Producer/songwriter Andrew Watt‘s started off his wild year with Lady Gaga‘s smash Mayhem, co-producing and co-writing with Gaga, Cirkut, and others, and earning an executive producer credit alongside Gaga and Michael Polansky. A month later came Brandi Carlile and Elton John’s first album together, Who Believes in Angels?, produced and …
Read More »The Rolling Stones Aren't Done — They've Recorded New Music
After Keith Richards‘ son Marlon let slip that the Rolling Stones are working on what he believes to be a follow-up to 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, that album’s producer, Andrew Watt, confirms he’s been back in the studio with the band. ”I’ve said it before, but it’s like working for Batman,” …
Read More »The Time Missy Elliott Hitched a Ride to Lilith Fair – and More Untold Stories About the Festival
In the beginning, all Sarah McLachlan wanted was to prove to music industry gatekeepers that female artists could sell concert tickets. The “Sweet Surrender” singer had a simple, untested idea: put multiple women on a single concert bill and see what happens. Her grand experiment, called “Lilith Fair” (after Adam’s …
Read More »Billy Strings Wins IBMA Entertainer of the Year: 'I Haven't Abandoned Bluegrass'
The 36th annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards show felt a little different this go-round. Sure, the annual gathering of the genre overtook Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the first time this past week. But the bigger story was Billy Strings, who was in attendance to receive Entertainer of the Year honors. …
Read More »Flings to Fatwahs: 10 Things We Learned From Yusuf/Cat Stevens' New Autobiography
As music memoirs go, Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ Cat on the Road to Findout couldn’t have been more aptly titled. Over the last nearly 60 years, few in pop have traveled such a twisty path, as the bearded pop troubadour went from Cat Stevens, teen idol, to Cat Stevens, becalmed balladeer, to …
Read More »Briscoe, a New Country Duo, Have a Ford Van Full of Texas Folk-Rock
Ever try writing an album in a van? Ask Briscoe about that. The rising folk-rock band from Austin established itself as a surefire sellout in the honky-tonk scene of the Texas Hill Country, before landing high-profile tours with Noah Kahan and Dave Matthews Band. While navigating all of that quick-paced …
Read More »Dasha on All That Online Hate: 'It Cuts Deep'
There’s a dark side that comes with the kind of viral success Dasha experienced with her song and line dance “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’).” Not only did the song become a TikTok sensation and a Spotify streaming juggernaut (it’s approaching 1 billion streams), but it also opened up the California …
Read More »Inside the Ridiculously Cool, Wildly Catchy World of Bar Italia
Bar Italia are sitting around a table at a nice restaurant in downtown Manhattan, trying to find something they agree on. Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, one of two singer-guitarists in the London trio, offers a definition of their sound: “It sounds like three people having a bit of an argument with …
Read More »For Cardi B, Her Life Is the Album Rollout
More than any artist, Cardi B paved the way for social media personalities and reality stars to parlay their internet following into a music career. In the lead-up to her sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, she’s taking it back to reaching her audience through a string of viral skits, …
Read More »This Documentary Shows How the Fall of Kanye West Predicted Our Brainrotted Times
Of course Ye, né Kanye West, was friends with Charlie Kirk, the late conservative podcaster and activist whose killing last week has set off a virulent bloodlust from the right. There he is, midway through In Whose Name?, the sprawling, if not overwhelming, documentary from director Nico Ballesteros, who was …
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