I feel, of late, that I’ve been veering uncontrollably into the Daddy Blogger genre. I guess that’s what a new baby and two weeks of paternity leave will do to a guy. This bothers me a bit, because one of the things that keeps me interested in blogging is trying to write about a wide [...]
Archive for the ‘Country’ Category
Don’t you see what life here has done to me?
28 Sep 2009 at 22:11
A Free Man
Australia, Britain, Country, Florida, Georgia, USA, expatica, politics
I came to you chasing a dream
My apologies to the arachnophobes out there. I was so caught up in the technical mastery exhibited in yesterday’s spider photo that it didn’t occur to me that some of you might freak out. It should have, really. I worked with the most insect phobic person I’ve ever encountered for a couple of years at [...]
MP3s of the, um, ‘week’: The long overdue edition
This is really supposed to be a weekly feature, but I haven’t done one of these posts in a long, long time – largely because I’m lazy. And overwhelmed by the sheer volume of music coming through my inbox. But I asked for it, and it’s only fair that I share some of the discoveries [...]
Deep South Smack Talk: The good Lord’s earth beneath the feet
Well, Jamie called it in the heat of Florida Hate Week – Georgia’s year of self loathing has begun. But there is still work to be done, still games to be played. This weekend the Dawgs have to head up to Lexington or Louisville or some-damn-where in Kentucky for a date with the feisty, fiery [...]
Deep South Smack Talk: My Friend The Enemy
In celebration of the imminent humiliation for the state’s flagship university, I’m happy to present an expanded Florida Hate Week edition of Deep South Smack Talk. Speaking for the evil swamp lizards, we have my oldest friend and occasional A Free Man commentor, Jamie. He and I went through high school together and despite his [...]
MP3s of the Week: Melody, Mystery and Memory
31 Jul 2008 at 15:00
A Free Man
American artists, Americana, British Artists, Country, Hip-Hop, MP3 of the Week, Making music in your bedroom, folk, jazz
Let’s kick things off this week with the sultry, smoky voice of Melody Gardot. Her debut LP, “Worrisome Heart” is out and what I’ve heard of it so far is just stunning. Gardot was seriously injured after being hit by a car whilst riding her bicycle in 2004. One of the treatments suggested for her [...]
LAX
“Runway 4, Flight 209
teardrops fall we start to climb
this window seat proved a poor choice
it shows a dream that’s been destroyed
Little baby starts to cry
Hey, I would to if not for pride…”
-Dwight Yoakam – “1,000 Miles”
First leg done. The Orlando to L.A. flight was pretty much a breeze, with the exception that the whole [...]
More country than punk – Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
I fear that with my Antipodean explorations, I’ve sent A Free Man careening uncontrollably down an indie-pop trail. Well, it is time to take the wheel again and steer us temporarily back onto that long open highway of Americana.
I remember talking alt-country one night with a slightly older friend who took great pleasure in lecturing [...]
Ten best of the week: k.d. lang, MGMT and Blah Blah Blah
16 Mar 2008 at 19:00
A Free Man
American artists, British Artists, Country, Indie Pop, Instrumental, MP3 of the Week, folk
I listened to k.d. lang’s album “Drag” on repeat while I was quitting smoking last year, so she’ll always have a special place in my heart. Her new LP, “Watershed” came out in January and what I’ve heard of it is outstanding. The steel guitar alone on “I Dream of Spring”, an appropriate track for [...]
Flashback: Hello, I’m Johnny Cash…
That’s the way one of my favorite live albums starts, that deep baritone voice, with the soft Southern accent. This is followed by one of the most familiar guitar licks you’ll ever hear and…
“I hear the train a comin’
It’s rollin’ ’round the bend,
And I ain’t seen the sunshine,
Since, I don’t know when,
I’m stuck in Folsom [...]
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