Free improvisation—a musical genre that grew out of the free jazz, modern classical and electronic music of the 1960s—seems to demand that musicians break all the rules. They may avoid references to any particular genre. They may cook up a bitch’s brew of influences from multiple genres.

Tommy Emmanuel has garnered more awards and honors than we can list on this page, but a recently-earned commendation has the Australian guitarist bowled over. Emmanuel is a 2010 recipient of the prestigious Order of Australia, a commendation that recognizes his offstage endeavors as much as his musical accomplishments.

It doesn’t seem possible that any touring musician could successfully juggle four musical projects, especially when those projects specialize in marathon-length shows filled with improvisation. But Warren Haynes has built a career of maintaining a rigorous touring schedule that shows no signs of slacking.

Coney Island looms large in the American mind—a place of cotton candy and Nathan’s franks, of ferris wheels and roller coasters, of crowded beaches, sideshows and carnivals. However, millions of Americans have never been to Coney and probably couldn’t find it on a map.

Few groups have carried the rebellious anti-establishment flag more than musicians, but in times of need even fewer groups have combined their efforts to provide assistance more than musicians.

When I was 12, I spent the summer traveling up and down the east coast with my family performing a street theatre piece based on the poetry of Carl Sandburg called Rootabega Stories. It was a grueling task, baking in the withering heat of late July while your father gave you notes about your prat falls. Still, I wouldn’t trade those long hours for anything you could give me. In a life spent in pursuit of creative fulfillment, those early days on the road stand out as a golden period. It was easier to be free with family, to imagine fully, to make brazen and fearless fools of each other and ourselves.

Heaven and Hell. The spiritual and the secular. These dual forces have influenced, and sometimes haunted, many musical greats, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver. So perhaps it’s fitting that singer-songwriter Paul Thorn resides in Mississippi, a state steeped in the Devil-at-the-Crossroads lore of good and evil. Like those iconic figures, Thorn has felt the presence of powerful and conflicting influences in his life and his music.

Matthew Mayfield is obsessed with freedom. He admits it himself, and you only have to look at the twisted vein of his history to see that the man has been constantly reinventing himself as a means of survival. He escaped the rigid confines of college for the fever dreams of promised rock stardom.

Editor’s note: Thompson’s interviews for this piece were conducted prior to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. However, according to Birmingham’s Todd Coder, one of The Hangout Festival’s organizers

Texas is known for singer/songwriters that combine honesty with melody. Following in the footsteps of fellow Texans Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Billy Joe Shaver - and leading the current generatio