On the cover: Guy Clark. Photograph by David Wilds. Song lyrics on cover and spine from "Rex’s Blues" by Townes Van Zandt.

FRONT PORCH
Hello Stranger; Box Full Of Letters; Field Reportings; Farther Along.

MIKED
Live reviews
Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana; Dolly Parton in Washington, DC; Rosanne Cash in New York City, NY; Syd Straw in New York City, NY; Camper Van Beethoven in New York City, NY; Pine Valley Cosmonauts in Chicago, IL; Paul Kelly, Be Good Tanyas in Melbourne Australia; Billy Joe Shaver in Austin, TX; Blazers in San Antonio, TX; Malcolm Holcomb & Valorie Miller in Chapel Hill, NC; Link Wray in New Orleans, LA.

TOWN & COUNTRY
Brief regional features
Two Dollar Pistols (Chapel Hill, NC); Kennedys (Reston, VA); Roger Wallace (Austin, TX); Reeltime Travelers (Johnson City, TN); Bob Frank (El Sobrante, CA); James Low (Portland, OR); Ashtray Hearts (Minneapolis, MN); Patty Hurst Shifter (Raleigh, NC); Laura Minor (Gainesville, FL); Spigot (Portland, OR).

A PLACE TO BE
Regional portrait
Bakersfield, California, yesterday and today.

DON’T ASK ME NO QUESTIONS
Q&A
Radney Foster (interview by Barry Mazor).

THE LONG WAY AROUND
Extended features
Elizabeth Cook (by Bill Friskics-Warren)
Doug Martsch (by Allison Stewart)
Rhett Miller (by Paul Cantin)
Guy Clark (by Geoffrey Himes)
Lost & Found (by John Weisberger)
Roscoe Holcomb (by Mike Michaels)

SITTIN’ & THINKIN’
Essay
The color of country music (by Crispin Sartwell).

NOT FADE AWAY
Reissues
Elvis Presley; The Acoustic Folk Box; Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners; Harmonica Frank Floyd; Bill Monroe; Lonesome Pine Fiddlers; Rusty & Doug Kershaw; Doyle Lawson; Jeannie C. Riley; Glen Campbell; Larry Sparks; Keith Whitley; Gail Davies; Rosanne Cash; Lovin’ Spoonful; Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

WAXED
Reviews
Allison Moorer; Bruce Springsteen; Steve Earle; Dixie Chicks; Nickel Creek; Merle Haggard; Neko Case; Peter Case; Victoria Williams; John Doe; Original Sinners; Gourds/Kev Russell’s Junker/Clocker Redbury & Dusty Slosinger; Mekons; Peter Bruntnell; Sixteen Horsepower; Johnny Dowd; Walkabouts; Bill Frisell; Bing Bang Boys; Ralph White; Hank Cochran; Kevin Welch & the Danes; James McMurtry; Roy Heinrich & the Pickups; Hayes Carll; Hot Club Of Cowtown; Rick Shea & Brantley Kearns; Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell; Cedell Davis; Guy Davis; Robert Plant; Jorma Kaukonen; Kathy Mattea; Aimee Mann; Phil Cody; Elaine Summers; Terri Hendrix; Lynn Miles; Gigi Dover; David Childers; Mayflies USA; Model Rockets; Brother JT3; Sue Garner. Imports: Chris Cacavas; Jono Manson; Hardpan. Tributes: Johnny Cash; Mel Tillis; Greg Brown; John Fogerty; Buck Owens; Bob Dylan. Film: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. Books: Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography (by Jimmy McDonough); Turn! Turn! Turn!: The ’60s Folk-Rock Revolution (by Richie Unterberger); Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?: The Carter Family & Their Legacy In American Music (by Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg).

THE NO DEPRESSION TOP 40
A retail chart for May-June 2002.

SCREEN DOOR
Stuff we like
Documenting Dave Marsh’s The Heart Of Rock & Soul on disc (by Scott Manzler).