Swallow Hill Music Instructor Profile: Aaron McCloskey

“Talk about your amps! Talk about all the bands you’re in!” A Swallow Hill Music staffer playfully needled Aaron McCloskey to brag on himself, even just a little, one recent afternoon. Aaron just smiled and gave her a look of understated mortification. Only when asked...

Clay Kirkland’s Top Ten Ways To Beat The Reaper

Ten years ago Clay Kirkland started marking his birthday with a live music event he dubbed “Clay Kirkland Beats the Reaper.” Though he didn’t know it at the time, the accomplished harmonica player, who has shared the stage with everyone from Willie...

Q&A: Matt Brown and Greg Reish

Matt Brown and Greg Reish’s Speed of the Plow is a collection of lively and entertaining old time fiddle tunes. The album demonstrates with deceptive ease how old time music can exist in the present, while at the same time represent decades-old musical...

Q&A: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Few bands stand at the nexus of art, live performance and history the way Ladysmith Black Mambazo does. From humble beginnings in Ladysmith, South Africa, the band’s voices lifted them to international fame, garnering them an appearance on Paul Simon’s iconic...