Soul music wasn’t just about rhythm and blues—it was the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement, breaking down racial barriers and fueling the Southern dream of freedom.

Mississippi novelist Michael Farris Smith teams up with legendary musician Jimbo Mathus to create a debut album that bridges literature and music.

From punk rock roots to Americana success, Caleb Caudle discusses his evolution as a songwriter and the path that led to his upcoming Grand Ole Opry debut.

The last thing her conservative Carolina parents wanted was to see their daughter fight for civil rights. The music made her do it anyway.

A jazz player who grew up roaming the banks of the Mississippi produces a musical meditation on life’s most essential element.

In this centennial year of the North Carolina banjo legend’s birth, bluegrass wizard Tony Trischka extols his Earlness with a masterful tribute.

We were taught the South’s greatest music sprung up in specific places, like the Mississippi Delta or New Orleans or Appalachia. Our teachers didn’t dig deep enough.

Robert Lee Coleman, at 18, led a crew of teenage musicians in Macon, Georgia, who played so hot even James Brown came to town recruiting. At 78, he plays even hotter, and he vows to “play until I die.”

From the mountains of Appalachia, the swamps of Florida, and the Pine Belt of Mississippi, a 21st century brand of Southern rock ’n’ roll has risen. And Carolina’s Wednesday are the ringleaders.

Appalachian folk pop singer Dori Freeman’s voice is a stunner. And her songs, like that voice, rise from her deep roots in the Virginia mountains.

How Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor moved to North Carolina from California and found his voice in the South.

Nanci Griffith, one of the finest Texas songwriters ever, left this earth two years ago. Her music lives on in a new tribute album out today. Mary Gauthier writes about the lasting power of Griffith’s songs.