Derk Richardson

Derk Richardson is a freelance music journalist, host of the KPFA radio program "The Hear and Now," and former managing editor of Acoustic Guitar.

History and Remembrances

Acoustic Guitar Magazine cover for the September 2011 issue featuring Robbie Robertson

Remembering Robbie Robertson

Robertson passed away August 9, 2023. Republished here is the cover story for our September 2011 issue, in which the legendary guitarist opened up about the Band, collaborating with Eric Clapton, and his collection of vintage Martins.

August 15, 2023

Album Reviews

Doc Watson, John Cohen, Mississippi John Hurt at Berkeley Folk Music Festival

New Box Set ‘The Village Out West’ Reveals Vital Lost ’60s Folk from California

"The Village Out West" includes 51 tracks of stunning '60s recordings of bluegrass, gospel, folk, Delta blues, Celtic ballads, Woody Guthrie tunes & more.

December 7, 2021

Album Reviews

Mark O’Connor’s First Acoustic Guitar Record in Four Decades Is Flashy and Substantive

After four decades mostly playing violin, Mark O'Connor returns triumphantly to acoustic guitar on flashy and eclectic solo set 'Markology II'

June 21, 2021

Album Reviews

Album Review: Cindy Cashdollar’s Star-Studded ‘Waltz for Abilene’

On only the second album under her own name, Cindy Cashdollar draws from her collection of steel, lap steel, tricone, resophonic, and Weissenborn guitars.

November 2, 2020

Album Reviews

Album Review: Neil Young’s 1970s ‘Homegrown’ Spills from the Vault

The 13th release from the Neil Young Archives since 2006, Homegrown is one of Young’s famously “lost” albums, recorded in 1974–1975.

October 29, 2020

Album Reviews

Album Review: Mary Flower Brings Jaw-dropping Technique to Vernacular Styles

If Livin’ with the Blues Again had been released in 1969 instead of 2019, Mary Flower might have been mentioned in the same breath as Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker, and other fingerstyle players of approximately her generation.

December 30, 2019

Album Reviews

Peruvian Flavors Dominate on Ciro Hurtado’s ‘Altiplano’

Altiplano takes a relatively minimalist approach to revisiting and reinventing the Andean music of his homeland

November 4, 2019

Album Reviews

Review: John Oates Digs Deep into Country Blues on ‘Arkansas’

With Arkansas, John Oates—yes, that John Oates, of the ’70s and ’80s hitmakers Hall & Oates—delivers what will likely endure as the most surprising roots-music release of 2018.

March 28, 2018

Album Reviews

Todd Albright’s ‘Detroit Twelve String: Blues & Rags’ Hollers “Vintage”

The character and emotional vibe of the performance are delicious

June 21, 2017

Album Reviews

Jug Band Cohorts Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur Reunite on a Collection of American Roots Classics, ‘Penny’s Farm’

It’s been nearly 55 years since two of the folk revival’s best guitarists, Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur, first played together. Now they've reunited on Penny's Farm, a collection of American roots classics.

September 20, 2016

Songwriters

Guy Clack sits on a chair with his guitar

Portrait of an Artist: Guy Clark on ‘Write Your Own Story, Whatever It Is’

Like most of the albums he has made over the course of a 38-year recording career, Guy Clark’s latest, My Favorite Picture of You, is a compact collection of exquisitely crafted vignettes, portraits, and narratives, each etched with just the…

April 5, 2016

Songwriters

Dark Star: Forty years after his death, the songs of Nick Drake—flush with melancholy and mystique—continue to inspire guitarists

Nick Drake died in the dark. Not just in the literal shadow of nighttime—although he did apparently pass away before dawn on November 25, 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants—but also at a moment when the reclusive British singer-songwriter could…

November 5, 2014
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