Archival producers spend their days immersed in history – cultural, political, or personal, depending on the project. Yet, historically, their specialized work has often been overlooked, even though it’s key to the Ken Burns canon and other great documentaries like Man on Wire, 13th, The Fog of War, Apollo 11, How to Survive a Plague, They Shall Not Grow Old, and so many others.
The recently formed Archival Producers Alliance is helping to address this fundamental lack of understanding of what archival producers do and how they do it. And it’s also alerting the doc community to foundational challenges posed by the rapid emergence of AI.
In the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, we speak with Debra McClutchy, a member of the APA who earned an Oscar nomination for co-directing the archive-driven short film The Martha Mitchell Effect. She discusses where archival producers find the rarities...
The recently formed Archival Producers Alliance is helping to address this fundamental lack of understanding of what archival producers do and how they do it. And it’s also alerting the doc community to foundational challenges posed by the rapid emergence of AI.
In the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, we speak with Debra McClutchy, a member of the APA who earned an Oscar nomination for co-directing the archive-driven short film The Martha Mitchell Effect. She discusses where archival producers find the rarities...
- 5/7/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s that time of year again! The annual Rooftop Films Summer Series is back, with IndieWire exclusively debuting the 2024 lineup.
This year’s Summer Series will run from May 17 through August 23, and will include over 40 events, featuring new independent feature films, short film programs, family screenings, and live performances. Programming highlights include the 20th anniversary of “Napoleon Dynamite,” the NYC premiere of “In a Violent Nature,” and an early screening of “War Game.”
Non-profit Rooftop Films annually celebrates independent films and filmmakers with one of the world’s longest running and largest outdoor festivals for indie film. The screenings take place in outdoor venues across New York City’s five boroughs, with “In a Violent Nature” set to debut on Governors Island.
“The 2024 Summer Series isn’t just a celebration of groundbreaking new cinema,” Rooftop Films’ Executive Director Adnaan Wasey said. “It’s also a catalyst for connecting communities...
This year’s Summer Series will run from May 17 through August 23, and will include over 40 events, featuring new independent feature films, short film programs, family screenings, and live performances. Programming highlights include the 20th anniversary of “Napoleon Dynamite,” the NYC premiere of “In a Violent Nature,” and an early screening of “War Game.”
Non-profit Rooftop Films annually celebrates independent films and filmmakers with one of the world’s longest running and largest outdoor festivals for indie film. The screenings take place in outdoor venues across New York City’s five boroughs, with “In a Violent Nature” set to debut on Governors Island.
“The 2024 Summer Series isn’t just a celebration of groundbreaking new cinema,” Rooftop Films’ Executive Director Adnaan Wasey said. “It’s also a catalyst for connecting communities...
- 5/7/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Throughout the early 2000s, the rock ‘n’ roll film festival “Don’t Knock the Rock” was one of the highlights of any L.A.-based cinephile’s year, an impeccably assembled program of movies, live performances, and panels celebrating the intersection between rock ‘n’ roll and cinema. Created by writer-director Allison Anders and music supervisor Tiffany Anders, “Don’t Knock the Rock” was beloved for its determination to showcase difficult-to-see music documentaries and for the breadth and depth of its programming.
The festival last graced L.A. screens in 2016, but now it’s returning to Hollywood via the American Cinematheque with a line-up that’s one of the best ever. From May 23-27, “Don’t Knock the Rock” will screen an eclectic mix of documentaries, music-themed narrative films, and essential retrospective programs at the Cinematheque’s Los Feliz venue, with an added virtual component that will stream from May 23-July 31. Among the...
The festival last graced L.A. screens in 2016, but now it’s returning to Hollywood via the American Cinematheque with a line-up that’s one of the best ever. From May 23-27, “Don’t Knock the Rock” will screen an eclectic mix of documentaries, music-themed narrative films, and essential retrospective programs at the Cinematheque’s Los Feliz venue, with an added virtual component that will stream from May 23-July 31. Among the...
- 4/24/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Doja Cat shares a Teezo Touchdown-assisted B-side, and Vampire Weekend delivers some gangster guitar magic. Plus, a sweet highlight from Young Miko’s debut album, new music from Charli Xcx, Omar Apollo, and a previously unreleased Prince track.
Doja Cat feat. Teezo Touchdown, “Masc” (YouTube)
Young Miko, “Princess Peach” (YouTube)
Vampire Weekend, “Prep-School Gangster” (YouTube)
Charli Xcx, “B2b” (YouTube)
Prince, “United States of Division” (YouTube)
Omar Apollo,...
Doja Cat feat. Teezo Touchdown, “Masc” (YouTube)
Young Miko, “Princess Peach” (YouTube)
Vampire Weekend, “Prep-School Gangster” (YouTube)
Charli Xcx, “B2b” (YouTube)
Prince, “United States of Division” (YouTube)
Omar Apollo,...
- 4/5/2024
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson’s Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted isn’t the sort of “important” documentary that generally wins awards, but it’s a fine example of something even rarer: a documentary that draws its voice and aesthetic from the spirit of its subject, resulting in a tight 97 minutes that feel organic and satisfying and, as befits that subject, appealingly odd.
When it comes to Swamp Dogg, I’m not sure if there’s a middle ground between “Who?!?” and “Swamp Dogg is the Best!!!” though perhaps Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted will create an appreciative warmth in that space.
Swamp Dogg has acquired his position as a musical cult icon by virtue of an astonishing adjacency to fame that dates back to his first recorded song in 1954. In the subsequent 70 years, he’s been signed to, recorded for, and even been an executive at possibly dozens of labels.
When it comes to Swamp Dogg, I’m not sure if there’s a middle ground between “Who?!?” and “Swamp Dogg is the Best!!!” though perhaps Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted will create an appreciative warmth in that space.
Swamp Dogg has acquired his position as a musical cult icon by virtue of an astonishing adjacency to fame that dates back to his first recorded song in 1954. In the subsequent 70 years, he’s been signed to, recorded for, and even been an executive at possibly dozens of labels.
- 3/12/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Willie Nelson’s annual Luck Reunion is set to return to his Texas ranch with a lineup that includes Tyler Childers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the country legend himself.
Taking place during South by Southwest on March 14 in Spicewood, Texas, this year’s roster also includes Dawes with Lucius, Durand Jones, and John Oates, emerging artists like Madi Diaz, Victoria Bigelow, and Zella Day, Texas rock acts like Toadies and the Polyphonic Spree, and Nelson heirs like Lukas Nelson (solo) and Micah Nelson’s Particle Kid.
“As always, the...
Taking place during South by Southwest on March 14 in Spicewood, Texas, this year’s roster also includes Dawes with Lucius, Durand Jones, and John Oates, emerging artists like Madi Diaz, Victoria Bigelow, and Zella Day, Texas rock acts like Toadies and the Polyphonic Spree, and Nelson heirs like Lukas Nelson (solo) and Micah Nelson’s Particle Kid.
“As always, the...
- 2/15/2024
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Ethan Hawke and Maya Hawke are just a couple of over 20 musicians who’ve contributed to Light in the Attic & Friends, a covers compilation that’ll be released for Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event. As a preview, the father-daughter actor duo have shared their rendition of Willie Nelson’s “We Don’t Run,” featuring production from Christian Lee Hutson and mixing by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte.
Considering the delicate indie folk Maya releases on her own, it’s not too much of a surprise that Nelson’s classic outlaw country would be a staple of the Hawke household while she was growing up: “This song is off Willie’s brilliant album Spirit, which has been a mainstay in our home since it was released in 1996,” Ethan said in a statement. “Everybody needs a good anthem song. This is one of the best.”
Both Hawkes exchange verses...
Considering the delicate indie folk Maya releases on her own, it’s not too much of a surprise that Nelson’s classic outlaw country would be a staple of the Hawke household while she was growing up: “This song is off Willie’s brilliant album Spirit, which has been a mainstay in our home since it was released in 1996,” Ethan said in a statement. “Everybody needs a good anthem song. This is one of the best.”
Both Hawkes exchange verses...
- 10/3/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
Ethan and Maya Hawke have shared a cover of the Willie Nelson deep cut, “We Don’t Run,” which will appear on an upcoming compilation from the venerable reissue/archival label, Light in the Attic.
Light in the Attic & Friends — out Nov. 24 for Record Store Day Black Friday — will feature an array of artists covering various far-flung rarities Light in the Attic has released over the years. The compilation was borne out of Lita’s Cover Series, and will feature a handful of previously issued recordings, as well as nearly a dozen new ones.
Light in the Attic & Friends — out Nov. 24 for Record Store Day Black Friday — will feature an array of artists covering various far-flung rarities Light in the Attic has released over the years. The compilation was borne out of Lita’s Cover Series, and will feature a handful of previously issued recordings, as well as nearly a dozen new ones.
- 10/2/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Okemah, Oklahoma, native Evan Felker plus Jason Isbell’s “King of Oklahoma” equals an only-at-Newport moment. On Saturday, the Turnpike Troubadours leader joined Isbell and the 400 Unit onstage during their Newport Folk Festival main-stage set to sing lead on both verses of “King of Oklahoma,” a highlight of Isbell’s latest album Weathervanes.
Just before his own band, Turnpike Troubadours, closed out the festival’s largest stage, Felker jumped up to sing Isbell’s powerful tale of a man whose life slips away after getting injured on the job and...
Just before his own band, Turnpike Troubadours, closed out the festival’s largest stage, Felker jumped up to sing Isbell’s powerful tale of a man whose life slips away after getting injured on the job and...
- 7/30/2023
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
To live in Nashville is to love John Prine, so it never sat right how quarantine robbed the late singer, songwriter, and hometown hero of a proper in-person memorial when he died of Covid complications in April of 2020. Prine finally got the wake he deserved this week in Nashville with a string of celebratory concerts titled “You Got Gold,” which featured an all-star, cross-generational casts of admirers covering songs and exchanging anecdotes about the man.
On Sunday, performers and presenters remembered Prine’s generous spirit and the way he modeled...
On Sunday, performers and presenters remembered Prine’s generous spirit and the way he modeled...
- 10/12/2022
- by Charlie Zaillian
- Rollingstone.com
Margo Price gets into her own trippy headspace with the new song “Been to the Mountain,” her latest indication of what direction she’ll be taking musically with the follow-up to 2020’s That’s How Rumors Get Started.
Built around an insistent drum groove, “Been to the Mountain” combines a greasy low-end guitar-bass riff with urgent, repeated single note hits. Price takes a look at where she’s been and where she’d like to be. “I wish I was god but I’m glad that I’m not/I...
Built around an insistent drum groove, “Been to the Mountain” combines a greasy low-end guitar-bass riff with urgent, repeated single note hits. Price takes a look at where she’s been and where she’d like to be. “I wish I was god but I’m glad that I’m not/I...
- 8/25/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Four years after his late-career comeback Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, Swamp Dogg is returning next month with a brand-new collection of vocally-manipulated originals: I Need A Job…So I Can Buy More Autotune will be released Feb. 25, on Don Giovanni Records.
Swamp Dogg has remained as busy as ever in the years since his Justin Vernon-assisted Love, Loss and Auto-Tune, releasing 2020’s Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, a superb collection of country-leaning tunes that featured John Prine.
“I just didn’t want it to sound like Swamp Dogg,...
Swamp Dogg has remained as busy as ever in the years since his Justin Vernon-assisted Love, Loss and Auto-Tune, releasing 2020’s Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, a superb collection of country-leaning tunes that featured John Prine.
“I just didn’t want it to sound like Swamp Dogg,...
- 1/6/2022
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Waxahatchee has contributed a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Talking Dust Bowl Blues” for the upcoming album Home In This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads, a reimagined version of the legendary folk musician’s 1940 collection Dust Bowl Blues.
Katie Crutchfield channels Guthrie’s talk-singing voice throughout the song, as she recounts the daily hardships of living through the Dust Bowl: “Way up yonder on a mountain road/I had a hot motor and a heavy load/I’s a-goin’ pretty fast, there wasn’t even stoppin’/A-bouncin’ up and down,...
Katie Crutchfield channels Guthrie’s talk-singing voice throughout the song, as she recounts the daily hardships of living through the Dust Bowl: “Way up yonder on a mountain road/I had a hot motor and a heavy load/I’s a-goin’ pretty fast, there wasn’t even stoppin’/A-bouncin’ up and down,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Drought, unemployment, unstable weather, ruined crops, decimated farmers: In retrospect, the devastating Dust Bowl of the Thirties sounds like a precursor to America in the Covid-19 era. Aptly, the album that chronicled those hard years in the Southern Plains in real-time is making a comeback of its own.
Just in time for another national crisis comes Home in This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dustbowl Ballads, a track-by-track remake of Guthrie’s album Dust Bowl Ballads. Likely one of the first concept albums in music history, Guthrie’s 1940 album was inspired...
Just in time for another national crisis comes Home in This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dustbowl Ballads, a track-by-track remake of Guthrie’s album Dust Bowl Ballads. Likely one of the first concept albums in music history, Guthrie’s 1940 album was inspired...
- 7/28/2021
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Almost a full year after dropping Sorry You Couldn’t Make It — his debut country album featuring contributions from John Prine and Jenny Lewis — cult singer-songwriter Swamp Dogg has released Sorry You Couldn’t Make It Demos, a brand-new six-song E.P. that gathers together previously unheard raw recordings that inspired the album.
The recordings that comprise Swamp Dogg’s latest EP date back to the Seventies and Eighties, showing just how long the songwriter had been contemplating a country-roots-leaning project.
“After I spent a whole day pulling potential songs...
The recordings that comprise Swamp Dogg’s latest EP date back to the Seventies and Eighties, showing just how long the songwriter had been contemplating a country-roots-leaning project.
“After I spent a whole day pulling potential songs...
- 2/2/2021
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Both Margo Price and Swamp Dogg have been covering John Prine’s songs for years. So it was a natural fit when the duo teamed up for a virtually-recorded duet of “Sam Stone,” Prine’s signature 1970 tale of a Vietnam veteran who gets addicted to heroin.
Swamp Dogg, whose real name is Jerry Williams, first released his stunning R&b cover of the song in 1972, and in recent years had performed the song with Prine in concert. He and Price performed their collaborative cover during eTown Radio’s Quarantine Sessions,...
Swamp Dogg, whose real name is Jerry Williams, first released his stunning R&b cover of the song in 1972, and in recent years had performed the song with Prine in concert. He and Price performed their collaborative cover during eTown Radio’s Quarantine Sessions,...
- 2/1/2021
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Listening to new music is part of everyone’s daily life at Rolling Stone, from the writers and editors in the music department to photographers, designers, researchers, copy editors, and more. That might have been truer than ever in 2020, a year when music became an essential source of comfort and distraction when we needed it most. The choices on these personal Top 10s range from the biggest albums of the year — Taylor Swift’s Folklore was playing in many a living room, as were Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure?...
- 12/21/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein, Emily Blake, Jon Blistein, David Browne, Rick Carp , Tim Chan, Jon Dolan, Patrick Doyle, Brenna Ehrlich, Andrew Firriolo, Jon Freeman, Dewayne Gage, Kory Grow, Christian Hoard, Joseph Hudak, Jeff Ihaza, Daniel Kreps, Sacha Lecca, Angie Martoccio, Ethan Millman, Steven Pearl, Jerry Portwood, Kyle Rice, Claire Shaffer, Rob Sheffield, Hank Shteamer, Brittany Spanos, Simon Vozick-Levinson and Amy X. Wang
- Rollingstone.com
So, How Was Your 2020? is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
Margo Price shook things up with her third album That’s How Rumors Get Started, leaving her previous label Third Man and enlisting fellow rulebreaker Sturgill Simpson to produce the project. The result was a more rock-influenced project that was primed for extended jams onstage, but of course 2020 had other plans.
“It felt like the...
Margo Price shook things up with her third album That’s How Rumors Get Started, leaving her previous label Third Man and enlisting fellow rulebreaker Sturgill Simpson to produce the project. The result was a more rock-influenced project that was primed for extended jams onstage, but of course 2020 had other plans.
“It felt like the...
- 12/11/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
For “High Fidelity,” there are a handful of component parts that, for lack of a better phrase, just have to work. A balancing act of romance, music, and city life, this year’s Hulu adaptation of the beloved Nick Hornby novel is such a soothing watch because all of those pieces clicked right into place.
In some ways, it all comes back to Championship Vinyl, the record store where owner Rob (Zoe Kravitz) and the shop’s two stalwart employees Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Simon (David H. Holmes) hold court on everything from fundamental musical debates to the health of their respective dating lives.
As Kravitz describes, that Championship Vinyl set was as close to a functioning store as you could get without actually having paying customers.
“In between setups, we would hang out in the office on the couch. It really felt like it was just this store where we would hang out,...
In some ways, it all comes back to Championship Vinyl, the record store where owner Rob (Zoe Kravitz) and the shop’s two stalwart employees Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Simon (David H. Holmes) hold court on everything from fundamental musical debates to the health of their respective dating lives.
As Kravitz describes, that Championship Vinyl set was as close to a functioning store as you could get without actually having paying customers.
“In between setups, we would hang out in the office on the couch. It really felt like it was just this store where we would hang out,...
- 6/12/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Thompson on Hollywood
For “High Fidelity,” there are a handful of component parts that, for lack of a better phrase, just have to work. A balancing act of romance, music, and city life, this year’s Hulu adaptation of the beloved Nick Hornby novel is such a soothing watch because all of those pieces clicked right into place.
In some ways, it all comes back to Championship Vinyl, the record store where owner Rob (Zoe Kravitz) and the shop’s two stalwart employees Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Simon (David H. Holmes) hold court on everything from fundamental musical debates to the health of their respective dating lives.
As Kravitz describes, that Championship Vinyl set was as close to a functioning store as you could get without actually having paying customers.
“In between setups, we would hang out in the office on the couch. It really felt like it was just this store where we would hang out,...
In some ways, it all comes back to Championship Vinyl, the record store where owner Rob (Zoe Kravitz) and the shop’s two stalwart employees Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Simon (David H. Holmes) hold court on everything from fundamental musical debates to the health of their respective dating lives.
As Kravitz describes, that Championship Vinyl set was as close to a functioning store as you could get without actually having paying customers.
“In between setups, we would hang out in the office on the couch. It really felt like it was just this store where we would hang out,...
- 6/12/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
In the course of his 50-year career, John Prine influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Bon Iver, Kacey Musgraves, Swamp Dogg, and others.
The influence of Prine, who died last week from complications related to Covid-19, is clear in the latest installment of our In My Room series. We asked some of our favorite artists (and some of Prine’s) to play one of his classics. They didn’t disappoint. Fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy plays “Donald and Lydia,” the 1971 ballad Prine wrote on his mail route, about two people that “made love from 10 miles away.
The influence of Prine, who died last week from complications related to Covid-19, is clear in the latest installment of our In My Room series. We asked some of our favorite artists (and some of Prine’s) to play one of his classics. They didn’t disappoint. Fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy plays “Donald and Lydia,” the 1971 ballad Prine wrote on his mail route, about two people that “made love from 10 miles away.
- 4/17/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
When Swamp Dogg released his album Sorry You Couldn’t Make It last month, no one could have predicted that the record — which features John Prine on several songs — would be the last Prine recording to ever be released during the singer’s lifetime. The cult soul singer Swamp Dogg famously covered Prine’s “Sam Stone” in the early Seventies, introducing the song to a new audience, and the two had reconnected in recent years.
“Please Let Me Go Round Again,” the album’s final track, is a loving, oddball...
“Please Let Me Go Round Again,” the album’s final track, is a loving, oddball...
- 4/8/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Even with the miraculous Second Coming of vinyl, the prospects for a successful reboot of the record-store drama “High Fidelity” seemed grim. Twenty years after the John Cusack film, nearly 25 after Nick Hornby’s novel, the shrines to vinyl depicted in the book and movie — epicenters of local music scenes, vanguards of taste and attitude, places where music fans congregated, debated and dated — are virtually extinct. Sure, they’re still beloved centers of fandom and fetishism, but these days they usually feel more like libraries or museums than the musical newsstands they used to be.
Yet Hulu’s reimagining of the franchise is a remarkable success on virtually every level. The reinvention of the setting and storyline are clever and on point, and the acting and characters are believable (given the context) and lovingly rendered — and it would seem to herald the arrival of Zoe Kravitz as a major new star.
Yet Hulu’s reimagining of the franchise is a remarkable success on virtually every level. The reinvention of the setting and storyline are clever and on point, and the acting and characters are believable (given the context) and lovingly rendered — and it would seem to herald the arrival of Zoe Kravitz as a major new star.
- 3/11/2020
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
John Prine has canceled a number of overseas shows in the U.K. and Australia to deal with a nagging injury. According to a post on the singer-songwriter’s Instagram, Prine will be “taking a break from touring, as being on the road has aggravated a hip injury.” The message directs fans with previously purchased tickets to reach out to the venue and consult Prine’s Facebook page for further information.
Prine’s next scheduled gig is April 26th at MerleFest, the annual bluegrass and string music gathering in North Carolina.
Prine’s next scheduled gig is April 26th at MerleFest, the annual bluegrass and string music gathering in North Carolina.
- 2/20/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
John Prine is reviving his All the Best Fest for a second year, in late 2020. The four-day musical event, which the Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient launched in 2019, will again partner with Sixthman when it sets up at the Breathless and Now Onyx resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from November 16th to 20th.
Joining Prine, who will give multiple performances during the festival — including one classic album start to finish, will be Bonnie Raitt (who sang a brief tribute to Prine at the 2020 Grammys), John Hiatt, Steve Earle, Iris Dement,...
Joining Prine, who will give multiple performances during the festival — including one classic album start to finish, will be Bonnie Raitt (who sang a brief tribute to Prine at the 2020 Grammys), John Hiatt, Steve Earle, Iris Dement,...
- 1/27/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Cult R&b singer Swamp Dogg joins up with singer-songwriter John Prine on the duet “Memories,” a track from Swamp Dogg’s upcoming album Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, out March 6th.
With a studio band that includes Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on guitar, “Memories” — a song the 77-year-old Swamp Dogg originally demoed when he was in his forties — glides along with soulful piano, bongo, and some psychedelic lead guitar. Coupled with that, the easygoing rhythm and spacey production flourishes draw on elements of reggae and dub.
“Memories...
With a studio band that includes Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on guitar, “Memories” — a song the 77-year-old Swamp Dogg originally demoed when he was in his forties — glides along with soulful piano, bongo, and some psychedelic lead guitar. Coupled with that, the easygoing rhythm and spacey production flourishes draw on elements of reggae and dub.
“Memories...
- 1/16/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
The cult soul singer Swamp Dogg has announced details for Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, his upcoming country-tinged album featuring contributions from John Prine, Jenny Lewis, Justin Vernon and more.
The album, produced by Ryan Olson, arrives two years after his Justin Vernon-assisted, Olson-produced 2018 comeback record Love, Loss & Auto-Tune. That record added modern textures and electronic production to the singer’s Seventies R&b.
But for his latest LP, Swamp Dogg, who’s flirted with country music since the beginning of his five-decade-plus career, reached back to an idea he’d had for decades.
The album, produced by Ryan Olson, arrives two years after his Justin Vernon-assisted, Olson-produced 2018 comeback record Love, Loss & Auto-Tune. That record added modern textures and electronic production to the singer’s Seventies R&b.
But for his latest LP, Swamp Dogg, who’s flirted with country music since the beginning of his five-decade-plus career, reached back to an idea he’d had for decades.
- 12/13/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Swamp Dogg has been trying to make a country album for a long time. “All my life,” he says. Although the 76-year-old singer-songwriter is best known for his oddball R&B, country music has been an integral part of his musical foundation ever since he stayed up late at night as a kid growing up in Portsmouth, Virginia listening to the country radio station. Early in his career, his originals became hits for country singers like Johnny Paycheck, and he regularly recorded songs written by country-leaning singer-songwriters like Mickey Newbury and John Prine.
- 4/24/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Swamp Dogg interrupts his own booty call in the surreal video for “Sex With Your Ex,” a track from the cult soul singer’s recently issued Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune LP.
The clip follows a carnal-minded Swamp Dogg throughout his various sexual encounters – including being tied up in bed, making out on a hilltop and walking into a hotel room where he’s already doing the deed. Other highlights include nuclear explosion backdrops, underwater shots and a therapy scene involving Rorschach tests.
Directors Nazeem and Spencer Joles detailed their vision in a statement,...
The clip follows a carnal-minded Swamp Dogg throughout his various sexual encounters – including being tied up in bed, making out on a hilltop and walking into a hotel room where he’s already doing the deed. Other highlights include nuclear explosion backdrops, underwater shots and a therapy scene involving Rorschach tests.
Directors Nazeem and Spencer Joles detailed their vision in a statement,...
- 11/8/2018
- by Ryan Reed
- Rollingstone.com
Editors’ Pick: Paul McCartney, Egypt Station
“Egypt Station flows as a unit, structured like a long ride on a cosmic train, beginning and ending with ambient railway-station noise,” writes Rob Sheffield. “These days, he’s not on any kind of assembly line—he only makes albums when he’s got enough worthy songs saved up, which is why his recent work has been top-notch. … This album’s masterpiece: ‘Dominoes,’ one of those Paul creations that feels both emotionally direct yet playfully enigmatic. An eerie acoustic guitar hook, worthy of the White Album,...
“Egypt Station flows as a unit, structured like a long ride on a cosmic train, beginning and ending with ambient railway-station noise,” writes Rob Sheffield. “These days, he’s not on any kind of assembly line—he only makes albums when he’s got enough worthy songs saved up, which is why his recent work has been top-notch. … This album’s masterpiece: ‘Dominoes,’ one of those Paul creations that feels both emotionally direct yet playfully enigmatic. An eerie acoustic guitar hook, worthy of the White Album,...
- 9/7/2018
- by Maura Johnston, Joseph Hudak, Hank Shteamer, Kory Grow and Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Here’s a fun idea for a record: Take a veteran singer who also happens to be a lovable goofball with a dirty streak and leave him alone in a room with modern technology.
That’s the concept behind Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, the new album from Swamp Dogg, real name Jerry Williams Jr. Williams is the kind of figure who, unfortunately, seems unlikely to emerge from the modern music industry, a genre-free vagabond who never had much commercial success as a solo act despite his knack for memorable songs and bizarre album artwork.
That’s the concept behind Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, the new album from Swamp Dogg, real name Jerry Williams Jr. Williams is the kind of figure who, unfortunately, seems unlikely to emerge from the modern music industry, a genre-free vagabond who never had much commercial success as a solo act despite his knack for memorable songs and bizarre album artwork.
- 9/7/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
When Swamp Dogg first began work on his latest album, he had only one guiding principle.
“I just didn’t want it to sound like Swamp Dogg,” says Jerry Williams, who for close to a half-century has recorded his singular blend of eccentric soul under that name. “This time,” says the singer, 76, “I wanted to shock the shit out of them.”
Ever since he began making records as Swamp Dogg in the early Seventies, Williams has never much worried about how his music would fit into the larger American pop landscape.
“I just didn’t want it to sound like Swamp Dogg,” says Jerry Williams, who for close to a half-century has recorded his singular blend of eccentric soul under that name. “This time,” says the singer, 76, “I wanted to shock the shit out of them.”
Ever since he began making records as Swamp Dogg in the early Seventies, Williams has never much worried about how his music would fit into the larger American pop landscape.
- 9/6/2018
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
This spring, the Eaux Claires festival – founded by Aaron Dessner of The National and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver – made a startling announcement: It would not share any details of its lineup ahead of time.
“It’s intentional as a way to get out of the headliners’ arm race,” says Dessner, who helped choose the soul oddball Swamp Dogg, the electronic producer Jlin and the rapper-poet Noname for the July 6th-7th Wisconsin event, along with indie stalwarts like Sharon Van Etten and the Dirty Projectors. “We want unknown artists...
“It’s intentional as a way to get out of the headliners’ arm race,” says Dessner, who helped choose the soul oddball Swamp Dogg, the electronic producer Jlin and the rapper-poet Noname for the July 6th-7th Wisconsin event, along with indie stalwarts like Sharon Van Etten and the Dirty Projectors. “We want unknown artists...
- 8/20/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Cult soul singer Swamp Dogg has unveiled his cover of the classic popularized by Nat King Cole, “Answer Me, My Love.” The tune appears on Swamp Dogg’s forthcoming album, Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, which will be released on September 7th via Joyful Noise Recordings.
As with his previously released “I’ll Pretend,” the singer teams with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Vernon provides Messina – the distorted vocoder/auto-tune vocalizations that punctuate the track and give a warped emotional take on the yearning sentiment of the song.
While it begins...
As with his previously released “I’ll Pretend,” the singer teams with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Vernon provides Messina – the distorted vocoder/auto-tune vocalizations that punctuate the track and give a warped emotional take on the yearning sentiment of the song.
While it begins...
- 7/19/2018
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
It's a mix of tried-and-true names along with some relative unknowns on the music version of Beck's "Song Reader." Jack White, Jack Black, Jeff Tweedy, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Laura Marling, fun., Juanes, David Johansen and more made the cut as collaborators on the forthcoming album. The songwriter has seen a surge of activity lately since releasing his critically acclaimed new album "Morning Phase" this year, and he's now circled back on what what was originally a sheet-music-only 20-song project. "Song Reader" is officially being dubbed a compilation by Warby Parker/Capitol, who will release the set on July 29. The eyewear manufacture worked with the songwriter previously on making special edition frames, and now the two together with donate proceeds from the album's sale to the non-profit 826 National, an young creative writers' institution. Warby Parker was also the sponsor behind limited engagements where "Song Reader" compositions were performed in L.
- 7/10/2014
- by Katie Hasty
- Hitfix
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