The moon is shining bright over the Hollywood Bowl and Joni Mitchell lets out a laugh. It’s the first of two sold-out Joni Jam concerts at the outdoor venue, her first headlining concert in Los Angeles in over 24 years; a couple years since Mitchell returned to the stage at …
Read More »Can Sade, Sam Smith, and Hunter Schafer Open People's Minds About Trans Rights?
It’s a sunny day in July, and the scene inside Gary’s Electric, a Brooklyn recording studio, is just as bright. Half a dozen musicians who all contributed to the upcoming compilation album Transa — an expansive celebration of trans people put together by the longtime music and healthcare nonprofit Red …
Read More »Hozier Is a Whiskey-Sipping Night Owl on New Song 'Too Sweet'
Hozier is feeling particularly nocturnal on “Too Sweet,” one of four new releases that appear on his new EP Unheard. The musician first teased the song on TikTok with a quick sketch of a coffee-drinking, chain-smoking skeleton pumping it through its headphones. “I take my whiskey neat, my coffee black, …
Read More »Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Allison Russell, and More Sing to Vote Marsha Blackburn Out of Office
When a bunch of all-stars get together to record a song for a cause, the result can often be cringey. But “Tennessee Rise,” featuring the pulpit-ready voices of Brittany Howard, Allison Russell, Katie Pruitt, Amanda Shires, Fancy Hagood, Emmylou Harris, and more, hits all the marks. The heavenly choir anthem …
Read More »Paramore Slams Tennessee Republicans for Rejecting Resolution Honoring Allison Russell
Paramore have declined a Tennessee resolution honoring the band for their recent Grammy win after the state’s House of Representatives rejected a similar resolution celebrating Allison Russell. Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Justin Jones introduced the two resolutions to honor the Volunteer State’s Grammy winners. While Paramore’s resolution passed through …
Read More »Why the Best Americana Grammy is So Hard to Predict
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. Americana is a wide-open category, partly because it’s hard to define. “I always look at …
Read More »Allison Russell Is Changing People's View of Americana — The Grammys Are Next
T HE STARS FULLY ALIGNED for Allison Russell during the creation of her second album, The Returner. Last year, for six days during the week of the winter solstice, Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles was her home base. Through its walls, she felt the creative buzz lingering from when …
Read More »Hayley Williams, Hozier, and a Squad of Drag Queens Spread Joy at Nashville's 'Love Rising' Concert
Radical joy and consistent action were the messages at Nashville’s Love Rising benefit concert on Monday, an event that drew supporters to the city’s downtown Bridgestone Arena. Hosted by Drag Race alumna Asia O’Hara and featuring performances by Hayley Williams, Hozier, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Allison Russell, Joy …
Read More »Allison Russell on How Nashville's 'Love Rising' Concert Is Fighting Tennessee's Anti-LGBTQ Laws
Singer-songwriter Allison Russell was on the Cayamo Cruise when the legislature back in her adopted home of Tennessee began to rush through a series of anti-LGBTQ bills. First, SB1 and HB1, which ban and criminalize healthcare for trans youth, went through, and then the much-discussed drag bills SB3 and HB9 …
Read More »Peter One, the Beloved Ivory Coast Singer, Returns to Music With a New Album and a Fan in Jason Isbell
Singer-songwriter Peter One left his home in Côte D’Ivoire in 1995 amid rising political unrest in the West African country that eventually boiled over into two civil wars in the 2000s. His life in the United States began in New York and then Delaware, before landing in Nashville, where he …
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