Email Author Roy Kasten

2003 Stories by Roy Kasten

• '03, Oh My!

  published December 31, 2003

  Editor's note: A correction ran concerning this story; see end of article. As 2003 dies out, the year isn't suggesting any easy... More >>

• Graham Lindsey

  published December 24, 2003

  Let's dispense with the obvious: Graham Lindsey sounds a hell of a lot like a certain major dude from Minnesota. Now let's get specific:... More >>

• Steal the Crumbs

  published December 24, 2003

  The legacy of the short-lived Uncle Tupelo is too near to gauge, but it's unlikely the Bellevillians' influence, even if frequently overstated,... More >>

• Billy Lee Riley

  published December 17, 2003

  Listening to the handful of sides Billy Lee Riley cut for Sun Records in the late '50s, you hear what can only be described as fierce... More >>

• Books on Tapes

  published December 17, 2003

  Writing about music is like dancing about architecture, or so goes the cliché, which must mean that reading writing about music is like... More >>

• Rockets From the Crypt

  published December 10, 2003

  "We've been guilty of casting ourselves on the water and then just seeing where it goes," Brian Henneman says. Mark Ortmann, his longtime drummer... More >>

• The Mary Janes

  published December 3, 2003

  The texture, timbre and tone of Janas Hoyt's voice belongs to every time and to no time at all. As a former co-conspirator of the Vulgar Boatmen... More >>

• No Time for Losers

  published November 12, 2003

  Grand Champeen has the day off, taking leave of its van -- tricked out as a rolling rehearsal space -- for a day at the beach. The night before,... More >>

• Jack Ingram

  published October 29, 2003

  Over the past ten years in Texas, outlaw country has been displaced by baseball-cap country, and opposition to the musical establishment, once... More >>

• Shelby Lynne

  published October 22, 2003

  When the Grammy Awards tapped Shelby Lynne for "Best New Artist" in 2000, they nailed a metaphorical truth. The Alabama native had been... More >>

• Roger Wallace

  published October 8, 2003

  Of all the young neo-honky-tonkers on the circuit -- there's more than you'd guess -- Roger Wallace may be the most convincing. That hasn't... More >>

• Changing Seasons

  published September 3, 2003

  The future is a lover, out of reach and impossible to know. -- Nadine San Diego, California. 1984. A thirteen-year-old... More >>

• Honky Tonk Chateau

  published August 27, 2003

  Elton John will never hear Honky Tonk Chateau, so the members need not fear lawsuits, though they could use the publicity. Copping their... More >>

• The Blazers

  published August 13, 2003

  Just another band from east LA? Think again. The Blazers missed the SoCal roots-rock wave by a decade, got swamped by the Latin popsters in... More >>

• Gingersol with Nadine

  published August 6, 2003

  Over the last five years, a secret society of bands darting back and forth between indie-pop and Americana has made some very memorable,... More >>

• Neil Young and Lucinda Williams

  published August 6, 2003

  In the pairing of Lucinda Williams and Neil Young some will find fated dreams, others perplexing irritations. As much binds the two... More >>

• Will Power

  published July 23, 2003

  Will Johnson is not a songwriter's songwriter. It's not that he doesn't compose gorgeous, complete and carefully constructed songs, that his... More >>

• Two Cow Garage

  published July 16, 2003

  The three guys in Two Cow Garage have a problem: They sound a lot like Anodyne-era Uncle Tupelo, which means that any music critic... More >>

• Harpthrob

  published July 16, 2003

  The blues, some pundits would have it, are dead. But that tired chorus speaks out of nostalgia, as though the blues were sealed forever in the... More >>

• The Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera

  published July 2, 2003

  Old school, new school, too wack for school -- the Black Eyed Peas have outlasted most of the other anti-gangstas of the '90s, partly... More >>

• The Terroirist

  published June 18, 2003

  "We have half a beer to figure it out, I guess." Across from the rolling tape recorder, Jay Farrar sits, not exactly unsympathetic and nearly... More >>

• The Boys Are Back in Town

  published June 18, 2003

  Remember the funky '60s television show Laugh-In and Henry Gibson's/Goldie Hawn's delicious duet, "Let's look forward to the day, when you... More >>

• 2003 Music Awards

  published June 18, 2003

  Editor's note: A correction ran concerning this story; see end of article. Best Rap Recording of... More >>

• Triple Play

  published June 11, 2003

  A gander at the adult album alternative charts isn't as unpleasant an experience as you might imagine. Recently the Jayhawks, Counting Crows, Jack... More >>

• Lust Highway

  published June 4, 2003

  "It's the Twang. It's also the Fest." So goes this year's slogan. The twang gang left out one minor detail, though: Twangfest is also the sex.... More >>