Southern masters, new and old

December 12, 2009 7:42 PM

The Oxford American (the "Southern Magazine of Good Writing," not the dictionary) recently released their 11th annual Southern Music issue, featuring the usual CD full of "Southern Masters," and, for the first time, a special "Arkansas Masters" disc--the first of a series that brings deserved recognition to "almost teen queen Kenni Huskey" and true one-hit, one-side-of-a-45 wonderClaudia Whitten, whose "Bring Me All the Love You've Got" (mp3 link) is occasionally available as a rarity. Several of the accompanying essays are available online.

There's a great online-only Q and A with the contributors to the issue. The well-curated issue usually sells out, but lots of gems from the discs are available online elsewhere, like Bukka White's "Parchman Farm Blues," Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson's "Shut 'Um Down," and Kelly Hogan's great cover of "Papa Was a Rodeo."

posted by liketitanic (8 comments total)

A lot of great mp3s on that site with the Claudia Whitten link.
posted by el_lupino at 8:11 PM on December 12, 2009

FREEBIRD!!!!



(sorry)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:49 PM on December 12, 2009

Nice. Thanks!
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:33 PM on December 12, 2009

Hey, I'm in this! But my essay, about the 1960s high school girl band from Nashville The Feminine Complex, is not online. I got a kick out of the q&a with all the contributors, where I was not the only writer who picked Lolita Nation by Game Theory as the most under-rated album. Have only dipped a toe into the mag so far... it's always such a great read, and one worth savoring over weeks.
posted by Scram at 11:16 PM on December 12, 2009

WHAT! I love the OA, Scram! Now you're MetaFilter's Own, man.
posted by liketitanic at 11:24 PM on December 12, 2009

Yay, OA! I was an accidental tourist picking up the inaugural issue of OA and a subscriber in the early days. OA has been hard to find in some of these northern outposts over the years (and some of those years, OA was wandering in the wilderness getting all slicked up for a national audience). But hooray that they are still persevering and out with the 11th music issue. I'll see if Borders #1 has it in stock.
posted by beelzbubba at 5:59 AM on December 13, 2009

Always a treat...and two disks this year? YAY!

(Picked up my copy on Friday, then left it at work. Dammit.)

And Kelly Hogan's cover of "Papa" is just fucking haunting.
posted by notsnot at 6:59 AM on December 13, 2009

I love the Oxford American Music Issue - thanks for reminding me they aren't dead.
posted by shothotbot at 8:46 PM on December 13, 2009