***** Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American … Continue reading 24 Fact-Based Films Celebrate Women’s History Month
Category: Uncategorized
Ruth Crawford Seeger – Modernist-cum-Folkie
Female composers getting the short shrift is certainly nothing new, and is by no means limited to classical music. But as an admittedly casual fan of atonality, dissonance, modernism and serialism, I was surprised in February of this year to, for the first time, stumble across Middlewestern composer Ruth Crawford Seeger's unique, innovative musical voice. … Continue reading Ruth Crawford Seeger – Modernist-cum-Folkie
Share this:
Delia Derbyshire – electronic music pioneer
A writer at The Guardian once described Delia Derbyshire as “The unsung heroine of British electronic music,” seemingly implying that there are other heroines of British electronic music that are more widely… sung. I suppose there is Daphne Oram but the English never use less than three adjectives when one will suffice, so let’s just … Continue reading Delia Derbyshire – electronic music pioneer
Share this:
Billie Maxwell – The Cow Girl Singer
The 1920s and ‘30s were full of cowgirl singers like the Girls of the Golden West (Millie and Dolly Good),Patsy Montana and Texas Ruby, most of whom were just as inauthentic as their better known male counterparts like Gene Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers. However, one western performer was the real deal: Billie Maxwell. … Continue reading Billie Maxwell – The Cow Girl Singer
Share this:
Happy Texas Independence Day!
After Mexico gained its independence from Spain, the newly independent country organized itself into several states. In the northern Coahuila y Tejas, there were many Native peoples like the Alabama, Apache, Aranama, Atakapa, Caddo, Comanche, Coahuiltecan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinai, Jumano, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Kiowa and Wichita that the nearly bankrupt Mexican government had little resources … Continue reading Happy Texas Independence Day!
Share this:
Happy Pig Day — celebrate with pig-related films
***** Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American … Continue reading Happy Pig Day — celebrate with pig-related films
Share this:
I feel like bootin’ up — The Take Fo’ story
Take Fo' Records is a little known (outside of New Orleans) music label that truly broke ground with its motley roster of artists and progressive attitude, yet it's never received adequate recognition for its pioneering role in music. Whereas New Orleans's other big labels: Big Boy, Cash Money, Mobo, Parkway Pumpin', Untouchable, Tombstone and No Limit … Continue reading I feel like bootin’ up — The Take Fo’ story
Share this:
The Great Black North
One fact that’s widely overlooked during Black History Month is that it’s not only Black History Month in the US. Besides having the stated aim of highlighting the contributions to human history made by the entire black diaspora, BHM is simultaneously observed in Canada. People who've never been to Canada may not believe that black … Continue reading The Great Black North
Share this:
Music Biographies — The Action
In the 2000s, Amoeba Music enlisted an army of writers and data entry people to work on an ambitious website that was meant to be a sort of combination of Allmusic, Apple Music, Discogs, Wikipedia, and more. Despite investing a tremendous amount of time, labor and money, the site, as envisioned, never got off the ground. In 2020 — without so … Continue reading Music Biographies — The Action
Share this:
Cinema of Burkina Faso
Background on Burkina Faso What is now Burkina Faso has been continuously inhabited for at least 14,000 years. The main indigenous population of this Sahelian region were the Yonyonse, who remained for thousands of years until they were displaced by the Mossi people of what is now Ghana only a thousand years ago. The Mossi … Continue reading Cinema of Burkina Faso
Eric Brightwell 