon. The track is a single off an upcoming tribute album to Griffiths, assembled slowly over the past few years by Emmylou Harris, following the death of Griffiths in 2021. I … Continue reading On Nanci Griffiths’s “Love at the Five and Dime”
On Jason Isbell’s “Cast Iron Skillet”
As my friend and fellow Isbell fan Dan put it: This may be the best song Jason Isbell has written in a while. "Cast Iron Skillet" is a marvel of songwriting—partly because it offers an update on the template of "Outfit," one of Isbell's most famous songs. That song, written in the voice of Isbell's … Continue reading On Jason Isbell’s “Cast Iron Skillet”
Taylor Coe 