Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt learned to play guitar at age 9. He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farm hand into the 1920s. In 1923 he often partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour (Carroll County Blues) as a substitute for hi

Gritty, Playful, Repetitive, Rhythmic, Self-reflection, Witty

Steve Earle, the renowned country music rebel, once said of his early mentor: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole wide world, and "I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." A bold statement -- but in certain regards, Van Zandt's influence stretches as

Contemplative, Gritty, Rebel, Rough, Smoky

If American drama was to recognize one fictional clan as first family, the Tyrones would win the title. (Granted, it would be a neck-and-neck race with the Lomans of "Death of a Salesman.") Eugene O'Neill's 1956 masterpiece, "Long Day's Journey into Night," established them as the dark alter ego of t

Dark, Depressive, Domestic, Gritty, Intense, Intimate, Realist theater

Born at a time when serious poetry was produced across the Channel, Chaucer would live to put the English language on the literary map. He began with the spoken word, pioneering the use of English in the royal court in a time when French was the tongue of choice. In the transition to writing, Chaucer

Charming, Funny, Gritty, Medieval fiction, Medieval poetry, Playful, Whimsical, Witty