Con Hunley’s country music career in the late ’70s/early ’80s is the classic tale of a Knoxvillian trying to conform to Nashville’s ways—and returning to Knoxville for a happier life. Despite jaw-dropping good looks and talent formidable enough to win ...

Some extra anecdotes from a colorful career.

For most fans, the Zac Brown Band is inseparable from its first big hit, the rousing Southern summer anthem “Chicken Fried.” It’s the kind of song that any new band would love to have, but it’s also the kind of ...

Moon Taxi keyboardist Wes Bailey frequently mentions his idea of “synthesis,” of merging various moods and textures and genres into something slightly unexpected. That open-minded approach defines the band’s latest album, last year’s Cabaret, a thrilling set that blends eclecticism ...

If you’re not familiar with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the opening track on the band’s new album Meat and Bone gives you a good idea what the trio is all about, musically and even philosophically. “Black Mold” is a ...

It’s tempting to roll your eyes when a band bursts out of the gate boasting their own invented genre label. On their weirdly intoxicating debut album, Wormfood, Detroit duo Jamaican Queens have branded their particular style “Detroit trap pop,” but ...

Asheville’s Jahman Brahman are a “jam band,” whatever that means. Ever since the quintet’s formation in 2005, in their original home base of Columbus, Ohio, they’ve been faced with that love-it-or-loathe-it genre label—with all of its Phish references and jokes ...

With the music industry undergoing seismic shifts in its business model, its technological underpinnings, and the trajectory of artists’ careers, it’s comforting to know that at least a few things never change. And one of those few things is the ...

Keb’ Mo’ came to the blues in a roundabout way. He began his musical career in the late 1960s, first playing steel drums and bass in a calypso band and then moving on to a variety of rhythm-and-blues and rock ...

Is there any contemporary musician whose life has reached the highest highs and the lowest lows the way R. Kelly’s has?

For a brief period in the late 1990s, the Satellite Pumps were one of the best bands in Knoxville. The group played sultry, swinging rock ’n’ roll and country, dance music for the head as much as the hips, establishing ...

If you know his heavily publicized story—and his fans certainly do—you wouldn’t expect David Bazan to do a lot of backward-glancing. Over the past decade, the indie-rock mainstay (and former Christian-rock outcast, as leader of Pedro the Lion) has undergone ...

Taking up the look and sound of your music heroes can be dangerous—it’s entirely possible to be too reverent. Where does their influence end and your originality begin? This hazy line has tripped up countless rockabilly revivalists over the last ...

Time hasn’t always been on Witch Mountain’s side. When the band formed in Portland, Ore., in 1997, its brand of traditional heavy metal was at its commercial and cultural nadir. After recording their debut album, ...Come the Mountain, in 2001, ...

Even among his own eclectic discography, which covers traditional and not-so-traditional bluegrass, acoustic jazz, and blues, Jerry Douglas’ new album is a surprise. The prolific Dobro player/bandleader/session musician, best known for his connections to Alison Krauss and the 1970s hot-stuff ...