Expectations are tricky things. You can crack open a CD with basically one of two mindsets: “This is going to be good,” or “Ugh. I need a drink.”

By Chris Cooper

Morning Missed: Broken Cords Of Rotten Wood

By Chris Cooper

Swing can take many forms. It can bop and bounce like Calloway and Ellington, or it can sprout a 10-gallon hat and spurs in the hands of Bob Wills and his Playboys. It’s been reborn time and again whenever a younger generation looks to the past for something new and inspiring to embrace. After all, “it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.”

By Chris Cooper

Yeah, it’s a quip that’s terribly overused — the one about “... there must be something in the water...”

Just before Christmas, singer/songwriter Ashley Chambliss of Sylva got an email from the online music site where her music is available for download. She would be receiving a deposit into her bank account.

By Sarah Kucharski — Staff Writer

John Anderson’s boisterous voice streams out from the computer speakers.

By Chris Cooper

Some conclusions could be drawn after listening to Rhythms Del Mundo in its entirety.

By Sarah Kucharski

It was Allen Bailey’s aim to bring about a better understanding of black culture and the church’s role in the local community when he founded the Harlem Gospel Choir on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in 1986.

By Chris Cooper

Christmas is one of those times where there’s a surge of buying in the instrument market, and much of that buying involves some lucky kid (or adult) getting their first guitar. So what I’d like to do here is provide some insight into getting the most out of that initial phase of playing and learning, list what extras you really may need, and give a little insight as to what elements make up a “good” guitar.

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that the longer you’re on this planet, the smaller said planet seems to become. This observation becomes especially true if you find yourself immersed in a particular field or occupation for a long time — paths that may have crossed long ago, seemingly by coincidence, inevitably find a way to cross again later.