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In music, there are myriad distinguished bands and artists, all of whom participate in some genre of sound. But what about the genres themselves? While artists and bands have lives outside their work, who keeps up with the styles, who preserves them and keeps them thriving? Well, when it comes to the American blues, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has that responsibility on lockdown.

Kingfish, who is still just 22 years old, is one of the torchbearers for the blues, with his bellowing voice and shrieking, nimble solos. He is the one many of the legends in the art form look to carry on their legacy. We caught up with Kingfish, whose new album, 662, is out tomorrow, to ask him about his relationship to music, the guitar, the blues, and the idea of lineage.

For those, like me, reading this who grew up in the 1990s, the names Adam Duritz and Counting Crows are as ubiquitous as any other monikers in our memory banks. We remember when we heard “Mr. Jones” on the radio the first time—if you were like me growing up in central New Jersey, you heard it almost hourly on 97.5 WPST Trenton and Philadelphia!

Duritz and Counting Crows rose from their humble Bay Area beginnings in 1991 to become one of the most popular bands on the planet, with hits that also included, “A Long December,” “Round Here,” “Omaha,” and “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby.” Duritz also became notorious for his floppy hair and his dating habits, having reportedly canoodled with both Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston at the height of their Friends fame.

But Duritz, more than any of these salacious tidbits, is a sensitive soul. He’s suffered from a severe mental illness. He’s traveled the globe and seen the affects, both positive and negative, of supreme fame. Durtiz and his band also have a new EP out in the world: Butter Miracle Suite One, which was released in May. We caught up with the now-shorn frontman to talk his early days as an aspiring artist, the genesis of the new EP, and what he loves most about his craft.

Songwriter and actor, Victoria Blade, has probably been on your television screen during the pandemic. For those millions of WandaVision fans, she was the neatly attired “Commercial Woman” who appeared in all of the fake commercials embedded within the Marvel series that traveled through the American sitcom decades, from the 1950s through today.

On the chance you didn’t see the show, here’s a handy YouTube link to familiarize yourself with Blade’s work for WandaVision. Go ahead, take the three-plus minutes to check it out.

But Blade is also more than an actor. She is a songwriter and performer. She is also something of an amateur videographer. And we’re happy to premiere Blade’s latest single and music video, “Road Trip.” We caught up with Blade to talk to her about the Marvel phenomenon, how she found music, and how she found out about her role as Commercial Woman while on the vacation she shot this very video!