Sign in

The People’s Music

@thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social
12 followers 30 following 12 posts

Uncovering stories from music's past—and the visionary, pioneering, and audacious people behind them—to reveal lessons for the future. thepeoplesmusic.substack.com

PostsRepliesMedia
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
During the Days Between (Aug. 1–9), I keep returning to the Jerry Garcia Band's Shining Star. That's the song that made me a Deadhead—not because of the guitar solo, but because it revealed the remarkable bond of devotion between Garcia and his audience. Read my retrospective—link in bio
130
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Long before social media, Bandcamp, Substack, or the creator economy, Carla Bley reinvented how independent artists make, distribute, and sustain their work. Meet the OG creator—link in bio.
010
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Every once in a while, a song sees the present more clearly than we do and becomes timeless in the process. “Six O’Clock News” made Kathleen Edwards a star and provided a salve for beleaguered hearts during troubled times. Read more—link in bio. #musicsky #musiciansky #KathleenEdwards
010
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
By all rights, she should have been one of soul music’s biggest stars. What she did instead deserves its own kind of recognition. My deep dive into the life and career of an American treasure, Barbara Lynn, at the link in bio. #MusicSky #MusicianSky #BarbaraLynn
010
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The story of Frank Morgan will make you never want to quit at anything you do for the rest of your life. Read more about the jazz saxophonist at the link in bio. #MusicSky #MusicanSky #Jazz #FrankMorgan #CharlieParker
010
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
“I was worried that I hadn’t seen that much activity out on the streets, marching and demonstrations and everything, like people used to do. And I wondered where those people were.” — Lucinda Williams Read on—link in bio. #LucindaWilliams #MusicianSky #MusicSky
020
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
This week in the People’s Music, I look back at Chile’s first rock supergroup, a project funded by Salvador Allende’s socialist government in 1973. Why their story matters. Read for free—link in bio. #MusicSky #MusicianSky #Chile #Panal
020
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Today, #JimCroce’s music draws about 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, more than many of the era’s biggest names. And yet Maury Muehleisen, the guitarist who helped shape his sound, remains largely unknown. This is his story. Read for free—link in bio. #musicsky #musiciansky
022
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
The Voices of East Harlem cast the full spectrum of emotion from Harlem life—the fear, anger, exhaustion, joy, and triumph—and refused to let anyone smother it into something safer for mainstream America. Their story matters, especially now. Link in bio. #MusicSky #MusicianSky #MusicJournalism
020
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
This week in the People’s Music, I look back at the Voices of East Harlem, a teen choir that showed us the power of joy as a form of protest, New York style. Read the story for free. Link in bio. GO KNICKS #musicsky #voicesofeastharlem #knicks
042
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Whenever I finish a deep dive into a subject or a person I love, I always get sad because I have to leave them. But I also feel fortunate to have gotten to enter their world for a little while. And I am better for it. Full story on Substack — link in bio. #MusicianSky #MusicHistory #VinylCommunity
011
The People’s Music @thepeoplesmusic.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
I dove deep into the life and career of Paul Pena, a blind singer-songwriter and guitarist originally from Cape Cod whose two albums are extraordinary documents of timeless originality—full of emotional honesty and musical honesty—but who is still largely unknown. His story is tragic and uplifting.
open.substack.com
Echo in the Dark
A blind musician, a shelved masterpiece, and the sound that changed everything
052