Discourse Article Archives
Bloodkin's One Long Hustle
By James Calemine CLICK ON LINKS WITH
Gimme Some Sugar, Darlin': The Quintessential Southern Cookbook
If you love to cook or just love to collect cookbooks, start making space on your bookshelf now because there's a new cookbook in town. This delightful compendium of all things culinary, Gimme Some Sugar, Darlin' by Mississippian Laurance Daltroff Triplette, is true piece read more...
Stranger In Paradise: The Works of Howard Finster
Stranger In Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster By James Calemine "For nation will rise read more...
New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music
New Horizons By James Calemine "I'm gonna sail like A ship on the ocean..." --The Georgia Sea island read more...
The Shoals Area Heats Up for the 31st Annual W. C. Handy Music Festival
It's almost that time again when the hills of North Alabama are alive with the sound of music. The 31st annual W. C. Handy Music Festival, which runs July read more...
Luther Dickinson: A Thousand Footprints in the Sand
By James Calemine Luther read more...
Games People Play: Atlanta Songwriter Joe South
Games People Play: Atlanta Songwriter Joe South By James Calemine Joe South's songs remain timeless. To me, he always epitomized the story of a living legend that no one can seem to find. He's out there somewhere, but no one has heard from him read more...
The Paintings of Georgia Artist Steve Penley
The Paintings of Georgia Artist Steve Penley By James Calemine Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1964, Steve Penley was raised in Macon, Georgia. By the time he attended the University of Georgia, he'd been painting and drawing for as long as read more...
Tennessee Williams: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton
Tennessee Williams: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton By James Calemine Born in Columbus, Mississippi, on March 26, 1911, Thomas (Tennessee) Williams wrote plays, short stories, novels and poetry. Some of his characters rank as the most memorable in read more...
Levon Helm: Across The Great Divide
Levon Helm: Across The Great Divide To me, Levon Helm's voice captured the authentic roots of America's south. Born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, Helm grew up on Sonny Boy Williamson, traveled with
"What Does the Lord Require of You But to do Justice...?"
By Patsy Glenn, Guest Writer
American Roots Music: "The Jefferson County Sound: Alabama's Black Gospel Quartets"
The new documentary film, "The Jefferson County Sound: Alabama's Black Gospel Quartets," (One State Films, Stone Ridge, NY, 2012) is a tribute to and an affectionate preservation of roots music, in particular black gospel a capella quartet music. The read more...
My Year of Scary Movies: (Part 9) The Shining
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 9): The Shining By Daniel Hutchens The story goes that during filming of The Shining, director Stanley Kubrick once called novelist Stephen King (from whose book the film was drawn) at about 3:00 in the read more...
A Georgia Son in the Big Apple: The Brit Whittle Interview
A Georgia Son in the Big Apple The Brit Whittle Interview By James Calemine Acting is a rough trade. Few attain moments on the silver screen. The streets of Hollywood and New York are paved with bones of dead aspirant thespians. Georgia read more...
My Year of Scary Movies: (Part 8) Halloween
HALLOWEEN (1978) Directed by John Carpenter Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence By Daniel Hutchens "He came home..."
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 7): Roman Polanski's Unholy Trinity
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 7) Roman Polanski's Unholy Trinity by Daniel Hutchens Roman Polanski made three horror films over the course of eleven years which have come to be referred to as his “Unholy Trinity” or his read more...
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 6): Satan In the 70s
My Year Of Scary Movies by Daniel Hutchens Part 6: SATAN IN THE 70s Thrills and chills have always been popular entertainment, and of course this series of essays about scary movies I’m writing skips back and forth across several read more...
My Year of Scary Movies: (Part 5): Psycho
My Year Of Scary Movies by Daniel Hutchens Part 5: Psycho (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh
Making Merry in the Marigny: FMIA Tour of Homes, New Orleans
Visitors to New Orleans who think the city is defined by the French Quarter and the Garden District are in for a delightful surprise when they wander past Esplanade and across Elysian Fields into the fabulous Faubourg Marigny. Popularly known as the
HOMEGROWN: An Exhibit of Regionally Influenced Designs in Nashville, TN
HOMEGROWN is a special exhibition of regionally influenced, culturally significant, contemporary design, bringing the designs to an underexposed market outside of the major design centers. The exhibit will take place from place from June 1 through June
The Secret To A Happy Ending
The Secret To A Happy Ending A Barr Weissmann Documentary (ATO Records) By James Calemine "The secret to a happy read more...
Matthew Nolan: Crumpled Paper Dolls and Exhuming Juliet.
"My pen sustains me, " writes poet Matthew Nolan in his poem "Muddy Hearts" from his first volume of poetry and prose Crumpled Paper Dolls (2004). Nolan, through his read more...
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 4): My Trip To Meet Fritz
MY YEAR OF SCARY MOVIES by Daniel Hutchens Part 4: My Trip To Meet Fritz “Iʼm just happy Iʼm still able to warp your young minds.”
My Year of Scary Movies: (Part 3): Nite Owl Theatre
MY YEAR OF SCARY MOVIES by Daniel Hutchens Part 3: Nite Owl Theatre “Greetings, Good Groovers.” As a kid I would sometimes visit my older sister Sandi in the summertime. She lived in Athens, Ohio, and one of read more...
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 2): Plan 9 From Outer Space
MY YEAR OF SCARY MOVIES by Daniel Hutchens Part 2: Plan 9 From Outer Space(1958) Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. Starring Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira. “You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. read more...
My Year of Scary Movies (Part 1): Bats On My Birthday Cake
MY YEAR OF SCARY MOVIES by Daniel Hutchens Part 1: Bats On My Birthday Cake When I turned six years old, my birthday cake was decorated with bats. Not bats of the baseball variety, but bats with wings. As in vampire bats, as in read more...
Meeting the Icons: Flo Kennedy and Rosa Parks
by Patsy Glenn So many of the high points in my life are framed and on the walls in my computer room. One of those is the program from the 1985 State Conference of the Alabama National Organization for Women. We met in October that year at the Econo Lodge on Battleship read more...
The Roots of Rock and Roll in the Rocket City by Jane DeNeefe
Huntsville's rock and roll scene got its start in a racially segregated world. Black and white neighborhoods and business districts coexisted side-by-side downtown, with separate record stores, churches and night clubs. When Sun Record tours came through read more...
The Buzz Around Savannah Bee: The Ted Dennard Interview
The Buzz Around Savannah Bee: The Ted Dennard Interview By James Calemine Ted Dennard's company, Savannah Bee, ranks as one of the most vibrant read more...
Rock and Roll Mommy
Rock and Roll Mommy by Shannon McNally I didn’t recognize the first signs of being pregnant. I mistook them for extreme road weariness. I was in the studio in Lafayette making a record with Mac Rebennack, (also known as
When The Saints Went Marching Out: Artists Remember Katrina, 24 August 2010
by Diann Blakely “I do not know much about gods, but I think that the river Is a strong brown god-- T. S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages” At first I thought it was the Dog Days: that period between July and September when it is not only read more...
Young Man With A Horn: Ken Watters, Jazz Trumpeter Extraordinaire
"Ken Watters is one of the finest young trumpet players to come along in a very long while. His is a unique trumpet voice that utilizes the read more...
Meet David Lummis, Author of The Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans
In April of this year I had the opportunity to spend four glorious days in that queen of cities, New Orleans. One of the highlights of the trip, as recorded in my
Truth And Salvage Company: From the Hills of Carolina To the Hills of California
Truth and Salvage Company: From the Hills of Carolina To The Hills of California By James Calemine The rare collection of songwriters in Truth And Salvage Company originate from Atlanta, New Orleans, Tupelo and Ohio, met in Asheville, North Carolina, read more...
Athens Cobbler Practices "Dying Art" by Holly Hollman
ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — Dust particles dance in the dim light at Dobbs Shoe Shop as Mike Latimer grinds a custom sneaker sole for an orthopedic patient. Grit and black polish outline his calloused fingertips. The smells of beeswax, used for
New Orleans Journal Episode Three: Culture, Cuisine, and "Coffee Shop Chronicles"
Randy and I arrived in NOLA on April 9 by way of Hattiesburg, MS. We elected to spend the first night of the trip in Mississippi because we had heard of a superb restaurant in downtown Hattiesburg read more...
"Ain't No City Like New Orleans"--New Orleans Journal Episode One
April in Paris? How about April in one of the most incredible cities in the world--a city rich with history, redolent with aromas of exotic cuisine, and resounding with jazz-- New Orleans, Louisiana. New read more...
Six Degrees of Swampland: Drive-By Truckers
The Six Degrees of Swampland: The Drive By Truckers serves as a compendium of all DBT-related read more...
UA Press Releases Alabama's Civil RIghts Trail: An Illustrated Guide
This amazing 350 page volume, Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom, is every person's guide to the last 150 years of the civil read more...
Athens Georgia's Finest: Patterson Hood's 2010 Guitar Pull
Athens Georgia's Finest: Patterson Hood’s 2010 Guitar Pull By James Calemine A cold wind swirled down the streets of Athens, Georgia, on the evening of February 24. Wednesday night’s Guitar Pull was hosted by read more...
Six Degrees of Swampland: The Dickinson Family
Jim Dickinson--The High Priest of Memphis Mojo--shines like a beacon of light in the music world. Dickinson’s indelible read more...
Memories of Vic Chesnutt By Daniel Hutchens
LISTENING TO A LOT OF LITTLE: MEMORIES OF VIC CHESNUTT By Daniel Hutchens
Bloodkin Gears Up For Christmas, The Shining And A Long Hustle
Bloodkin Gears Up For Christmas, The Shining And A Long Hustle By Daniel Hutchens
A Real Christmas Letter: Writer Counts Blessings
The following is a real Christmas letter that I received last year. It was too late to publish it on Swampland so I saved it for this year because I found it not only inspirational but very funny. During 2009 I read it over and over in order to remember to count read more...
Tides and Times
Tides and Times By Michael Gowen
Lisa Love's Soulful Mission for The Georgia Music Hall of Fame
Lisa Love’s Mission To Preserve The Georgia Music Hall of Fame By James Calemine My old friend
Johnny Mercer: A Georgia Peach of a Songwriter
by Billy C. Farlow Elk River November 2009 Johnny Mercer is not your usual Southern music icon. In the genre of down-home music greats most life stories are all too read more...
Chuck Leavell Fall 08 Interview (Part One)
The Chuck Leavell Interview Fall 08 (Part One) "The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful and the read more...
First Annual Southern Shorts Film Festival by Guest Writer Kelly Kazek
Organizers of the Southern Shorts Film Festival, the first of its kind in Athens, Ala, will be screening three feature-length films read more...
The Michael Gowen Interview: Kayak Fishing On St. Simons & Coastal Georgia
The Michael Gowen Interview Fall 2009 By James Calemine A couple of weeks ago my old friend and I Michael Gowen conducted this read more...
Pat Conroy: An Affair to Remember
by Penne J. Laubenthal When I read my first Pat Conroy book, it was love at first paragraph. I have just finished reading the prologue to
Cornbread Chronicles: Excerpts
by Jerry read more...
Alabama Filmmaker Robert Clem, Atticus Finch, and Big Jim Folsom
by Penne J. Laubenthal The New Yorker magazine, renowned for its esoteric analyses as well as its eclectic literary pieces recently published a provocative article entitled
Billy C Farlow Talks about Jaybird Coleman and the Blues Harp
by guest writer Billy C. Farlow After my rant about harp blowers not getting enough credit in Ted Gioia's fine book
Widespread Panic's Official 2008 Induction Into Georgia Music Hall of Fame
2008 Widespread Panic Induction Into Georgia Music Hall of Fame By James Calemine (Published in the Official 30th Anniversary Georgia Music Hall of Fame 2008 read more...
Renowned Artist James C. Watkins and the Trinity Museum Project.
by guest writer Diane Lehr On Friday July 17,2009, I spent the late afternoon in Athens, read more...
Celebrating Juneteenth and the End of Slavery in the US
by Penne J. Laubenthal "This is the use of memory/ For liberation -- not less of love but expanding/ Of love beyond desire and so liberation/ From the future as well as the past." T. S read more...
Barney Hoskyns' Biography Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
Barney Hoskyns’ Biography The Lowside of The Road: A Life of Tom Waits By James Calemine “Take an eye for an read more...
Rick Bragg Receives Harper Lee Award
By Penne J. Laubenthal At the 12th Annual Alabama Writers Symposium held earlier this month in
Six Degrees of Swampland: Widespread Panic
George Washington Harris' Cemetery Party by Special Guest Dr. Sheila Byrd
As I stood on the hillside of this compact, well-kept cemetery in a place I had known for a few short months, I was struck by the beauty of the spring day: the blooming dogwoods, the bright green grass, the fresh air, and brilliant sunshine. It was as if he had ordered it read more...
Southern Literature: Roots and Branches
---by Penne J. Laubenthal What is Southern literature and when did it begin? We know that literature was being written in the not yet self-consciously read more...
The Gonzo Tapes: The Life And Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 13): William Faulkner Provides Our Rankings
As the season nears conclusion, it's time to break down our 13 teams into groups, Faulkner-style. With apologies to this great writer, the titles and themes of his novels and stories seemed to fit our group of thirteen as the season nears its close.
Art and the South: Paxton--Out of This World
By Penne J. Laubenthal When Midrealist artist Paxton opened his recent show at the
Rooting Out Kudzu the Spartanburg Way
by Dianne Smith Fergusson “Far Eastern vines. . . . prospered until rooted out.” James Dickey –
Suicide and the South
by Penne J. Laubenthal When he was only 31 years old, the brilliant and talented John Kennedy Toole killed himself by using a garden hose to asphyxiate himself with exhaust fumes from his car. His read more...
Chuck Leavell: Rolling Stone & Tree Farmer
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Bob Dylan's Renaldo & Clara: Asleep In The Tomb
Bob Dylan’s Lost Classic Renaldo & Clara: Asleep In the Tomb By James Calemine "I've been read more...
Guest blog by Bebe Gish Shaw: Magical Mississippi Tour
There are magical moments in teaching which remind us that we do not teach to live but rather live to teach, and Saturday, April 19, 2008, was one of those halcyon days of academic heaven in which one goes into third person, watching himself watching the wonderment sparkle in read more...
Eddie Hinton Does Porretta--Again!
by Penne J. Laubenthal Eighteen years ago in April of 1991 an Italian named Graziano Uliani, founder of the
Jim Dickinson's All-Star Music & Film
In Jim Dickinson’s first contribution to Swampland/Mystery And Manners, he wrote an indelible piece on Memphis barbecue. For his second installment Dickinson cites his favorite pianists, films and a desert island music stash. The High Priest of Memphis read more...
Billy Bob Thornton : Six Degrees of Swampland
YOUR GUIDE TO ALL THINGS BILLY BOB AT SWAMPLAND.COM
Natasha Trethewey: Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
by Penne J. Laubenthal Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey is a poet who gives voice to the voiceless, names to the nameless, and who creates read more...
Sena Jeter Naslund and Growing Up in the Segregated South
Four Spirits, a novel by Birmingham native Sena Jeter Naslund based on the aftermath of the1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four little girls, made its world premiere read more...
Darius Goes West: Twelve Guys and a Dream
Once in a great while, just when you think there is no reason to get up in the morning and that there is no hope for humanity, and that people will just go on killing one another forever, and that tomorrow will be probably be even worse than today, then something happens to turn read more...
Fifth Annual Oxford Film Festival
The Fifth Annual Oxford Film Festival (OFF) will open Wednesday evening, read more...
The Appalachian Sounds of Fonotone Records
The Appalachian Sounds of Fonotone Records By James Calemine “I went out in the open field/Black snake bit me on the read more...
Billy C Farlow is Having Too Much Fun
by Penne J. Laubenthal Billy C Farlow, blues musician, song writer, and harmonica player who skyrocketed to fame in the early ‘70s with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, is a force to be reckoned with read more...
Goodbye, Babylon: A Patchwork Quilt of American Music
GOODBYE, BABYLON A Patchwork Quilt of American Music By James Calemine
A Celebration of The Life & Work of Paul Hemphill
A Celebration of The Life & Work of Paul Hemphill By James Calemine "I was ridin' number nine Headin' south from Caroline
The Great Southern Sportswriters Series
Writing and storytelling have always been deeply ingrained in Southern culture. The people that combined that art with the Swampland Footprint's passion for sports make the whole experience more special and unique. Swampland Sports is proud to offer this series of read more...
St. Simons Island: Seaside Reckoning
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The Divine Spark of Sly & The Family Stone
By James Calemine
Clifton Taulbert at the 6th Annual Writers Conference
Ah, April in Alabama---blistering sun one day, pouring rain the next. A certainty regarding the South is that one just has to wait long enough and the weather will change. Outside the conference building at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama, a precious rain is falling, read more...
The Georgia Sea Island Singers - Preserving Coastal Music Traditions
The Georgia Sea Island Singers Preserving Coastal Music Traditions By James Calemine Spring 2006 After four decades, Frankie and Doug Quimby continue to travel the world as the Georgia Sea Island Singers, read more...
Sam Shepard Stars in "Don't Come Knocking"
The Electric Cowboy Stars In Wim Wenders' Latest Film by James Calemine December '05 Sam Shepard’s career epitomizes the rugged soul of America’s West. The award read more...
Mighty Field of Vision Internet and Radio Foundation Started
JOHN D. WYKER HEADS UP INTERNET RADIO STATION Decatur man's Internet station called a 'vision' of the future; music includes oldies, demos By Ronnie Thomas/Decatur Daily, Decatur, Al October, 2005 The read more...
Breakfast With Hunter
Breakfast With Hunter: A Film By Wayne Ewing Starring Dr. Hunter S. Thompson by James Calemine Feb. 2005 “There may be flies on you and me, but there are no flies on Jesus.” read more...
Sam Peckinpah
The Furious Legacy of an American Maverick by James Calemine December read more...
Drive-By Truckers: Southern (Dis)Comfort
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Southern (Dis)Comfort: It’s Only Rock and Roll by James Calemine I “People need trouble——a little frustration to sharpen the read more...
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
A deluge of Townes Van Zandt releases flood the market since his death on January 1, 1997. A bitter legal battles ensues over Van Zandt's prolific song catalogue. Various related projects recently became available such as Norah Jones' Handsome Band: Live 2004, Margaret Brown's read more...
Stanley Booth: Can I Get A Witness
Can I Get A Witness The True Adventures of Stanley Booth By James Calemine Winter 2000 Jack Kerouac was a writer. That is, he wrote. Many people who call themselves writers and have their names on books aren’t read more...