{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"Laura Fedele","home_page_url":"https://laurafedele.com","description":"Laura Fedele","author":{"name":"Laura Fedele"},"items":[{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/how-i-ended-up-here","html_content":"

All good things must come to an end, they say. I spent 25 years as the Digital Director for WFUV Public Media in New York City (90.7 FM and wfuv.org), and did all kinds of interesting stuff. Design, writing, coding, proj...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/how-i-ended-up-here","title":"How I ended up here","summary":"All good things must come to an end, they say. I spent 25 years as the Digital Director for WFUV Public Media in New York City (90.7 FM and wfuv.org), and did all kinds of interesting stuff. Design, writing, coding, proj...","date_modified":"2026-08-05T16:00:00Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/bertha-shares-grateful-drag-love-interview","html_content":"

One glimpse at a BERTHA photo and you know there’s something different going on with this Dead tribute band — full-on wigs, makeup and heels are not so common in the hippie world. Of course there’s a story behind it, and...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/bertha-shares-grateful-drag-love-interview","title":"BERTHA Shares Grateful Drag Love: Interview","summary":"One glimpse at a BERTHA photo and you know there’s something different going on with this Dead tribute band — full-on wigs, makeup and heels are not so common in the hippie world. Of course there’s a story behind it, and...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T22:07:45Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2025-three-generations","html_content":"

The considerable longevity of the Newport Folk Festival (founded in 1959), and its singular place in American musical and political culture, makes it a natural case study. As we all know, two generations ago, in the year...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2025-three-generations","title":"Newport Folk Fest 2025: Three Generations [Essay, Photos]","summary":"The considerable longevity of the Newport Folk Festival (founded in 1959), and its singular place in American musical and political culture, makes it a natural case study. As we all know, two generations ago, in the year...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T21:55:47Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2024-what-is-folk-anyway-essay-photos","html_content":"

What is “folk” music? The Newport Folk Festival just celebrated its 65th year, where respectful nods to the origins of the form mixed with more modern interpretations. Joan Baez buzzed between poetry readings like a cool...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2024-what-is-folk-anyway-essay-photos","title":"Newport Folk Fest 2024: What is \"folk\" anyway? [Essay, Photos]","summary":"What is “folk” music? The Newport Folk Festival just celebrated its 65th year, where respectful nods to the origins of the form mixed with more modern interpretations. Joan Baez buzzed between poetry readings like a cool...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T21:44:57Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2023-how-its-different-essay-photos","html_content":"

The Newport Folk Festival sets high expectations. Music fans who've been paying attention know that surprise guests tend to pop up there, and that the storied history of the fest means top (and emerging) artists really w...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-fest-2023-how-its-different-essay-photos","title":"Newport Folk Fest 2023: How it's Different [Essay, Photos]","summary":"The Newport Folk Festival sets high expectations. Music fans who've been paying attention know that surprise guests tend to pop up there, and that the storied history of the fest means top (and emerging) artists really w...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T21:26:07Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-festival-2022-joni-paul-simon-more-essay","html_content":"

The musical summer camp weekend that is the Newport Folk Festival was as wide-ranging as ever this year, mashing genres together under a blazing sun on the (thankfully) breezy peninsula of Fort Adams State Park.

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-festival-2022-joni-paul-simon-more-essay","title":"Newport Folk Fest 2022: Joni, Paul & More [Essay, Photos]","summary":"The musical summer camp weekend that is the Newport Folk Festival was as wide-ranging as ever this year, mashing genres together under a blazing sun on the (thankfully) breezy peninsula of Fort Adams State Park.","date_modified":"2026-08-04T21:17:28Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-festival-2021-essay-photos","html_content":"

If you look at it from the inside out, the Newport Folk Festival has never been like other music fests, in some important ways. It's an event in support of a non-profit foundation, providing grants and gifting instrument...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/newport-folk-festival-2021-essay-photos","title":"Newport Folk Fest 2021: Back from Isolation [Essay, Photos]","summary":"If you look at it from the inside out, the Newport Folk Festival has never been like other music fests, in some important ways. It's an event in support of a non-profit foundation, providing grants and gifting instrument...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T19:05:06Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/rickie-lee-jones-last-chance-texaco-book-review","html_content":"

Rickie Lee Jones\nLast Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour\nGrove Press

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/rickie-lee-jones-last-chance-texaco-book-review","title":"Rickie Lee Jones: Last Chance Texaco [Book Review]","summary":"Rickie Lee Jones\nLast Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour\nGrove Press","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:55:37Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/traffic-the-low-spark-of-high-heeled-boys-album-review","html_content":"

The story of how the British band Traffic came together is more convoluted than a Haight-Ashbury tour poster. Suffice it to say that from the imploded ashes of shorter-lived combos (including the notable Spencer Davis Gr...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/traffic-the-low-spark-of-high-heeled-boys-album-review","title":"Traffic: The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys [Album Review]","summary":"The story of how the British band Traffic came together is more convoluted than a Haight-Ashbury tour poster. Suffice it to say that from the imploded ashes of shorter-lived combos (including the notable Spencer Davis Gr...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:52:54Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/tori-amos-little-earthquakes-album-review","html_content":"

“I began writing Little Earthquakes around 1988. Musically, we were coming out of a time with a lot of emphasis on Depeche Mode and into a time of Nirvana... being a contemporary piano player wasn't working within the mu...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/tori-amos-little-earthquakes-album-review","title":"Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes [Album Review]","summary":"“I began writing Little Earthquakes around 1988. Musically, we were coming out of a time with a lot of emphasis on Depeche Mode and into a time of Nirvana... being a contemporary piano player wasn't working within the mu...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:48:09Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/dusty-springfield-dusty-in-memphis-album-review","html_content":"

Dusty in Memphis was not a hit. Sales-wise, it barely cracked the Billboard 100. So how did it end up regarded as one of the most important records of the ’60s? It’s a dramatic story.

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/dusty-springfield-dusty-in-memphis-album-review","title":"Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis [Album Review]","summary":"Dusty in Memphis was not a hit. Sales-wise, it barely cracked the Billboard 100. So how did it end up regarded as one of the most important records of the ’60s? It’s a dramatic story.","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:46:37Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/liz-phair-exile-in-guyville-album-review","html_content":"

I bought this album — well, I bought this CD, it was 1993 — before hearing a note. There was so much buzz about it, and this was pre-Internet, the old-school print media stirred things up: Everybody loved it. I read Roll...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/liz-phair-exile-in-guyville-album-review","title":"Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville [Album Review]","summary":"I bought this album — well, I bought this CD, it was 1993 — before hearing a note. There was so much buzz about it, and this was pre-Internet, the old-school print media stirred things up: Everybody loved it. I read Roll...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:44:22Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/sheryl-crow-tuesday-night-music-club-album-review","html_content":"

Yes, there really was a Tuesday Night Music Club, and yes, it spawned an album that launched a music career. The details of how that happened have been argued about ever since, but as we all now know, the talent of Shery...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/sheryl-crow-tuesday-night-music-club-album-review","title":"Sheryl Crow: Tuesday Night Music Club [Album Review]","summary":"Yes, there really was a Tuesday Night Music Club, and yes, it spawned an album that launched a music career. The details of how that happened have been argued about ever since, but as we all now know, the talent of Shery...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:41:27Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/indigo-girls-indigo-girls-album-review","html_content":"

If you have any CDs, albums or cassettes left at home, you have this one, so pull it out. Take a look at that track list. These songs are 30 years old, but they’ve never gone away: they’ve woven themselves into our lives...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/indigo-girls-indigo-girls-album-review","title":"Indigo Girls: Indigo Girls [Album Review]","summary":"If you have any CDs, albums or cassettes left at home, you have this one, so pull it out. Take a look at that track list. These songs are 30 years old, but they’ve never gone away: they’ve woven themselves into our lives...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:39:30Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/cyndi-lauper-she%E2%80%99s-so-unusual-album-review","html_content":"

Pop queen Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper burst out of the gate with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and its lighthearted, goofy video about a pack of female friends. We first met “Cyndi” overdressed and abundantly accessoriz...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/cyndi-lauper-she%E2%80%99s-so-unusual-album-review","title":"Cyndi Lauper: She’s So Unusual [Album Review]","summary":"Pop queen Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper burst out of the gate with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and its lighthearted, goofy video about a pack of female friends. We first met “Cyndi” overdressed and abundantly accessoriz...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:37:25Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/blondie-parallel-lines-album-review","html_content":"

My first glimpse of Blondie was on MTV: an electronic beat kicks in behind a close-up shot of a woman with obviously dyed hair. Her voice rings in, clear and high and dreamy, as she stiffly jerks her shoulders to the bea...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/blondie-parallel-lines-album-review","title":"Blondie: Parallel Lines [Album Review]","summary":"My first glimpse of Blondie was on MTV: an electronic beat kicks in behind a close-up shot of a woman with obviously dyed hair. Her voice rings in, clear and high and dreamy, as she stiffly jerks her shoulders to the bea...","date_modified":"2026-08-04T18:34:19Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/dolly-parton-coat-of-many-colors-album-review","html_content":"

Dolly Parton stands alone. Only she could manage to completely skirt politics in our divided culture and remain beloved by fans of every possible belief, from church ladies to drag queens. A sharp-witted, smooth-talking ...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/dolly-parton-coat-of-many-colors-album-review","title":"Dolly Parton: Coat of Many Colors [Album Review]","summary":"Dolly Parton stands alone. Only she could manage to completely skirt politics in our divided culture and remain beloved by fans of every possible belief, from church ladies to drag queens. A sharp-witted, smooth-talking ...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:59:44Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brandi-carlile-the-story-album-review","html_content":"

Brandi Carlile, the firebrand with a big voice and even bigger heart, has put out six beautiful albums with her partners in music, Phil and Tim Hanseroth.  By the Way, I Forgive You, released in 2018, may have garnered t...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brandi-carlile-the-story-album-review","title":"Brandi Carlile: The Story [Album Review]","summary":"Brandi Carlile, the firebrand with a big voice and even bigger heart, has put out six beautiful albums with her partners in music, Phil and Tim Hanseroth.  By the Way, I Forgive You, released in 2018, may have garnered t...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:57:06Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brittany-howard-jaime-album-review","html_content":"

Brittany Howard\nJaime\nATO Records

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brittany-howard-jaime-album-review","title":"Brittany Howard: Jaime [Album Review]","summary":"Brittany Howard\nJaime\nATO Records","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:53:46Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/the-national-i-am-easy-to-find-album-review","html_content":"

The National\nI Am Easy to Find\n4AD

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/the-national-i-am-easy-to-find-album-review","title":"The National: I Am Easy to Find [Album Review]","summary":"The National\nI Am Easy to Find\n4AD","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:52:10Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/indigo-girls-essay","html_content":"

There is a perfect yin-yang balance to the music of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, known as (the) Indigo Girls since their college days in the mid-’80s. They’d already been singing together for years at that point, childhood...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/indigo-girls-essay","title":"Indigo Girls [Essay]","summary":"There is a perfect yin-yang balance to the music of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, known as (the) Indigo Girls since their college days in the mid-’80s. They’d already been singing together for years at that point, childhood...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:49:36Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/neil-young-essay","html_content":"

Nobody tells Neil Young what to do. Famously headstrong and opinionated, the determination that drove him to change gears so many times in his career is the very thing that made him a world-famous musician in the first p...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/neil-young-essay","title":"Neil Young [Essay]","summary":"Nobody tells Neil Young what to do. Famously headstrong and opinionated, the determination that drove him to change gears so many times in his career is the very thing that made him a world-famous musician in the first p...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:47:05Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/ani-difranco-essay","html_content":"

Whoever first declared \"The Personal is Political\" would be hard-pressed to find a public figure either more political or more personal than Angela Maria DiFranco. That’s been the case for her entire career, which has ch...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/ani-difranco-essay","title":"Ani DiFranco [Essay]","summary":"Whoever first declared \"The Personal is Political\" would be hard-pressed to find a public figure either more political or more personal than Angela Maria DiFranco. That’s been the case for her entire career, which has ch...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:43:30Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/willie-nelson-essay","html_content":"

Country music was a nice world until Willie Nelson showed up. It was full to the Stetson-brim of proper men and women wearing button-up shirts, pressed jackets and shiny boots.

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/willie-nelson-essay","title":"Willie Nelson [Essay]","summary":"Country music was a nice world until Willie Nelson showed up. It was full to the Stetson-brim of proper men and women wearing button-up shirts, pressed jackets and shiny boots.","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:40:54Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/mavis-staples-essay","html_content":"

How did Mavis Staples become a rock star?

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/mavis-staples-essay","title":"Mavis Staples [Essay]","summary":"How did Mavis Staples become a rock star?","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:37:08Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brandi-carlile-essay","html_content":"

With a voice that rings to the heavens like a deep, clear bell the size of a minivan, Brandi Carlile first got the attention of alert radio stations and music fans in 2005. Before then, she was spending more time in that...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/brandi-carlile-essay","title":"Brandi Carlile [Essay]","summary":"With a voice that rings to the heavens like a deep, clear bell the size of a minivan, Brandi Carlile first got the attention of alert radio stations and music fans in 2005. Before then, she was spending more time in that...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:33:52Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/sharon-jones-essay","html_content":"

The great Miss Sharon Jones was a lover and a fighter. Her spirit was true, her joy was infectious, and her voice will not be forgotten. Sharon's time recording in the House of Soul Studios in Brooklyn with the Dap-Kings...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/sharon-jones-essay","title":"Sharon Jones [Essay]","summary":"The great Miss Sharon Jones was a lover and a fighter. Her spirit was true, her joy was infectious, and her voice will not be forgotten. Sharon's time recording in the House of Soul Studios in Brooklyn with the Dap-Kings...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:27:48Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/emmylou-harris-essay","html_content":"

To legions of music fans, Emmylou Harris is a goddess. Revered as one of the greatest harmony singers and song interpreters of our age, this graceful artist claims a place in the high court of Americana royalty.

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/emmylou-harris-essay","title":"Emmylou Harris [Essay]","summary":"To legions of music fans, Emmylou Harris is a goddess. Revered as one of the greatest harmony singers and song interpreters of our age, this graceful artist claims a place in the high court of Americana royalty.","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:23:35Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/lucinda-williams-essay","html_content":"

When the days of the Brill Building evolved into the days of Bob Dylan, music fans came to expect that songs be borne of personal expression by their hero on the stage. Since then, few artists have been lauded for their ...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/lucinda-williams-essay","title":"Lucinda Williams [Essay]","summary":"When the days of the Brill Building evolved into the days of Bob Dylan, music fans came to expect that songs be borne of personal expression by their hero on the stage. Since then, few artists have been lauded for their ...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:21:01Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/natalie-merchant-essay","html_content":"

Watching Natalie Merchant perform is to witness a thing of beauty and grace. Merchant has complete control of the warm, unmistakable alto that is one of her career trademarks. She practically floats above the ground, so ...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/natalie-merchant-essay","title":"Natalie Merchant [Essay]","summary":"Watching Natalie Merchant perform is to witness a thing of beauty and grace. Merchant has complete control of the warm, unmistakable alto that is one of her career trademarks. She practically floats above the ground, so ...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:17:59Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/wilco-essay","html_content":"

If you go way back with Wilco, then you know it was the big-bang demise of a two-headed band, Uncle Tupelo, that made them possible. When lightning struck the alt-country pioneers in 1994, Jay Farrar shot off to form Son...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/wilco-essay","title":"Wilco [Essay]","summary":"If you go way back with Wilco, then you know it was the big-bang demise of a two-headed band, Uncle Tupelo, that made them possible. When lightning struck the alt-country pioneers in 1994, Jay Farrar shot off to form Son...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:14:34Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/my-sister-lynn-and-i-talk-radiohead","html_content":"

Wow. How do you write about Radiohead?

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/my-sister-lynn-and-i-talk-radiohead","title":"My Sister Lynn and I Talk Radiohead [Essay]","summary":"Wow. How do you write about Radiohead?","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:11:50Z"},{"id":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/rem-essay-artwork","html_content":"

I'm driving, it's late and I'm tired. The one thing that will keep my eyes open and my blood pumping is R.E.M., still. I'm not feeding off you I will re-ar-range your scales, and I can, yes I can. And still, some of the ...

","url":"https://laurafedele.com/features/f/rem-essay-artwork","title":"R.E.M. [Essay, artwork]","summary":"I'm driving, it's late and I'm tired. The one thing that will keep my eyes open and my blood pumping is R.E.M., still. I'm not feeding off you I will re-ar-range your scales, and I can, yes I can. And still, some of the ...","date_modified":"2026-08-03T21:02:29Z"}]}