Of Monsters and Men: Iceland's Folk-Pop Stars

By Caitlin Peterkin at 8:00 AM on September 9, 2011

It all began back in 2010, when Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir decided to add more members to her then-solo project.  read more

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MyNameIsJohnMichael: Back To New Orleans

By Nathan Spicer at 8:26 AM on August 23, 2011

John Michael Rouchell, lead singer and songwriter of the seven-piece indie rock/pop band known as MyNameIsJohnMichael, was born and raised in New Orleans. After a short stint living in New York, he’s back in his hometown. Now New Orleans is in his music.  read more

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The Bright Light Social Hour: Outgrowing the Bakery

By Tim Basham at 10:20 AM on August 22, 2011

If Austin, Texas, is the Live Music Capital of the World it would stand to reason that winning Band of the Year and Album of the Year at the Austin Music Awards could easily lead to some egocentric moments. But The Bright Light Social Hour responds with the same youthful enthusiasm that’s infected a steadily increasing fanbase.  read more

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Lydia Loveless: Hardscrabble Youth

By Joel Oliphint at 10:03 AM on August 19, 2011

I guess that’s what I get for drinking all that gasoline That’s not the type of lyric you’d expect to come out of a 20-year-old, but Lydia Loveless isn’t your typical 20-year-old. Loveless has been gigging regularly since she was a home-schooled 13-year-old, making the jump from farm country to city living in Columbus, Ohio at 14.  read more

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Ryan Driver: Finding His Voice

By Andrea Kszystyniak at 8:46 AM on August 18, 2011

Before singer/songwriter Ryan Driver could release his own albums, he first had to learn to like the sound of his own voice.  read more

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Carl Broemel: MMJ Guitarist Steps Out

By Geoffrey Himes at 8:49 AM on August 17, 2011

“It’s strange,” guitarist Carl Broemel says from the back of the My Morning Jacket tour bus, “playing with the band before 9,000 people, like we did last night at Red Rocks, feels totally natural. But playing my own show before 100 people was frightening.”   read more

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Chris Bathgate: Choking Down A Salt Year

By Max Blau at 2:21 PM on August 16, 2011

When Chris Bathgate uses the phrase “salt year,” he’s not just talking about four rough seasons. His “salt year” was the darkest period of the Ann Arbor-based songwriter’s life—the tumultuous several-year period following his third record A Cork Tale Wake that turned his world upside down.  read more

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Generationals

By Ryan Reed at 9:17 AM on August 15, 2011

New Orleans indie-pop duo Generationals released their second full-length album, Actor-Caster, several months before we talked to him for our “Best of What’s Next” issue. But guitarist/vocalist Grant Widmer, while flattered by the recognition, isn’t even sure what the title means  read more

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Nikki Lane: Mindin' the Store

By Stephen M. Deusner at 9:00 AM on August 12, 2011

Nikki Lane possesses a textured voice that alternates gracefully between sassy and sour, haunted and happy, vulnerable and fearless. And her debut straddles country and indie without really bowing to the conventions of either.  read more

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Kopecky Family Band: Close Relations

By Allie Conti at 8:41 AM on August 11, 2011

The Kopecky Family Band isn’t actually a family, whatever Google would have you think. The band’s namesake derives singularly from Kelsey Kopecky, a maternal-yet-feisty songstress who spends days off babysitting for her booking agent.  read more

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