RECENT ARTICLES

For fans of the historic hip-hop ensemble, the Roots, or regular watchers of NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the expressive, dynamic guitarist, Captain Kirk Douglas, is no stranger. His wild, bending solos careen off the staccato, precise drum fills from the group’s leader and drummer, Quest Love.

Douglas, who grew up in New York City and later joined the Roots in 2003, came to guitar at an early age (10 years old) and music at an even earlier age (birth). His parents played music all the time, for celebrations, family events and just to relax.

Later, Douglas remembers, when his parents told him they’d get him a new guitar, he ran around the house like a maniac in celebration. That love has both persisted and paved the way for Douglas’s long and noteworthy career as a musician.

We caught up with Douglas, who recently launched his own signature electric guitar line with Gibson, to talk about the new axes and find how just what it is about the six-string that invigorates him so much.

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With the news of the forthcoming Carrie Brownstein-written Heart biopic on the way, it’s as good a time as ever to dive back into the music of the chart-topping, ground-breaking anthemic rock ‘n’ roll band. Born in the Pacific Northwest, Heart’s music has inspired musicians of all kinds, from the Hall of Famer Robert Plant to the garage band next door. And it’s all because of two things: singer Ann Wilson’s sweeping, sky-scraping vocals and sister Nancy’s guitar shredding, riff rocking prowess. The band, which formed in 1970, is essential to American music history.

To celebrate the transcendent group, we caught up with front woman and vocalist Ann to ask her about one of Heart’s first hit singles, “Magic Man.” The track, which was released in July 1975, was one of the first songs from the group’s debut LP, Dreamboat Annie. The track, which includes a belted chorus, is all about falling in love and acting on those feelings. It peaked at number-9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to inspire chest-pounding romance ever since. “Magic Man,” which is about the spell of a lover, simply wails.

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You may recognize Jon Batiste from the popular program, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Batiste, is of course, the band leader for the TV show. Or you may recognize Batiste (and his animated hands) from his work on the new Pixar movie, Soul, for which he both scored and composed songs. Batiste, who was born and raised in New Orleans, made his professional bones in New York City beginning at the age of seventeen. On March 19th, though, Batiste will release his latest LP, We Are, featuring the current single, “I Need You,” out now.

American Songwriter caught up with Batiste to talk about discovering music in the Crescent City, the story behind his new album and Soul and what he loves most about making music.

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The great American musician, Taj Mahal (born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks), is, at heart, an essentialist. The music he loves is often the distilled essence of a genre or style, rather than the pomp and circumstance that can be fashioned out of it.

Sometimes that means putting a subtle but modern spin on an old folk or blues classic. Sometimes that can mean just playing the root, third and fifth the way the first blues men and women did it hundreds of years ago. In that same way, Mahal, who was born in Harlem, New York, and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, has labored many of his adult years as a farmer, working the earth, growing crops and looking after livestock. This is important stuff, he reminds. And he’s right. It builds soul and character from the earth up.

American Songwriter caught up with the 78-year-old Mahal to ask him about how he first came to music, what it was like for him to toil on farms, why he’s intrigued by Hawaiian culture and what he loves most about music.

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Talking with legendary rock ‘n’ roll musician, Gene Simmons, one thing becomes clear pretty quick—he likes a good thrill. Though he speaks measuredly, thoughtfully and with clear perspective, what he talks about is often that which excites him. As he puts it, life should be a roller coaster that does anything but go straight ahead. There needs to be swoops, dives, jolts and misdirection that get one’s heart pumping. Simmons, of course, is a master at that. His band, KISS, is the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to on-stage pyrotechnics. And the amount of face makeup the band has used over the years could likely paint a mansion or two. And Simmons, who has endeavored in seemingly countless successful areas of branding and business over the years, has recently partnered with the prominent guitar company, Gibson, to create the new G2 series of signature basses and six-strings.

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American songwriter Paul Williams has touched a lot of hearts through his work in music. But beyond his better-known songs with groups like Daft Punk or The Carpenters, Williams has worked extensively with Jim Henson’s Muppet Studios, writing songs for The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol andEmmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas. Each movie offers the signature Jim Henson kindhearted comfort mixed with wisecracking camaraderie and Williams songs often stand at the center of that vibe.

We caught up with Williams, who is also the current president and chairman of ASCAP, to ask him not only what it’s like to write a single song for a new movie, but what it’s like to write an entire soundtrack. We go song-by-song with the generous artist to ask him what it was like to write the five central tunes for the 1977 classic, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas.

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