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New York City songwriter, Joanie Leeds, remembers sitting at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in 2018 and hearing only one woman’s name called to receive an award (Alessia Cara for Best New Artist). Leeds remembers the rage bubbling up in her as she watched man after man accept trophies. So, Leeds began to write. First it was little notes in her phone: make a new album, hire women for the band, hire women to produce and engineer, hire women for the photo shoot. Leeds, at the time, was also going through a messy divorce. But the fight for her independence only strengthened her resolve when it came to making a new record by women for women. That work paid off and Leeds’ latest album, All The Ladies, recently earned its own 2020 Grammy nomination, proving that the songwriter’s instincts were correct and her hard work worth the efforts.

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In the world of music – or, really, any artistic field – the biggest challenge and yet most significant thing for any participant to do is to find their voice. This task can be harder and harder today with the amount of sheer noise (and access to it) in the ether at large. Yet, people somehow persevere. One such artist who is blessed with and confident in his own voice is the Atlanta-based rapper, YFN Lucci.

The lyricist rhymes uniquely, both verbally and sonically. Utilizing his voice in subtle, experimental ways, Lucci has taken what some may have at first criticized him for and turned into millions of record streams, spins and dollars earned. Lucci’s forthcoming release, the 21-track LP, Wish Me Well 3, exemplifies the lyricist’s signature style. The album, out Friday, is a blend of mellow music, rapid percussion and sing-spoken harmonies.

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When he was growing up, country music legend Garth Brooks remembers the rough-and-tumble nights at home. His father, Troyal Raymond Brooks Jr., was a former Marine and Golden Gloves boxing champ who created something of a “boxing ring” culture at home for Garth and his five siblings. As a result, there was ample competition and creative tension underneath the family roof. This ultimately strengthened the brood — especially the youngest son, Garth, who would go on to sell more records than any single recording artist in United States history.

But not every night included a sibling fistfight.

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Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, Judith Hill, stays on the offensive. Creatively, she doesn’t want to lose sight or control for a moment. It’s something she learned when collaborating with the hall of fame musician, Prince. If she disengages with her career, opportunities may fall in her lap, Hill says. But if she’s not in control of them, then she is not addressing her creativity or passion honestly. The moment one lets up is the moment someone else takes over.

As a result, Hill’s life is saturated in successful endeavors: Hill was featured in the documentary, 20 Feet From Stardom, for which she won a Grammy. She had a successful run on NBC’s The Voice. She’s collaborated with Michael Jackson, Elton John and John Legend and she recently appeared in a video during the National Basketball Association’s 2020 Draft telecast. But Hill’s latest achievement is the release of her video for the poignant song, “Americana.”

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When Seattle-based musician, Daniel Lyon, was born, he was premature and weighed only three-pounds-eight-ounces. As a result, for the very first few days and weeks of his life, the infant had to spend his time in an incubator, watched by nurses. There, he says, when he cried, the nurses would take him into a room and put on a radio and, more often than not, he would stop his wailing and listen to the songs. One wonders if he learned to cry just to get to the speakers! Nevertheless, today, music continues to comfort Lyon, front man for the Pacific Northwest rock band, Spirit Award, which is set to release its next LP, Lunatic House, in March 2021 and debut its newest single, “Lily of the Valley,” here today.

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In many ways, it’s completely appropriate that the long-anticipated new record, Odin’s Raven Magic, from the Grammy-nominated Icelandic band, Sigur Rós, is coming out on December 4th.

The eight-track album feels like the very chilling winter skies hanging above most of the country these days. There are sonic dashes of light mixed with a modicum of musical mist. There are shimmering stars and sweeping orchestrations like comets bouncing through the night sky. The live LP, which was recorded nearly two decades ago, also fits in-line with the many B-sides, rarities and live albums released by various groups this year, unearthed out of necessity as much as to celebrate artistry. In an era when recorded music or live performance is prohibited, these albums are more than welcomed. But Odin’s Raven Magic, itself, almost never came to be. In this way, its very existence is as much a miracle as the lovely melodies and sonic textures it offers.

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As a young person, Jinkx Monsoon (born Jerick Hoffer), grew up poor and without many friends. But the soon-to-be-larger-than-life drag queen turned, perhaps surprisingly, to classical music as a safe space for creative inquiry. Monsoon says that, as a “visibly queer” kid, the heady genre provided unique ground to explore. But life, in all its twists, can be ironic. Sometimes those of us who are most alone, focused on craft, become the ones, later in life, with the most attention from the outside. Monsoon, who would go on to win the fifth season of the famed television show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, is now a world-famous performer. Caterpillars do become butterflies. And the artist’s bright colors shine on her latest holiday album (out December 11th) and film (out December 1st) with longtime drag-compatriot, BenDeLaCreme, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special.

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Staring out before the buzzing, jubilant wash of 18,000 fans at Madison Square Garden in 2006, front man Marc Roberge had to stop the show. His band, O.A.R., which stands for “Of a Revolution,” had sold out the home of the New York Knicks, “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Countless greats have graced that arena’s floor, from Patrick Ewing to Neil Young. It was a moment.

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Growing up in Olympia, Washington, burgeoning musician, Barrett Martin, who would later go on to play in the famed Seattle rock bands, Skin Yard, Mad Season and Screaming Trees, would noodle around with several “rickety” instruments while accompanying a player piano that his father bought at a garage sale.

The thing had more than 200 piano song rolls. It was capable of playing ragtime, swing, show tunes and even a few movie soundtracks. The exposure to the array of songs, coupled with his grandparents old 78s record collection, taught Martin from an early age to both appreciate myriad styles of music and that he could participate with them, too. That foundation has since taken the artist around the globe with stops in rainforests, monasteries and concert halls. Martin, whose 2020 album, Scattered Diamonds, features players from all over the world, cares deeply about the history of sound and its transformative possibilities.

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For longtime fans of the singer, Mary Lambert, who rocketed to fame in 2012 with the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit, “Same Love,” it may be something of a revelation to hear that she’s doing pretty darn good right now. Lambert, who has been vocal over the years about struggling with past traumas, mental health issues and enduring a violent past, hasn’t always felt safe or comfortable in her own skin. But now, with perhaps a pair of fingers and toes crossed for luck, Lambert feels relatively at ease. The artist, who has seen success in multiple mediums since singing the indelible chorus on love, is poised to release a new holiday album on Friday. She also recently announced a key role in a new Netflix television show, Arlo The Alligator Boy. Now, therefore, is as good a time as ever to celebrate the season with the forthcoming record, Happy Holigays.

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As a teenager, Paul Jason Klein, before he was the front man for the now-powerful rock ‘n’ roll trio, LANY, really wanted a car. He focused just about all his energies and talents towards the aim. He suffered through arduous, laborious piano lessons and the hours of weekly practice they demanded. He worked to get as high a mark as he could on each standardized test. It was all about that damn car. Klein, who’d been thrust into very serious music tutelage beginning at five-years-old, had later made a deal with his parents. If he were to earn a music scholarship from a college or university, then they would have to buy him a car. It was the first major life goal he achieved (earning two scholarships, in the end) but it wouldn’t be the last. And the latest, of course, is LANY’s new LP, Mama’s Boy. The album, released in October, demonstrates the band’s supreme talent for external observation, self-inquisition and hard work.

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Atlanta-based rapper, Sa-Roc (born Assata Perkins), remembers being in the country of Ghana, West Africa, one day at an open mic. It was very early in her professional career – at the time, she says, she doesn’t think she’d even committed to being a musician full-time. Yet, the power and interconnectivity performing offered her in that moment helped to both reassure her and to open her eyes to the vast capabilities of music and her future within it. Sa-Roc, who released her latest LP, The Sharecropper’s Daughter, in October, says she loves the universality that the art form provides. It offers her a way to relate to myriad aspects of the external world as well just about as many internally, too.

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