Paul Harvey

In recent years, country songwriters have seemed to be virtually required to produce jingoistic populist anthems. But the association of country and the political right is only a recent invention.

Last week’s six-hour PBS documentary, God in America, wasn’t really about God in America. Nor was it about religions in America. Following a fairly conventional narrative in mainstream discourse (albeit not one adopted by the contemporary Christian right), the series…

Some of John Mellencamp’s latest offering was recorded in a black church in Georgia, where he got baptized to boot. What does it mean when a place like First African comes to serve as a stand-in for authenticity? What’s the myth behind the music?