Artists
Aimee Mann songs have a literary quality to them—sharp, spare short stories set to music—so it was probably inevitable that she would one day make a concept album, the musical equivalent of a novella. The Forgotten Arm (SuperEgo), her fifth solo… (Read More)
Chicago singer/songwriter Alice Peacock was immersed in performing at an early age. Her grandfather Fritz Gnass was an actor in Germany, appearing in many films including Fritz Lang’s M; her grandmother was a cabaret composer; her father acted in repertory theater… (Read More)
American Babies – solo acoustic
Tom Hamilton is only in his mid-’20s, but the singer commands his nursery of American Babies with all the seasoned know-how of someone twice his age. Hamilton’s band is positively huge, a co-ed family comprised of two guitarists, a bassist, an… (Read More)
Since releasing her first recording in 1990, Ani DiFranco has established herself as one of the most influential and inspirational artists of the modern era. DiFranco’s innovative guitar style, signature percussive fingerpicking, expressive vocals and incisive lyrics—along with a constitutional inability… (Read More)
Bebel Gilberto walks – quite comfortably and confidently – in very large shoes; she is the daughter of the man who created bossa nova, Joao Gilberto. At the age of nine she sang at Carnegie Hall with her mother, Gilberto’s second… (Read More)
With deft renditions of guitar solos that rival the masters of rock history, Bobby Yang revolutionizes the violin with an unorthodox style that defies the notion of the violin as solely a pristine and symphonic instrument. His rendition of Eddie Van… (Read More)
Indicative of the music they make, Bowerbirds were born of unequal parts conflict and sweetness. Phil Moore and Mark Paulson had moved east from Iowa to form a band. Phil met Beth Tacular—a collected and published painter—while they worked together in… (Read More)
Of the numerous striking qualities Brett Dennen has displayed during his ascendance onto the national music scene, it is perhaps simply his own authenticity that accounts for his remarkable rise in popularity and acclaim. With his long red hair, headband and… (Read More)
In the course of Chris Isaak’s career, he has released nine extraordinary albums, twelve singles, been nominated for two Grammy awards, acted in several motion pictures and starred in his own critically acclaimed TV series. His legendary shows with his longtime… (Read More)
Crosby Loggins is the son of 70’s singer/songwriter, 80’s go-to soundtrack artist, Kenny Loggins. Enough said, because apart from the obvious familial resemblance and a genetic gift for melody, this is not a simple story of a son following in his… (Read More)
Photo Credit: Len Irish David Jacobs-Strain, a consummate finger-style and slide guitarist, plays in the blues tradition but isn’t from it. You’ll hear echoes of Skip James, Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson, and a song or two by Fred McDowell or Robert… (Read More)
“Falling Awake”, the first song from Gary Jules’ independently released self-titled album appeared on two separate Billboard ‘Top 100’ charts in January 2007, one week after being heavily featured in an exceptionally popular episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”. When the editorial staff… (Read More)
New York-based Michaelson’s parents were both artists (composer Carl Michaelson and sculptor Elizabeth Egbert Director). She took up piano at the age of five, attending Manhattan’s Third Street Music School for two years, going on to the Jewish Community Center of… (Read More)
Jeff was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois and grew up in nearby Elk Grove. Jeff spent his college studies at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where he specialized in musical theater, voice, and dance theater. As fate would have… (Read More)
The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Are Thou, and the subsequent “Down from the Mountain” music tours it spawned, performed a number of great services to fans of American music. One of the best of those services was in bringing forward… (Read More)
“It’s all worth it for me when people take something away from what they hear in my music,” replied singer/songwriter, Jessica Sonner, during a recent interview. Living between the snowcapped mountains of Colorado the big city of Chicago home these days… (Read More)
Though he had always enjoyed singing during his childhood in Cleveland, OH, Joshua Radin had never intended to be a musician. He studied drawing and painting in college, and only after stints working in a gallery, as an art teacher, and… (Read More)
Kalai is urban vintage. The Hawaiian Born, Alaska raised, 26 year-old, is an old school young buck with do anything, anytime, at any level, musical talent. Besides being a lyrical BIGfoot, instrumentally this guy puts the Z in skillz. His music… (Read More)
3 years less 3 days ago I put out my last record. The night before I spent 13 hours on a Greyhound bus going from Canada to New York City for an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. As… (Read More)
“The last three years have changed me as an artist,” says KT Tunstall. “My bar has been raised. I’ve realized what’s possible through making an album, touring behind it with a band, seeing how that album can turn into something else… (Read More)
Innovative acoustic guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke was born September 11, 1945, in Athens, GA. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone before trying his hand at the… (Read More)
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Martha is the sister of Rufus Wainwright and the daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. But her powerful, emotionally hair-raising voice has been showcased at the biggest American festivals like Bonaroo… (Read More)
A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up on the timeless sounds of ‘70s radio, from Stevie Wonder to Led Zeppelin (who led him toward blues legends like Howlin Wolf and Willie Dixon). Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where… (Read More)
Britain’s two leading contemporary music magazines Q, and, MoJo, respectively, describe Martyn Joseph as having ‘a depth, resonance and emotional punch, which belies comparisons’, and as being ‘an artist of enduring worth’. Meanwhile The Guardian was transfixed by this gifted and… (Read More)
“I am interested in the experience of life, not it’s meaning,” Mason Jennings says. This purposeful embrace informs Mason’s music, and the songs on his new album, Boneclouds (Glacial Pace/Epic), are richly worded reflections that address the hidden struggles and neglected… (Read More)
In a world littered with disposable pop Missy Higgins is a welcome relief.. passionate, sincere and proudly Australian. The singer/songwriter from Melbourne has enjoyed phenomenal success in her homeland in spite – or perhaps because – of shunning the usual synthetic… (Read More)
Fiona Apple meets Nora Jones meets Jill Scott meets Jeff Buckley meets Macy Gray…what DOES that sound like??! If you ask that question …here is your answer – MOZELLA. When 15-year-old MoZella failed to land a coveted role in her high… (Read More)
Somewhere in London a musician carries the keys to the musical kingdom. In his Technicolor sonic scope are all kinds of sounds, from rock to country to soul to pop. Nothing is off limits, as long as it has a groove… (Read More)
Ottmar Liebert is a German-born composer and guitarist, born to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother. As a child, he spent most of his time traveling Europe and Asia with his family. Ottmar leads an ensemble called Luna Negra (“Black… (Read More)
“RedRay (Ray) Frazier has the calming presence of a prophet and the voice of a man with a grand plan-equal parts Maxwell, Nina Simone,Shuggie Otis and Radiohead… Frazier crafts a body of singer-songwriter material that would make Marvin Gaye feel like… (Read More)
