Ray Charles
With music, the cliché, “timing is everything,” oft applies, and perhaps timing is what’s most striking about Genius Loves Company... read more
Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama
Ben Harper was scheduled to appear on the latest release from The Blind Boys of Alabama. But a simple guest spot grew into a 10-day studio session... read more
Buddy Miller
Buddy Miller is humble as the Wandre guitar (made by a long-defunct Italian company) that’s been his main axe for more than a quarter century... read more
? & A
“I’m well versed in rock music, because when you’re 11 watching MTV, you gotta wade through five hours of ‘99 Luft Balloons’ or Thomas Dolby just to get a ‘Thriller'... read more
Joss Stone
On this wet, cloudy summer day in Midtown Manhattan, Joss Stone provides her own sunshine. A blonde, bohemian beacon, she’s curled up in a white leather chair at EMI Records’ sterile offices... read more
Midlake
“Some people should be eating, if you don’t mind!” yells actor Jason Lee across the bar at Hailey’s in Denton, Texas. “Somebody eat some food! Ready … start eating!!”... read more
Interpol
The beetle was huge, nearly three inches long and almost as wide, a gorgeous lime-green specimen so iridescent it could’ve passed for a scarab... read more
Brian Wilson Remembers How To Smile
What would have happened if, as planned, The Beach Boys had released the Smile album in the summer of 1967? For starters, people would have been less impressed with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper... read more
Joseph Arthur Comes Clean
It’s Friday the 13th, and Joseph Arthur’s luck is holding out. He’s pedaled his bicycle under threatening skies all the way from his home in Brooklyn’s industrial DUMBO neighborhood... read more
King of BBQ
In the midst of rehearsal, after I’d just finished my Elvis song, Jim Messina issued a threat... read more
Badly Drawn Boy
According to Damon Gough (a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy), the music industry thinks he’s over the hill. After recording music for seven years and releasing four albums... read more
Overthinking Jonathan Richman
Such is the preemptive genius of Jonathan Richman. Just when you want to write a nice tidy piece about his new album Not So Much to be Loved as to Love, he manages to include a song like “He Gave Us the Wine to Taste"... read more
Jimmy Cliff
Talk about calling in a few favors. For his first set in over six years, Jamaican reggae legend Jimmy Cliff wound up being backed by such stellar sidefolk as Sting, Annie Lennox, Wyclef Jean... read more
Confessions of a Jazz Hater
The album was Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, and I desperately wanted to like it. Rolling Stone raved about it, and in those heady days that was as good as canonical truth... read more
10 Gateway Albums
People approach jazz from every musical direction imaginable, from sensitive singer/songwriter folkies and hip-hop devotees to heavy-metal headbangers. Here are some directions that will lead to jazz’s open door... read more
Steve Earle
It’s a metamorphosis so radical it would startle Kafka. When alt.country kingpin Steve Earle strolls into his S.F. hotel lobby for breakfast... read more
Daniel Johnston
Perhaps more so than any other artist, Daniel Johnston embodies the do-it-yourself ethos of punk rock... read more
Trent Dabbs
Trent Dabbs walks a bit awkwardly, with his hands tucked tight in his blazer pockets. He worries about babbling incoherently... read more
Julia Fordham
With its slippery funk, deeply felt lyricism and Hi-era Hammond washes, That’s Life—the latest album from sultry songtress Julia Fordham—caresses like a scented oil rub... read more
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is singing to me over the phone, and I’m shaking my head, thinking I must be dreaming... read more
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