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J. D. Wilkes
Joshua "J. D." Wilkes (born April 18, 1972) is an American visual artist, musician, amateur filmmaker and author. He is best known as the singer for the rock band Legendary Shack Shakers, and is also an accomplished harmonica player, having recorded for such artists as Merle Haggard, Sturgill Simpson, John Carter Cash, Mike Patton, and Hank Williams III in the ''American Masters'' film "Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues". His song " Swampblood" can be heard on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for HBO's ''True Blood'' series. Wilkes is a resident of Paducah, Kentucky and is the author of two books, ''The Vine That Ate The South'' and ''Barn Dances and Jamborees Across Kentucky''. Early life and education Wilkes was born in Baytown, Texas. He holds a bachelor's degree in Studio Art from Kentucky's Murray State University. Career Wilkes is known as the founder and only remaining original member of the Legendary Shack Shakers, a rockabilly and blues band he formed in Murray, Kentuck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baytown, Texas
Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. It is the sixth-largest city within this metropolitan area and seventh largest community (including The Woodlands CDP). Major highways serving the city include State Highway 146 and Interstate 10. At the 2020 U.S. census, Baytown had a population of 83,701, and it had an estimated population of 78,393 in 2021. History White American settlers first arrived in the now-Baytown area in 1822. One of its earliest settlers was Nathaniel Lynch, who set up a ferry crossing at the junction of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. The still-operating ferry service is known as the Lynchburg Ferry. Other early settlers of Baytown included William Scott, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launch a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class that occasionally contained themes contrary to anti–Vietnam War sentiment of some popular music of the time. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the ''Billboard'' all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s. He received many honors and awards for his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or eccentric characters who may be involved in hoodoo, decayed or derelict settings, grotesque situations, and other sinister events relating to or stemming from poverty, alienation, crime, or violence. Origins Elements of a Gothic treatment of the South were first apparent during the ante- and post-bellum 19th century in the grotesques of Henry Clay Lewis and in the de-idealized representations of Mark Twain. The genre was consolidated, however, only in the 20th century, when dark romanticism, Southern humor, and the new literary naturalism merged in a new and powerful form of social critique. The thematic material was largely a reflection of the culture existing in the South following the collapse of the Confederacy as a consequence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its French antecedent. In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian Britain, a typical North American vaudeville performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth (lips and tongue) to direct air into or out of one (or more) holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound. Reeds are tuned to individual pitches. Tuning may involve changing a reed’s length ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musical styles such as country music, country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass music, bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" (from "rock 'n' roll") and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music (often called "Hillbilly#Music, hillbilly music" in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues. Defining features of the rockabilly sound included strong rhythms, boogie woogie piano riffs, vocal twangs, doo-wop acapella singing, and common use of the tape echo; bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murray State University
Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, and Henderson. History Murray State University was founded after passage of Senate Bill 14 by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which created two normal schools in the early 20th century to address the growing demand for professional teachers. One was to be located in the western part of the state, and many cities and towns bid for the new normal school. Rainey T. Wells spoke on behalf of the city of Murray to convince the Normal School Commission to choose his city. On September 2, 1922, Murray was chosen as the site of the western normal school, while Morehead was chosen for the eastern normal school. On November 26, 1922, John Wesley Carr was elected the first president of the Murray St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,137, up from 25,024 during the 2010 U.S. Census. Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Paducah is the hub of its micropolitan area, which includes McCracken, Ballard and Livingston counties in Kentucky and Massac County in Illinois. History Early history Paducah was first settled as "Pekin" around 1821 by European Americans James and William Pore.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''p. 224 University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed August 1, 2013. The town was laid out by explorer and surveyor William Clark in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. It is set two years after the invention of a synthetic blood product branded "Tru Blood" that has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and let their presence be known to mankind. It chronicles the vampires' struggle for equal rights and assimilation while anti-vampire organizations begin to gain power. Sookie's world is turned upside down when she falls in love with 174-year-old vampire Bill Compton ( Stephen Moyer), and for the first time, she must navigate the trials and terrors of intimacy and relationships. The show was broadcast on the premium cable network HBO, in the United States, and was pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swampblood
''Swampblood'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Legendary Shack Shakers. Musical style The music of ''Swampblood'' encompasses rockabilly, alternative country, bluegrass, blues, country, psychobilly, rock and roll, Southern Gothic and swamp rock. Reviews Andrew Gilstrap of popmatters.com rated the album at 7/10, commenting, "Swampblood finds the band in something of a high-octane back-to-basics blues mode". Embo Blake of HybridMagazine noted that the band, in this album, "maintain dtheir distinctive sound and superb musical quality". Track listing #"Dawn" – 0:34 #"Old Spur Line" – 3:47 #"Hellwater" – 2:12 #"Easter Flesh" – 2:16 #"Swampblood" – 3:10 #"Dusk" – 0:16 #"Cheat the Hangman" – 1:36 #"Born Again Again" – 2:18 #"The Deadenin'" – 2:48 #"Down and Out" – 3:11 #"Jimblyleg Man" – 2:39 #"He Ain't Right" – 2:10 #"Angel Lust" – 1:55 #"Preachin' at Traffic" – 1:38 #"When I Die" – 1:14 #"Bright and Sunny South" – 1:02 Backgro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he recorded 55 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1 (three posthumously). Born and raised in Alabama, Williams was given guitar lessons by African-American blues musician Rufus Payne in exchange for meals or money. Payne, along with Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb, had a major influence on Williams' later musical style. Williams began his music career in Montgomery in 1937, when producers at local radio station WSFA hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. He formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career. When several of his band members wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Masters
''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States. It is produced by WNET in New York City. The show debuted on PBS in 1986. Groups or organizations featured include: Actors Studio, Algonquin Round Table, Group Theatre, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Women of Tin Pan Alley, Negro Ensemble Company, Juilliard School, the Beat Generation, the singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Sun Records, vaudeville, and Warner Bros. History ''American Masters'', a series "devoted to America's 'greatest native-born and adopted' artists", was originally scheduled to premiere in September 1985; for "logistical scheduling reasons" the premiere was delayed until summer 1986, though on October 16, 1985, an ''American Masters'' "special" called ''Aaron Copland: A Self-Portrait'' was aired. The first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
