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Harry Connick Jr. didn’t waste any time. When the New Orleans-born songwriter and performer found out about the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing global lockdown in 2020, he got to work. Thankfully for the award-winning artist who has sold millions of albums, he has his own home studio. It was there that he began playing, recording, and honing tracks for his upcoming Christmas album, Make It Merry, which was announced Friday (November 18) and is set to drop later this month on November 26, exclusively via Apple Music. Connick Jr. is also set to undertake a holiday tour, beginning November 18.

When the world shut down two years ago, the legendary artist fired up his studio equipment and recorded the vast majority of each track, one by one, laying down his own versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” “Jingle Bells,” and more with his signature cozy croon.

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Even from his early days, David Portner, the de facto frontman for the acclaimed Baltimore-born experimental pop group Animal Collective, felt music was “like a different world.” It was something that presented a portal into something new, a dichotomous realm where he could absorb sounds solo, or with others around, engaging in the experience inwardly or outwardly. It has also provided Portner a way of life, a way to pay bills and a means to a massive creative output.

From the beginning, he was looking to participate in songs. He asked his parents for piano lessons at three years old. He also received records from older siblings that provided their own specific windows into new things. Today, these various pathways continue, both stretching and colliding in the artist’s orbit as well as in his own mind as he creates music that at times bounces and bashes, and at others smoothens and mollifies. Animal Collective, which released its latest LP, Time Skiffs, earlier this year, more recently released music for the score of a new film, The Inspection. But for Portner, each of these works marks another step forward in his constant artistic journey.

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Dolly Parton can take a compliment. It’s just that she doesn’t always want to. In today’s age of political division and social media obsession, the songwriter and performer has become one of the few people, it seems, that nearly every person on the planet appreciates. She’s regularly compared to saints and angels. She’s beloved for her songs like “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “9 to 5.” She’s an actor, a sight for many sore eyes. But she’s also just a human being. And she says when she hears the multitudes of hyperbole her fans and onlookers tend to offer her on the regular, it can be off-putting or jarring. Even “scary.” It’s odd territory, indeed. Parton grew up dirt poor in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. She headed later to Nashville seemingly a split second after graduating high school, and she’s been making hay there ever since. She’s generous and charitable. A woman of faith, she’s kind and honest, too. But at the end of the day, she’s a person. Just like any one of us.

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Ever since he was 12 years old, Corey Crowder has played golf. Today, the songwriter and performer says, he is “somewhere between horrible and professional.” He laughs, the chuckle of anyone who’s held a club often, who knows the mired feeling of imperfection, of struggle. And of making hits. It’s a similar laugh he gives when talking about the craft of songwriting, too.

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Angel Olsen is looking for a cat-sitter. She released her latest LP, Big Time, on June 3, and was hitting the road in a few weeks for a big summer and fall tour to support the record, her first since Whole New Mess in 2020. She had many dates ahead of her—so many, in fact, that her manager joked about recording her verbal agreements so she can’t exact revenge later for the many stops. (Olsen laughs when sharing this detail.) But what’s not a laughing matter is that she needed to find someone to watch her cat as she traveled with Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker for their Wild Hearts Tour. Olsen, who is a genre unto herself, breathy and moody as a singer, poignant and beautiful as a performer, has high expectations for whoever will watch her feline.

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Chris Daughtry, frontman for his acclaimed namesake rock group Daughtry, remembers being young and belting out lyrics—loudly—in his bedroom. The albums would blast, and he’d sing along, in love with music and the possibilities it offered his brain. He’d wonder, “How is Chris Cornell doing that with his voice?” He’d learn dips and surges from Live’s Throwing Copper. He’d dive deep into Alice in Chains’ Dirt. Thankfully, for the then-young Daughtry, his parents didn’t mind. He laughs about it now, wondering what must have been going through their heads while their son screamed “the devil’s music.” But their encouragement—or, at least, their lack of discouragement—set the foundation for the wildly successful career he would later embark on. For Daughtry, his life in music is both about the journey and its discoveries. Today, with the new label he’s founded, Dogtree Records, and the debut album under that imprint, Dearly Beloved (2021), Daughtry is rejuvenated, looking for fresh sounds and all that’s new in the world. He’s also bringing in his long love of acting, action, and comic books. In other words, he’s pouring as much of himself into his work as he ever has.

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British-born songwriter and performer Tom Odell started playing piano as soon as his feet could reach the pedals. He remembers being “mesmerized” by the instrument, by live music. His uncle played; his grandmother did too, and she had her own piano. But his parents didn’t play songs, making the concept of the art form that much more exotic in the mind of the then-young Odell. He took lessons at about 7 years old and grew more over time as a songwriter, as someone who could understand the piano intimately and personally. It became more and more a part of his life, a way to express teenage angst and burgeoning emotions. Then, as he became a young adult at 18 years old, it became his profession. So much so that he can’t imagine his life—or the world itself—without music. On October 28, Odell is releasing his latest album, Best Day Of My Life. The record is concise, economical, and spare. It’s melancholic but also offers a touch of levity. It’s a work made by someone whose fingers have toiled over and traveled on 88 keys for a whole lifetime.

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For Rivers Cuomo, frontman and principal songwriter for the acclaimed rock band Weezer, it all started with Dropbox. Lately, the artist had been writing songs freely and abundantly, not for any particular album, or for any release or promotion. Cuomo was just doing it because that’s who he is. He made whatever he wanted on any given day. Some were “easy-breezy” Weezer tracks, others had more of a dance feel, and still others were more rock or alternative rock. Either way, as the tracks began to amass, Cuomo had to eventually decide what to do with them. He hadn’t restricted himself to the output. But now, with myriad songs in tow, the question remained, “What to do?” As he made them, he was putting them into different Dropbox folders, he says. And as it turned out, they landed in four subdivisions. The result now is Weezer’s unique cadre of releases for 2022, four season-themed EPs, which the band started to release in the spring (in March) and has continued through summer, into fall, and will follow in later winter.

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It’s impossible to overestimate the value of teachers. Sure, there are those who don’t care as much as they should. But most educators appreciate their jobs and work to open up the minds and worlds of their students. Case in point: the sensational German-born songwriter and performer Zoe Wees. As a young person, as a student, Wees was encouraged to become a songwriter by one of her teachers. It was an important spark in a still-burgeoning career that has seen Wees earn millions of streams and even a coveted spot on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list.

Today, Wees, just 20 years old, is on her way. She has performances at Lollapalooza and the American Music Awards under her belt. She has songs that have gone viral. All without a full-length album out in the world (but she’s working on it). Wees, who released her latest single “Daddy’s Eyes” on Friday (September 23), has an entire future in front of her. Thanks, in part, to the lessons she’s learned early on.

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Time changes things. There were years there when John Fogerty, legendary frontman for the rock and roll band Creedence Clearwater Revival, harbored frustration toward some of the musical entities he was connected to closely, whether that was former band members, family, or record executives. But now that’s largely, if not entirely, all gone. Fogerty’s changed feelings can be summed up in a neat package when considering CCR’s newest release, a two-pronged album and documentary film featuring the music from the band’s now infamous performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

For 50-plus years the recording and footage from the show had been lost—or, at least, hidden. As the tumultuous feelings cooled between Fogerty and record execs, talks of the work emerging increased. Now, it’s here today (September 16)—Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall—and Fogerty says he’s feeling grateful and in full witness as more and more water goes under the proverbial bridge.

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Belief can be a funny thing. It can misguide if one puts faith in the wrong idea. But it can also buoy and, like a rising ride, raise all boats. For the big-voiced singer Danielle Ponder, belief has been crucial to her now-burgeoning career. At first, Ponder, who boasts one of the best voices on Earth, didn’t believe that was the case. She looked to others in her family whom she thought had more talent. For Ponder, singing and songwriting at first was more of a lark, something fun to dabble in, to pass the time. But soon people began to recognize and realize her gifts. She earned praise. Audiences cheered her. And Ponder’s confidence grew. She started to believe.

Now, that belief becomes stronger every day as more people share their joy for the artist’s singular performances. There are billboards in New York and Tokyo. There are shows with some 15,000 attendees. There is acclaim from industry insiders. All of this has brought Ponder, who worked as a lawyer (a public defender) for years, to believe in herself. Now, in a way, the public is defending her talent with every ticket purchase, every song stream. And Ponder’s new album, Some of Us Are Brave, is set to drop on Friday (September 16), offering one more reason to keep the faith when it comes to her career.

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Talent is one thing, luck is another. Making it in any field requires both. Ben Gibbard, frontman and principal songwriter for the Northwest-born indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, knows this well. And it’s more apparent to the Grammy-nominated artist with each passing day, he says. Gibbard’s popular band has earned significant recognition since its formation in the mid-to-late-1990s and now, as time has passed, the group is experiencing several significant anniversaries. But with each milestone, Gibbard knows that he was often in the right place at the right time as an artist. Combine that with excellent songwriting, skillful musicianship, lovely singing and one has a lasting recipe. The band has once again showcased that winning amalgam on its latest album, Asphalt Meadows, which is set to drop on Friday (September 16). It’s a record born of reflection and buoyed by some new songwriting methods. And now that it’s out in the world, it hits at the right moment.

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We all have an inner voice. That silent whisper that offers advice, a sense of morality, and ambition. It can push us to great heights or keep us from making poor decisions. It can even direct us toward healthier choices that keep us alive or thriving. For Kenyan-born artist, Ondara, that voice pushed him to leave the, at times, claustrophobic confines of his homeland and native culture to become the poet, songwriter, and performer he’d felt destined to be. As a kid growing up in Nairobi, Ondara found music first via the radio, late-night broadcasts he’d listen to via crackling BBC broadcasts. He’d wait until everyone went to sleep to take his chance. Later, walking around local markets in the early 2000s, he came across pirated CDs. That’s where he discovered the artist who would change his life: Bob Dylan. Today, Ondara lives in the United States, arriving here after winning an immigration lottery. He’s now a Grammy-nominated songwriter. But his latest project, he says, is both the easiest and hardest thing he’s ever done. His new album, Spanish Villager No: 3, which is out September 16, may end up saving his life.

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Musician and entrepreneur Steve Aoki is committed. To hard work, to family, to ideas, and to growth. But the funny thing about commitment is that when one invests in something, worlds open up. It’s like the pursuit of knowledge. Scholars will tell you, that the more they learn about something, the more they realize they don’t know. A breadcrumb can turn into a life of cooking, which can turn into a complete state of reverence for history, technique, and possibilities for much more.

Today, Aoki is capable of reminiscing about his developmental DIY past as he is projecting ahead to new realms and new offerings. But both past and present collide on his new album, HIROQUEST: Genesis, which is set to drop on Friday (September 16). The album is diverse, bombastic, and personal. It’s the culmination of years of learning the music industry and also the first step, in many ways, to what’s coming next for Aoki: world-building. But everything Aoki does today stems first from finding music as a kid.

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