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Mark Kemp

Author, journalist, storyteller, music opinionator

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Mark Kemp is the author of Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race and New Beginnings in a New South and the editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine. He has written about music and culture since the early 1980s, and has served as senior music editor at Rolling Stone, VP of music editorial at MTV and VH1, executive editor of Option, entertainment editor at The Charlotte Observer, and editor-in-chief at Creative Loafing. In 1997 he received a Grammy nomination for his liner notes to Farewells & Fantasies, a retrospective of songs by '60s protest singer Phil Ochs. He currently serves as the senior editor of the North Carolina magazine Our State.

Author: Mark Kemp

Featured, Music, News & CultureMay 29, 2022

Erykah Badu: Hello, It’s Me

By 2012, Erykah Badu had undergone a beautiful evolution from pioneer of late-’90s neosoul to hard-hitting, politically inspired, space-funk godchild of George Clinton. I needed to talk to her. And so I did.

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Featured, MusicMarch 17, 2022

The Black Crowes: Floating Down a River Called Denial

In my 2004 book Dixie Lullaby, I wrote about a confrontational encounter I had with Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes backstage in Los Angeles in 1992. This is the story of that incident.

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FeaturedMarch 11, 2022

Jack Kerouac: The Enduring Appeal of ‘On the Road’

The old grey Jack Kerouac sweatshirt that dated back to my college years in the early ’80s was nowhere to be found. But today it’s in good hands.

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Featured, Music, News & CultureJanuary 6, 2022

TV on the Radio: We’re an American Band

With the recent election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, TV on the Radio may have been the most American band making music in 2008. Little did we know then that the country would face a vicious and sustained backlash that continues to threaten our democracy.

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Featured, MusicDecember 11, 2021

Big Star’s Third: Fully Loaded

Billed as “The Fully Orchestrated Live Premiere of Big Star’s Third,” the core musicians included Mike Mills of R.E.M., Chris Stamey and Will Rigby of the dB’s, Mitch Easter of Let’s Active, and original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens.

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Featured, Music, News & CultureDecember 8, 2021

Beat Generation in the Generation of Beats

Chuck D looked at me quizzically, his furrowed brow barely showing beneath the bill of his black Raiders cap. “Sure,” the rapper said as I handed him a yellowed copy of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. “I’ll read it. Sounds interesting.”

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FeaturedNovember 30, 2021

TRL: My Life at MTV

In 2012, I looked back with humor at my life at MTV Networks in the late 1990s. Part of my duties at the music channel was babysitting boybands like *NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys. Kind of.

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FeaturedNovember 26, 2021

The Sonics: How to Lead a Punk-Rock Double Life

When mild-mannered Rob Lind isn’t on the links at Birkdale Golf Club near his home in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, he’s onstage with his legendary garage-rock band The Sonics

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Featured, Music, News & CultureNovember 25, 2021

The Death of Sampling

TweetIn December 1991, Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy ruled that rapper Biz Markie’s song “Alone Again” violated copyright law when it took a digital sample from […]

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Music, News & CultureNovember 18, 2021

Deep River Blues: The Real Naomi Wise

I’d long been fascinated by the tale of Naomi Wise, murdered by her lover in a river near my hometown. In 2021, No Depression magazine gave me the opportunity to explore this legend that’s become an iconic American folk ballad, covered by artists ranging from Doc Watson to Bob Dylan.

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