RECENT ARTICLES

The paradox of modern times is that we have every option at our fingertips—every website, television show, song, and movie—yet, it seems hard as ever to follow your own true instincts. At times, we are drowned by choice. But for Heartless Bastards‘ frontperson, Erika Wennerstrom, listening to her intuition has actually been key to her success. She is patient with herself, now more than ever. But there was one occasion in particular during which she listened to what she wanted when faced with the choice to do the opposite. That decision to follow her own internal voice led to perhaps the biggest moment in her career: signing with the prolific Fat Possum Records. Now, Wennerstrom is set to release her popular band’s latest heartening LP, A Beautiful Life, on September 10.

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Chattanooga, Tennessee-born rapper, Isaiah Rashad, says he’s a “learn by doing” kind of person. To get to where he is today, which includes Billboard charting albums and the recent release of his latest (and critically acclaimed) LP, The House Is Burning, Rashad first spent a lot of time observing and studying. He felt comfortable, as they say, posting up in the back of the proverbial room with his eyes open and mind working. Then, when the time was right, he leveraged these observations into action. Rashad says he’s never felt particularly rushed about a project. In fact, his new album is his first in five years. But, it would seem, the patience and hard work have paid off. On Rashad’s new offering, you can feel the time and experience baked in. It’s dense, wide, and varied. And for Rashad, the release has put him squarely on the map, a new big name for award shows and fans to target.

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For the members of the Australian-born, Los Angeles-based group, Chase Atlantic, the relationship between life and creativity is symbiotic; one informs the other, which then, in turn, informs the first again. Around and around it goes. Like the three members themselves, who finish each other’s sentences, burst out into laughter, or spark memory after memory in a matter of moments, the constant step-by-step, A-to-B-to-C productivity is what keeps the group’s energy afloat and constantly churning out ideas. As a trio, they’re a factory of vibe and all of this is evident on the band’s latest single, remix and music video, “OHMAMI,” from the group’s latest release, Beauty In Death, all of which are out now.

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Certain types of people just love the spotlight and Nick Hexum is admittedly one of those people. He enjoys the attention. It’s what he tells fans who come up to the frontman and co-founder of the genre-bending band, 311, when they ask for autographs or selfies. “I’m so sorry to bother you, do you mind?” they say, timidly. He replies, “If I didn’t like the attention, I would have picked a different career.” In other words, he digs the whole kit-and-caboodle of being a well-known musician. Hexum has been doing just that since 1995 when 311 broke through mainstream culture with its self-titled LP and hits like “Down” and “All Mixed Up.” Today, some 30 years after the band formed, they’re on tour spreading the good 311 word.

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Growing up, Isaac Brock, frontman for the Pacific Northwest-based rock ‘n’ roll band, Modest Mouse, listened to a wide swath of music, from Hungarian and Irish folk to the “pro-cookie” songs of Sesame Street. His was one of those households where music was so prevalent and so natural that it just became the thing to do as he got older. For Brock, music was his “primary” interest. As a kid, he sent away for one of the 12-CDs-for-a-penny and got back artists like Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, and Dead Milkmen. At 11 years old he was working at a community theater in Issaquah, Washington, surrounded by amateur musicians. At night he’d get a ride from the stage manager and go to an all-ages club in Seattle to see whoever was playing. Then he’d go to school the next morning.

Bits from all of these experiences and more are packed into his band’s newest LP, Golden Casket, released in June. In fact, the record itself is an amalgamation of stories and sounds; a composite of song fragments and feelings.

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If you ask the award-winning songwriter and performer, Judy Collins, about her father, she’ll tell you that he helped to set her foundation as an artist—but, perhaps more importantly, she’ll also tell you that he helped to set her foundation as a hard worker first and foremost. Collins, who later went on to earn several Grammy nominations and a win in 1969, is known today for her crystal clear singing voice, folks aesthetics, and interconnectedness with some of the biggest names in American entertainment, from Leonard Cohen to Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Stephen Sondheim. Collins—whose forthcoming album, Live At The Town Hall, NYC, set for release Friday (August 27)—remains focused on the work at 8 years old. She’ll drop another studio record in 2022 (called, Girl From Colorado) and, she says, she’ll continue to write, sing and live in song for as long as fate allows.

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It’s said that life is often a battle between what one wants and what one perceives to be the expectations of others. For Tierinii Jackson, frontwoman for the Memphis-born Grammy-nominated band, Southern Avenue, growing up, this was absolutely the case. For Jackson, who was raised in a musical but religious household and who spent many hours in church, life early on was a struggle to find and fight for her identity—even in the places where she should have been accepted the most.

In a world where Jackson was taught more what she couldn’t do than what she could, finding her voice and her place wasn’t gifted to her by her parents or the church. Yet, she pushed ahead. Now, she and her band are set to release their latest LP, Be The Love You Want, a positive, advice-laden record that reads as much like a blueprint for self-worth as it does entertainment.

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Famed French composer, Yann Tiersen, remembers seeing a mountain lion. He was out in nature about five years ago in Northern California when the animal began following him and his cycling party. Tiersen and his group were hours into a long ride and far from formal help. He remembers seeing cubs, too, thinking that the mother and babies were probably very hungry, even starving. It was dangerous. Around that time, a cougar attacked several hikers in Washington State, killing one. While the mountain lion never pounced, for Tiersen, the experience was formative. At that moment, a strong sense of what an ecosystem really is crystallized in his mind. Life is not human-centric, of course. So, Tiersen thought, his music — including his new release, Kerber, out Friday (Aug. 27) —should be something of an ecosystem, too.

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Think of two jump ropes. You’re in between, one arcs above your head as the other sweeps under your feet, which are themselves lifted off the ground. Picture this whirl of string and height going for two, three, four minutes at length. This is a metaphor for the music of Oakland-born artist, Still Woozy, whose dreamy, off-kilter songs are produced with such studio savvy that it comes across like sonic childhood Double-Dutch. Still Woozy, aka Sven Eric Gamsky, makes music that feels like your eyes just opened or your whole body is in mid-air. This is especially the vibe of the artist’s latest album, If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is, which he released on August 13.

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