averyfineline

So Ringo Starr was on the radio a few days ago complaining that interviewers ask too many questions about the Beatles and don’t focus enough on his post-Beatle career. “I’ve recorded 17 solo albums since the Beatles broke up … so let’s talk about that.”
I think my exact response in the car was, “Oh for […]

A new study argues that in fact “the music industry,” whatever that may be considered these days, is actually growing. Which of course isn’t really news if you pay attention to more than the top-line trends of sales of conventional platforms for retail music. But still … Money quote, as it were:
For years, we’ve been hearing […]

In the car the other day, I caught this song during an interview with the singing Swedish sisters who are First Aid Kit. No, it’s not gospel, but the harmonies are about as close and fine as anything a southern gospel fan could want.

I could honestly do without all the visual palavering of the video’s […]

That was one of the titles I considered for my book, actually, but I think we’ve probably had enough of that topic for the time being, nes cafe?
So instead let’s talk about the Dolly Parton/Queen Latifah film by that title soon to be released. Via DBM, here’s a clip of Karen Peck in the film.

I’ll […]

Since I posted information about my forthcoming southern gospel book, there’s been some chatter about the cover, and specifically some curiosity about the image. One reader wondered about the propriety of using the image of these four celebrities to grace the cover of this book, which seems to take for granted a far greater symmetry […]

Regular readers will know that the past year or so has seen a diminishing number of posts around here. Y’all have done an excellent job of running the asylum in my pseudo-absence, so I won’t apologize (not least of all because many of you probably don’t really miss the sound of my e-voice). But the […]

Ok so this isn’t exactly southern gospel, but it is an adorable and authentic live bit of musical revelry for the new year.

See you in 2012.

This clip showed up in my Facebook thread over night (h/t, SS) and was a lovely way to start the morning. This formation of the Speers is Mom, Dad, Brock, and Ginger Smith carrying the lead. Ben Speer is at the piano.

We live thoroughly in the post-melisma period of popular music, in which the overwhelming […]

Well he would say that. But he’s also probably right too (despite his self-regarding messianic poseur pose). Anyway, the gospel music selection ain’t bad, comparatively.

It is a fortunate thing that this, my now-customary annual post bemoaning the vast (and vastly lame) repertoire of standard Christmas music, is a written warning - given that the Christmas music that started polluting the airwaves at least a week before Thanksgiving may well have oblated the auditory systems of many dear readers and […]