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For many, music discovery comes via older siblings. An older sister will pass her younger brother a copy of The Who. Or a half-brother will show his younger sister a Heart vinyl, inspiring new worlds. But for Sydney, Australia-born and Los Angeles-based songwriter, Tal Wilkenfeld, she learned about artists like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones from all-time musicians – and chosen family – like Jeff Beck and Jackson Browne. Wilkenfeld, who has played bass for a number of the greats, learned early on at the direction of the masters and has since grown to become one, herself.

Wilkenfeld, who rose to prominence as a bassist playing with artists like Prince, Herbie Hancock and The Allman Brothers, released her latest solo project, Love Remains, in 2019. The record, which boasts an eerie edge and a plentiful dark, aggressive sonic attack, showcases Wilkenfeld’s talent as a songwriter and front person. And in the process of creating the record, Wilkenfeld bolstered her music background with the help of some famous tutors.

Son Little grew up watching his father preach in church on Sundays, speaking of spirituality and ethics to a rapt congregation from the pulpit. All eyes in the room were fixated on the orating church leader. During the week, however, Little’s father would spend time around the house, peacefully humming into his clarinet or saxophone, enjoying simple melodies.

Though Little (born Aaron Livingston) didn’t think much of it at the time, these examples of public-speaking prowess and solitary musicality helped shape his early musical career.

Los Angeles-based songwriter Emma Gatsby knows her story might sound sad. But she’s okay with it. It’s her story. When she looks back on her years, she’s come to terms with the reality that her memories of childhood may remain the happiest of her life, no matter how old she becomes or how much she achieves.

But that’s alright, she says, her childhood, after all, felt like a fairytale. Gatsby has lived on the Long Island farm that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, The Great Gatsby, and since has lived through life-changing personal tragedy several times over.

To say a lot had to happen in order for Ana Cash to write, record and release her latest record, Shine (out April 24), is an understatement. The number of proverbial dominos that had to line up and then fall down for the 12-song LP to see the light of day is staggering. Whether talking about her parents’ immigration from Communist Cuba decades ago, her good fortune to land on a Spanish-language TV show or her chance meeting with her soon-to-be husband, John, in an L.A. bar one night, Cash’s story is almost too wild to tell.

Raised in Miami, Cash, who was born Ana Cristina, knew by the age of six she wanted to sing and perform. Watching Disney movies and daytime television with her grandmother, Cash was inspired one afternoon to contact the popular local program, Sábado Gigante, for a tryout. Her mother called and, as luck would have it, she passed the audition. She would go on to perform regularly on the show for the next eight years. At 15, she signed with Sony Music’s Latin division and began recording songs.

When it comes to songwriting, Ryan Kattner – aka Honus Honus, front man for the boisterous rock band, Man Man – subscribes to the Nick Cave mode of operations. Namely, Kattner errs on the side of perspiration directing his creative output, not capricious inspiration. For, as Cave put it, “’Inspiration’ is a word used by people who aren’t really doing anything.” And Kattner, who remains hard at work daily despite dealing with creative doubts, will display the fruits of his efforts this spring with the release of his anticipated record, Dream Hunting In The Valley Of The In-Between, out May 1st. 

Guitarist and songwriter, John Oates, one-half of the multi-platinum-selling duo, Daryl Hall & John Oates, has seen almost the entirety of rock and roll history transpire during his lifetime. Oates, who was born in 1951, came of age as Chuck Berry and Big Mama Thornton were changing the way people thought about sound. Over the decades, Oates devoted himself to music, contributing to one of the greatest-selling bands in pop history. But today, Oates, like much of the world, is going through new chapter: life in the era of the Coronavirus. 

Providence, Rhode Island-based songwriter, Jake Blount, is a tailor of musical traditions. The banjo and fiddle player, who cut his teeth playing in funk and metal bands at 12-years-old and has since evolved into a scholar of traditional forms, dives headfirst into sonic histories and lineages each time he picks up an instrument. Blount, who will release his forthcoming LP, Spider Tales, on May 29th, has created a collection of folk songs that reach from Appalachia to Africa, pulling and plucking from some of the genre’s most timeless melodies and heartfelt tales.

From the moment Blount heard the album, Barton Hollow, by the Civil Wars in high school, he decided to drop everything and buy an acoustic guitar. From then on, he was hooked on traditional music. But as he got deeper into understanding the histories behind the traditional songs, Blount realized how closely and poignantly they started to relate to and intertwine with his own life. Growing up black and queer in America, Blount says, there was much in the cannon of folk music that resonated.