Rick Bayles

Book Review – Shana Goldin-Perschbacher “Queer Country”

March 22, 2022 Rick Bayles 0

A view from the margins of Americana. This is a really fascinating book about a sub-genre of Americana that many of us will know little, or nothing, about. As the author acknowledges early on, many people […]

I Write The Songs… Harlan Howard

March 1, 2022 Rick Bayles 0

Harlan Howard pretty much wrote the book when it comes to country songwriting. Howard is the man behind the famous description of country music as being “three chords and the truth” and it’s a hard description […]

The View from Across La Manche #2 – From our own correspondent

February 24, 2022 Rick Bayles 3

In which we discuss Trees, Elections and Belgian Cowpunks… Well, there are definite signs that Spring is on its way, here in the Perigord Vert. The days are getting sunnier and the rain is warming up! […]

Book Review – Marc Eliot “The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard”

February 18, 2022 Rick Bayles 0

Writing a book, on such an iconic figure in the music industry as Merle Haggard, is not something anyone would undertake lightly. This is a man who, alongside Buck Owens, came to define the Bakersfield sound […]

Harley Kimbro Lewis “Harley Kimbro Lewis”

February 16, 2022 Rick Bayles 0

Quality musicianship is always in fashion. Old-Time music seems to be doing very well these days and the success of bands like Old Crow Medicine Show and, more recently, the Dead South, would suggest that audiences […]