Phil Spector wrote a song in 1958 that seems to sum up the opinion many people have about Austin Woodard, bass and keyboard player for the Greenwood-based band, The Mezz.

“There’s gold in them thar hills.”

I saw the title of this week’s column posed as a question in an online discussion thread this week and, for a moment, it stopped me in my tracks. Seriously, how does one begin to answer that question?

If you’re an audiophile like me, there is nothing quite like stumbling across a piece of recording history captured on video to be preserved for all time.

True confession: Sometimes I go to bed at night just so I can wake up and drink a cup of coffee.

“Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow. But, if we are wise, we know that there’s always tomorrow.” — “Lean On Me”

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.” — Stealers Wheel

If you’re like me, you keep an emergency pandemic playlist always at the ready. And, unfortunately, there’s never been a more appropriate time to maintain social distancing while still finding solace in melody and lyrics. As you process the seriousness of our present situation, music can eas…

With just under two weeks remaining until the official start of spring, I thought this would be a good time to share with you a few playlist suggestions you may want to add to your spring 2020 music compilations. I am sharing these suggestions directly from the set list for “Kashmir,” the ba…

From time to time, someone will come up to me and say, “Hey, I beat my husband…at the music trivia you put in the Sunday paper.” So, let’s give you another round and see how you fare this time. Answers are at the bottom and as always, no wagering.

I recently had the opportunity to join a near-capacity crowd at the Abbeville Opera House to experience the second annual Homegrown Songwriter’s Showcase. The event featured more than 30 local and regional artists performing original songs in a variety of genres and musical stylings.

The world looked very different on Dec. 29, 1919.

I was recently listening to a podcast interview with former Chic member and powerhouse producer Nile Rodgers. This is the man who not only co-wrote and recorded hits like “Good Times” and “Le Freak” in the late 1970s, but also produced the “Let’s Dance” album for David Bowie, “Like a Virgin”…

After a week of Thanksgiving and surviving the mayhem of Black Friday, I thought it would be good on this Sunday to take account and share some personal favorites when it comes to the world of music.

I recently came across an interesting story about Dionne Warwick and how she became known to the world by that particular name.

Back by popular demand, it’s another round of trivia and this time we are expanding the category just a bit to include general knowledge, history and a bit of pop culture.

Deep in the belly of many internet comment threads you will sometimes see the letters “tl:dr.” Birthed on the web in 2002, these initials simply mean “too long: didn’t read.” In other words, either my time is limited or my attention span is too short to read the entire article or thread or t…

Has it ever happened to you?

It was just a few minutes before seven o’ clock Wednesday night.

While some of you are relishing the sweet solace of another summer Sunday, reality reminds us that yellow school buses will be back on the roads a week from Monday and summer for some is coming to an abrupt halt.

It’s time once again to see how much music knowledge is stored up in that brain of yours. Keep score and let me know you fare against family and friends. As always, no wagering.

I have a new hobby. Over the past few weeks, I have been discovering all kinds of treasures with a new (entry level) metal detector. I know, I know — isn’t metal detecting reserved for old men in black socks wearing sandals? Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be – although I might still be class…

I recently ran across an old red scrapbook that I put together in my late teens. In a world before digital phones and invisible storage clouds, scrapbooks were a way to keep those important memories protected (somewhat) through the years and various moves from place to place.

Before the dawn of the internet, I used to enjoy the “Book of Lists” series authored by siblings David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace and their father Irving Wallace. For those unfamiliar, this series of books which first came on the market in 1977 featured hundreds of lists on a wide variety …