''Dirty Linen'' was a bi-monthly magazine of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

and world music based in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. The magazine ceased publication in the spring of 2010. The magazine offered extensive reviews of folk music recordings,

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

, books, and

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

as well as in depth profiles of musical artists and

venues Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

. They also maintained a schedule of concerts and

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

of folk music performances in North America in their "gig guide" which was available within the magazine or through their web site. Other features included, "The Horse Trader" classified ads, and a "Wireless" discussion of whats on the air waves.

History

''Dirty Linen'' originated in 1983 as a publication titled ''Fairport Fanatics'', a

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fans of the popular culture subject matter which it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one hand, by the tar ...

for the British band Fairport Convention created by T.J. McGrath of Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1987 Paul Hartman took over as editor and publisher, renamed the magazine ''Dirty Linen.'' "Dirty Linen" was the title of a traditional tune, arranged as an instrumental by

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

on Fairport Convention's 1970 album, ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television Situation comedy, sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best ...

.'' The publication expanded its scope to cover genres of rooted music from many countries and cultures. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, the magazine grew with direction from Hartman and his wife, Susan, who also served as co-editor of the magazine for many years. The photocopied fanzine became a glossy color publication in the early 1990s. ''Dirty Linen'' began international distribution and gained sales in North American chains such as Borders Books & Music, Barnes & Noble, and

Chapters Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

2007 merger with VisioNation

In September 2007, ''Dirty Linen'' announced a merger with VisioNation, Inc., publishers of ''

Blues Revue Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

'' and the

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...

s '' BluesWax'' and ''FolkWax''. The merger was greeted enthusiastically by both parties who announced plans for new projects for ''Dirty Linen'' such as the inclusion of a sampler CD for subscribers, and planned growth for all four of VisioNation's roots music publications, including entry into radio and cable markets and sponsorship of music festivals. In April 2010, Paul and Sue Hartman left ''Dirty Linen'' and VisioNation. ''Dirty Linen'' canceled their March/April and May/June 2010 issues. VisioNation, Ltd., was an Iowa entity established August 13, 1999. Chip Eagle ''(né'' Charles Arthur Eagle, Jr.; born 1959) was president. The

Secretary of State of Iowa The Secretary of State of Iowa is the commissioner of elections of the U.S. state of Iowa. A constitutional officer, the officeholder is elected every four years. The Office of the Secretary of State is divided into four divisions: Elections and ...

VisioNation, Ltd., administratively dissolved VisioNation, Ltd., August 6, 2010. Chip's father, Charles Arthur Eagle (1936–1996), had been vice president of marketing for '' Look'' magazine before it ceased publication in 1971.

Writers

A number of writers for the magazine also provide music content elsewhere on the web: * Kerry Dexter * Steve Ide *

Anil Prasad Anil Prasad is a music journalist and music industry commentator. Career Prasad is the founder and editor of '' Innerviews,'' the Internet's first online music magazine, initially launched in 1994. Prasad’s writing has appeared in ''Guitar P ...

(former writer) now runs ''Innerviews'' and is a contributing editor for ''Guitar Player''. * Chris Nickson * Bill Nevins * Paul Hartman (editor) * Duck Baker * Cliff Furnald (former writer) now runs ''Roots World'', ''Hollow Ear'', and ''CD Roots'' * Chris Kocher ''(né'' Christopher Kocher; born 1973) writes for the '' Press & Sun-Bulletin'' of Binghamton, New York, and has a blog on the paper's website.

References

External links

''Dirty Linen'', Former Editor's Blog: "What Happened to Dirty Linen?" (Official web site deleted)
{{Folk music Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Folk music magazines Magazines established in 1983 Magazines disestablished in 2010 Magazines published in Baltimore Music magazines published in the United States