Roots music wouldn’t happen at all without a certain tool kit. Musicians need instruments to make acoustic music and all kinds of wires and technologies to project that music and transfer it to eager listeners. The Summer 2020 issue of No Depression explores equipment old and new and digital innovations by sharing stories of instruments, luthiers, machinery, and even less tangible songwriting tools to better understand how exactly roots music is made.
Included in this issue:
- 25 Years of No Depression, Tools of the Trade
- The Musician's Mark - Joe Newberry
- The Art of Inlay: An instrument's design presents an opportunity for visual self-expression - Liz Tracy
- How to Build a Green Guitar: Overlogging and deregulation push luthiers to find alternative materials - Greg Cahill
- Nowhere to Go But Up - Kendl Winter
- 'Everything Was Gone': When gear is stole, touring artists find comfort, support from music community - Skip Anderson
- Opening Doors: Fanny's House of Music creates a safe space for women to buy gear - Kelly McCartney
- Two Feet, One Board: Following the beat of French-Canadian foot percussion - Devon Léger
- Lending Library: Finnish program loans rare and vintage instruments to musicians - Dennis Pernu
- Race Against Time: Inside the efforts to preserve and archive vintage recordings - Annie Zaleski
- Playing the Game: How roots music adapts to the ever-changing world of streaming - Grayson Haver Currin
- Bringing the Show Home: How taping connects live music and fans - Allison Hussey
- Crowdsourcing Alan Lomax - Stephen Winick (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)
- Switched Together: Jaime Wyatt and her mother bond over fashion and music - Rachel Cholst
- Challenging Place: The kora finds its way in Western roots music - Hilary Saunders
- Screen Door - Carrie Elkin
- Original design by Marcus Amaker
- Original cover art by D. Norsen
- Original photos from No Depression readers
- Archival and historical photos courtesy of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress
