New Music
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By Deborah Chatham Les Kerr, a Mississippi native and current Nashvillian, has released his 12th album, Child of HWY 90. Kerr spent his adolescent years in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the likes of Elvis Presley inspired him to pursue music. After graduating from Ole Miss, Les established a career in broadcast journalism in Mobile, Alabama, before moving to Nashville in 1987 to become a full-time musician. Les frequently returns to play…
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By Tom “Doc” Leytham In the words of baseball legend, Buck O’Neill, “I heard this sound. It was a thrill for me. I said, ‘Here it is again’.” O’Neill was referring to the sound of Bo Jackson hitting a baseball in Kansas City, how it was a sound he had not heard since the days of Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth. Those words describe how I felt upon hearing the…
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By Johnny ColePhotos by Stephen Anderson How a great song comes to light can be both a fascinating and rewarding process that occasionally comes quickly, but more often takes a journey of its own with hopes of resonating with others. The Gulf Coast has an amazing list of gifted and creative songwriters. Many of them have received widespread recognition for their original music. Several popular songwriters festivals that spotlight this…
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By Deborah Chatham Photos by Stephen Anderson Edited by Johnny Cole The Southland Music Line attended the album release of Amanda Donald’s 100 Roots which took place on Sunday, August 13, 2023, at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile, Alabama. Opened in 1946, Callaghan’s, which has hosted shows by such music artists as Jason Isbell, Alabama Shakes, Jimmy Hall, the late Justin Townes Earl, Dylan LeBlanc, and Lilly Hiatt, has…
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By Johnny Cole Photos by Stephen Anderson Cary Laine is back! The singer-songwriter, now living in Long Beach, Mississippi, is finally back with a brand new collection of songs in her 2023 EP Rebel Rose. Cary is one very busy lady who has found a way to balance her music career with being a wife and mother of three. Her eldest child, who has just graduated from high school and…
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Photo highlights from Abe Partridge’s Album Release Show for Love in the Dark at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile, AL (Fri. Apr. 28, 2023) This latest album by Abe Partridge was recorded with Shawn Byrne at Great Hill Studio in Nashville, TN with the exception of one track that was recorded in Middlesboro, KY with Ferrill Gibbs at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name. The album and…
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by Tom “Doc” Leytham“A Longtime Fan of the Band” The Red Clay Strays have released their debut album, Moment of Truth, and one would be hard pressed to find a more aptly named production. These young musicians from “Lower Alabama” have played together for the better part of five years wowing their fans with original music that gets you on the first listen. Or maybe “you get it” is a…
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By Johnny Cole Photos by Stephen Anderson Additional photos by Jody Campbell Not long ago, I had the privilege of catching Jay Megginson’s performance at Jack’s by the Tracks in Pascagoula, MS. I had previously seen Megginson perform as part of the duo, Barstow Revival, which was featured in a 2019 article by Brenda Germany here at The Southland Music Line. I first met Jay and his wife, Ragan, at…
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by Johnny Cole John Mellencamp’s highly anticipated studio album Strictly A One-Eyed Jack finally arrived in January of this year containing the new single “Did You Say Such A Thing”. While this newest release is his 25th studio album, Mellencamp has also had several more records released when you count his greatest hits, live and acoustic packages. This album is his first studio release since 2018’s Other People’s Stuff, an…
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A Review by Johnny Cole The song “Wasted Days” by John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen is by one of this year’s most anrticipated pairings, especially if you are fan of Sirius XM’s E Street Nation or recently attended this year’s Farm Aid. Both men achieved commericial heights during the 1980’s as they were able to tap into the lives of the blue-collar working-class living in the Ronald Reagan era of…
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