It's outstanding to honor those who have made significant contributions to society. Great people ought to be honored in every way possible. The motivation behind Mariaa Siga's "Mame Bamba" tribute to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba is obvious, but there are other reasons for the song's existence as well. Poet, brave resistance fighter, and nonviolent theist Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba founded the Mouridist and Touba movements. That aspect of...

When a German-born songwriter in his sixties filters his life’s rear-view mirror through authentic American roots music, you get The Cumberland River Project and the profoundly human new EP, "Meet Me In The Rain". Frank Renfordt acts as the absolute sole architect here. He is singing, writing, producing, and physically wrapping his hands around the acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, bass, mandolin, keys, and drum...