Sharon Jones has taken a circuitous route to stardom. After spending much of the 1970s as a back-up singer on a number of soul and funk records, Jones quit the music industry. She ended up as a corrections officer at » read more

Luke Top and Lewis Pesacov formed Fool's Gold as a free-form musical collective with a revolving door of different musicians. But on their new album, Leave No Trace, the band has been whittled...
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After he heard a harp melody floating through his apartment wall, Brad Barr learned it, knocked on the door of his neighbor Sarah Page, and played it for her on guitar. A few months later, Barr recruited his brother Andrew and bassist Miles Perkin to round out the Montreal quartet » read more

During the day, Nikki Lane works as a fashion model, but by night, she's a bonafide country singer. Her debut EP Gone Gone Gone shows off a young singer who's looking to turn Nashville on its head....
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Lex Land wasn't born here, but she got here as soon as she could. (In her case, it was only a couple of years ago, but still...) Land credits her relocation to Austin from Los Angeles as a major source of her recent...
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Last year's Tidelands brought the Moondoggies much-deserved critical acclaim for its mixture of folk-rock and gospel-style multi-part harmonies. Yet the Seattle quartet isn't resting on its laurels. They've been touring for over a year now (with...
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For his latest album as the frontman for Beirut, Zach Condon drew inspiration from writer Roberto Bolaño, poet E.E....
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Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic have quickly become a band to watch, largely thanks to the songwriting of lead singer Luke Temple. Over the course of two albums, Temple has developed a unique voice based in pop and folk with the...
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A few years ago, the guitarist for Philadelphia's the War On Drugs struck out on his own. His name is Kurt Vile, and his solo career has overshadowed his previous band--but not for long. With the release of their...
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In 2008, Austin quartet the Calm Blue Sea released their self-titled debut, but a brief hiatus hampered the band's profile. So the group decided to release it again--and not surprisingly, it's turning more heads this time. The Calm Blue Sea are cut...
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Eleanor Friedberger is primarily known as the singer for the oddball pop duo the Fiery Furnaces, but that may soon change. On her new solo debut, Friedberger exhibits some of the best songs of her...
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We haven't heard much from Edie Brickell in the last decade or so. She's been busy raising a family with another pretty well known singer/songwriter (Brickell and Paul Simon met on the set of » read more

They say we're all a product of our environment. In the case of Denver-based chamber folk outfit Paper Bird, they're right. Hailing from a state that has about 300 days of sun a year, the eight-member band showcases the joyfulness that is the...
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Jolie Holland seemed destined to write songs from an early age. Her great uncle played with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and she says before she could walk, she was on somebody's hip being two-stepped around the dance floor. She's...
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