Folk Rock
Brandi Carlile Joins Pearl Jam to Perform “Better Man” at Ohana Festival: Watch
Pearl Jam closed out Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival on Sunday with some help from Brandi Carlile, who joined the band for a performance of “Better Man.” Before the singer-songwriter took the stage, Vedder joked to the crowd, “Don’t cancel me for saying ‘bitches’ in the nicest way possible,” giving a shout-out to Carlile and all the other female artists who had performed over the last three days. “And Brandi would know about power bitches because it takes one to know one,” he declared to the crowd’s cheers as she strode to the mic. Launching into the track from 1994’s Vitalogy, Carlile sang, “Waitin’, watchin’ the clock/ It’s four o’clock, it’s got to stop/ Tell him, ‘Take no more”‘/ She practices her speech/ As he opens the door, she rolls over/ Pretends to sleep as he looks her over” ...
Newport Folk Fest Marks the Glorious Return of Festivals in US
Most major music festivals coming back in 2021 chose to give perspective attendees a fair amount of time to decide to get vaccinated while still keeping the events “summer.” Hence September is jammed with nearly sold-out fests, from Bonnaroo to BottleRock. But many are looking towards August’s Lollapalooza as the first real test of what a post-pandemic festival looks like, which isn’t entirely accurate. Over the weekend (July 23rd-25th), Newport Folk Festival returned for part one of its slimmed-down Folk On 2021 double-event — and there really is no better way to bring music festivals back. Typically on the smaller side of capacity limits anyway, Newport cut back to just 5,000 daily attendees to help mitigate COVID risks. They also broke up the schedule over two back-to-back three-day chu...
Joni Mitchell Named 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree
Joni Mitchell will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. Presented by the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the annual accolade recognizes lifetime performing arts achievements in American culture. Along with Mitchell, this year’s class of honorees includes actress Bette Midler, Motown founder Berry Gordy, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, and opera singer Justino Díaz. The Kennedy Center honorees are chosen on the recommendation of a committee that includes officials and past award recipients. Mitchell and her peers will formally receive their honors during an in-person ceremony held at the Kennedy Center on December 5th, which will later air on CBS. Advertisement Related Video Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie,...
Brandi Carlile Announces New Album In These Silent Days, Shares “Right on Time”: Stream
Brandi Carlile has announced a new studio album called In These Silent Days, and shared the lead single, “Right on Time”. Written and recorded by Carlile while in quarantine with her longtime bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth, the album found inspiration from her recent memoir, Broken Horses, leading to 10 tracks that arose from “a time of deep and personal reckoning.” As Carlile explained in a statement, “There’s plenty reflection… but mostly it’s a celebration. This album is what drama mixed with joy sounds like. It’s resistance and gratitude, righteous anger and radical forgiveness. It’s the sound of these silent days.” Along with the Hanseroth brothers, the album features a guest appearance from Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig on the track “You and Me on the Rock.” Advert...
Joni Mitchell Releases Digital EP Blue 50 (Demos and Outtakes): Stream
Joni Mitchell’s most iconic album of all time, Blue, turns 50 years old tomorrow. It’s getting a big retrospective rollout later this year to celebrate that anniversary, but Mitchell is honoring it a little early by sharing a new digital EP today. It’s called Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) and it includes a bunch of previously unreleased material. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) spans five songs that nail the magic of Blue. It includes demos of “A Case of You” and “California” that sound comparatively stripped down, and an alternate version of “River” that uses French horns. There’s also an early take of “Urge for Going” which was originally supposed to appear on Blue but didn’t come out until a 1996 greatest hits compilation (notes Stereogum). Bi...
Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser Team Up for US Tour
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-18T18:25:31+00:00“>May 18, 2021 | 2:25pm ET Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser are joining forces for the “Fall Mixer” US tour, giving each musician the opportunity to properly tour behind the acclaimed albums they released in 2020. Launching on October 14th at The National in Richmond, Virginia, the trek will make stops in Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Brooklyn, New York before closing out in Washington, DC on November 23rd at 9:30 Club. Both artists will bring a full band on the road with them. In October 2020, Morby released his standout album, Sundowner, after which he shared “US Mail”, a track that didn’t make the f...
Bruce Springsteen Teases New Album, Performs Acoustic Set at Woody Guthrie Prize Event: Watch
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-14T15:41:23+00:00“>May 14, 2021 | 11:41am ET Bruce Springsteen was this year’s recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize, an award bestowed upon an artist who represents the “spirit and work” of the folk icon. During the virtual acceptance ceremony on Thursday night, the Boss not only played a four-song acoustic set honoring Guthrie, he teased a new album “coming out soon.” The casual mention came during a Q&A with Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, and Grammy Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli. “California was an enormous influence on some of my most topical writing through my ‘90s, 2000s and even now,” Springsteen said. “We have a record coming out soon that’s set largely in the W...
Bob Dylan Museum Opens in Tulsa, Oklahoma
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-12T20:22:52+00:00“>May 12, 2021 | 4:22pm ET For nearly 60 years, Bob Dylan has been churning out albums that have changed the course of folk history — and music at large — in the process. Now, he’s finally getting an in-depth retrospective to honor his work. On May 10th, Tulsa, Oklahoma officially opened The Bob Dylan Center, a permanent three-story museum honoring the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist. According to the The Bob Dylan Center’s website, the museum boasts “more than 100,000 exclusive cultural treasures found in The Bob Dylan Archive.” These include handwritten lyrics for some of his most treasured songs, previously unreleased recordings, never-before-seen film performan...
Dawes Announce Fall 2021 Tour Dates
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-13T18:56:38+00:00“>April 13, 2021 | 2:56pm ET Dawes have announced an expansive fall tour in support of their latest album Good Luck with Whatever, which came out last October during the coronavirus pandemic doldrums. The band’s seventh studio album was previewed with singles like “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?” and “Didn’t Fix Me”, the latter of which was one of our favorite songs of 2020. While the band was able to promote Good Luck with Whatever with performances on Kimmel and Colbert, this 32-date trek is their first opportunity to capitalize on the album’s success. The tour is broadly divided into two legs. The first part kicks o...
Joni Mitchell Announces New Box Set The Reprise Albums (1968-1971)
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T18:21:48+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 2:21pm ET Joni Mitchell is celebrating arguably her greatest run as an artist with a new box set. The collection, titled The Reprise Albums (1968-1971), will feature her prolific four-album run for Reprise Records — 1968’s Song to a Seagull, 1969’s Clouds, 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon, and 1971’s Blue — just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic Blue. The box set is due out June 25th via Rhino. The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) will feature newly remastered versions of all four albums, but arguably the most significant is Song to a Seagull. Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee updated the original mix after discovering that it was...
Brandi Carlile Covers Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” on Colbert: Watch
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T17:27:24+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 1:27pm ET On Tuesday night, Brandi Carlile virtually stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote her new memoir, Broken Horses. The musician and the host primarily talked about her “stream of consciousness” writing approach for the book and her “faith journey as a queer person”. Right before the segment’s end, though, Colbert asked Carlile if she would treat him to a cover of Joni Mitchell, and Carlile happily obliged with an acoustic rendition of “A Case of You”. In a way, this cover song was a multiple-year-long dream for Colbert. Back in 2019, Carlile performed the entirety of Mitchell’s iconic 1971 album Blue at the Disney ...
Waxahatchee Releases Anniversary Reissue of Saint Cloud: Stream
One year ago, Waxahatchee exceeded expectations when she released her album Saint Cloud. It wound up being one of our favorite LPs of the year thanks to some truly unforgettable tracks. Now, Katie Crutchfield is celebrating that milestone by releasing a special first anniversary edition of the album with three previously unreleased cover songs. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. In addition to the original 11 tracks that make up Saint Cloud, this new reissue includes three exclusive covers: a slow-burning country take on “Fruits of My Labor” by Lucinda Williams, a sunny cover of Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning”, and a gentle rendition of “Streets of Philadelphia” by the one and only Bruce Springsteen. Listening to them back to back, it’s easy to understand...
