Enrique Iglesias has been no stranger to collaborating with other artists on his albums. But his latest CD, “Euphoria,” more than ever, saw him venture into the world of hip-hop, as guests such as Ludacris, Pitbull and Akon are features on the album. Whether this signals anything more than any temporary foray into more of [...]
The period during which Trevor Hall made his new CD, “Everything Everytime Everywhere” came with plenty of distractions, struggles and change for the 24-year-old artist. One of the adjustments for this, Hall’s fourth CD, involved getting together with some professional songwriters to try to collaborate on songs. He agreed to give co-writing a try, even [...]
Johnny Rzeznik, singer/guitarist in the Goo Goo Dolls, is no songwriting neophyte. He’s been the band’s chief songwriter throughout its two-decade history, and he’s written or co-written an enviable number of hit songs, with tunes like “Iris,” “Slide” and “Name” among his dozen top 10 adult top 40 hits. But over the course of writing [...]
Kings Of Leon return to the states this month to begin its second straight summer playing amphitheaters across the country. It’s actually a step down from where the group just was — in the United Kingdom and Europe, playing shows in front of 60,000 to 70,000 fans in outdoor stadiums. Knowing this is about as [...]
The new Yellowcard CD, “When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes,” can be viewed as a fresh start for the group’s career. The CD arrives nearly four years after the group’s previous release, “Paper Walls.” It’s on a new label, as Yellowcard has moved from major label Capitol Records to indy label Hopeless Records. And the [...]
Citizen Cope has never been an artist that has enjoyed much radio play or even a big push from his record companies, even though he has spent his entire career up to now on major labels. Yet, he is in the enviable position of being an artist that can tour large clubs and theaters, and [...]
By L. Kent Wolgamott You can call Sharon Jones the hardest working woman in show business. You can call her a stage sensation. Just don’t call her retro. Jones and her band the Dap-Kings make fine ‘60s/’70s rooted soul music, blending the sounds of Motown, Stax and Philly into an irresistible, timeless mix. For some [...]
Matisyahu may have been a pretty unique type of artist when he first came on the scene with his 2004 CD, “Shake Off the Dust…Rise.” A resident of Brooklyn, he was a Hasidic Jewish musician with a sound that blended reggae and hip-hop. But in some important respects, it’s only with his recently released CD, [...]
For the seventh straight year, Flogging Molly has hit the concert trail on its “Green 17” tour, a winter/spring road trip that leads up to St. Patrick’s Day. Despite being a band that plays Irish-fueled rock, and naming the tour to tie into that famous Irish holiday, don’t expect Flogging Molly to all dress in [...]
It’s been six years since Cake last released a studio CD of new material. Singer/guitarist John McCrea realizes that gap in time wasn’t ideal. But he and his bandmates had longer term issues to resolve before the group could resume the creative side of its career. “A lot of that had to do with having, [...]
Usher may still be a young man at the age of 32, but he has hinted in recent interviews (including one earlier this year in the “New York Times”) that his days as a touring live performer may be over by the time he hits his 40s. But as he stressed in an early November [...]
The Tran-Siberian Orchestra of today is a marvel of success and a one-of-a-kind entity on the music scene. The combination progressive rock band and orchestra routinely sells more than a million copies of each of its CDs – despite existing in a time when downloading has made that milestone reachable for only the biggest of [...]
