In late 2016, I was invited out to David Crosby’s home in Santa Ynez Valley, California. I was an editor at Acoustic Guitar magazine at the time, and Crosby wanted to show me his guitar collection.
Ed Sheeran: The X Factor
what Ed Sheeran’s massive success shows is the endurance of the acoustic guitar in popular music—not just in the singer-songwriter or country-bluegrass realms, but also in the pure, unadulterated, teen-loving pop world. For this 2014 package first published in Acoustic Guitar magazine, I talked to Sheeran and others about his music and guitars, and he delivered a stirring, stripped-down performance of “Thinking Out Loud.”
Ani DiFranco: Return of the Righteous Babe
Early on in what’s come to be slandered by the right as “cancel culture,” Ani DiFranco angered fans by planning an artist retreat at a former plantation. The irony was stunning: Here’s a woman who’d spent her entire career as a stanch political ally, not just of Black Americans, but of all people of color, all gender identifications, the poor — basically, all people marginalized by the dominant culture. DiFranco survived the controversy with her fanbase intact.
The One That Got Away: Billy Joe Shaver (1939-2020)
The prospect of sitting down with Billy Joe Shaver and talking about his music had been exciting for me. After all, so many of his songs had been an important part of my teen years.