Rock
Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You Documentary Sheds Light on What Drives The Boss: Review
The Pitch: It’s not every day that you record the 20th studio album of your half-century career in music. When that time does come, it’s worth memorializing. Such is the case with Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, the new making-of documentary now streaming on Apple TV+. Shot last November at Springsteen’s home studio in New Jersey during a four-day recording session with the E Street Band, the film does more than simply capture a veteran band making a hard job look easy. It also gives Springsteen a chance to expand upon and espouse the thoughts on legacy, time, and the creative process that animate the new record’s material. New Jersey in Winter: While it’s unlikely that Springsteen and his crew opted for a late fall recording date to maximize the potential for cinematic poignancy, that ...
Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Adam Sandler and More Toast Tom Petty at Virtual 70th Birthday Bash: Review
It’s not surprising that Tom Petty’s passing came to inspire an annual birthday festival. Anyone who ever attended a Heartbreakers show knows that infinite feeling and suspicion that a summer night and a favorite song might somehow go on forever. That may not have turned out to be quite true, but artists, friends, and fans have been flocking to Gainesville since Petty’s death to hold on as tightly as possible to what the man and his music meant to so many of us. This year, of course, posed additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop Petty’s family and friends from piecing together a heartfelt tribute that not only celebrated what would’ve been the artist’s 70th birthday but raised money for several notable, music-related causes. <img aria-describedby="c...
Jack White Buys Busker a New Guitar After It Was Smashed by Passerby
The staff told him that he had a call from a “third party,” which turned out to be White’s manager, because the White Stripes star heard about Grant’s situation and asked his management to try to find him by ringing every guitar shop in the city. “Incredible,” Grant updated his GoFundMe page. “Jack White from The White Stripes got in touch this morning and decided to buy me a brand new guitar. Unbelievable. From one of the worst things to happen to one of the best. Once again, thank you for everyone’s help.” On Wednesday (Oct. 21), Grant shared a photo of his sleek, baby blue Fender guitar to Instagram. “This morning I came into @guitarguitaredinburgh to pick up the new acoustic. Next thing I know I’m on the p...
Nickelback on the Absurdity of Celebrity
Kyle Meredith With… Nickelback Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Nickelback bassist Mike Kroeger jumps on the line with Kyle Meredith to discuss the 15th anniversary of All The Right Reasons. Together, they discuss what made it a heavier and more lush album, Chad Kroeger’s autobiographical lyrics, the absurdity of celebrity, and the story of their childhoods within the smash hit “Photograph”. Kroeger also discusses the accompanying live album from their show at the 2006 Sturgis Bike Rally and plans for a new 2021 LP as they hit their own 25th anniversary. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday...
Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Letter To You’ Has Arrived: Stream It Now
Earlier this week, Springsteen joined Zane Lowe on Apple Music for a deep-dive into his career, his thoughts on writing a book, his Broadway show and so much more. “It was a great project for us,” he says of the new album, “because I don’t think we’ve ever played live together in the studio and then kept everything that we did on the full take, all the singing, all the playing. It’s The E Street Band really completely live. And I overdubbed a few solos and things, but it’s really the band in one shot. We’ve played live in the studio before, but never kept everything, always gone back in and overdubbed a vocal or overdubbed, put other things on.” Letter to You was produced at Springsteen’s home studio in New Jersey with Ron Aniello, mixed by Bob Clearmountain a...
Stevie Nicks Tops Hot 100 Songwriters Chart Thanks to Fleetwood Mac ‘Dreams’ Resurgence
“Dreams” has surged thanks to the viral TikTok video featuring the song, in which Idahoan Nathan Apodaca rides his longboard while drinking a large bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice. The video became so popular that the band’s Mick Fleetwood and Nicks have since created their own tribute clips. Ocean Spray even gifted Apodaca a red pickup truck (filled with bottles of Ocean Spray juice). As a member of Fleetwood Mac and as a soloist, Nicks has a longstanding history on Billboard‘s charts. She sports a songwriting credit on two Hot 100 No. 1s: “Dreams” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” in 2001, as the latter samples Nicks’ 1982 hit “Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove).” Nicks also recei...
Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ Returns to Billboard 200 Top 10 — 42 Years Later
After a 42-year wait, Fleetwood Mac’s former Billboard 200 No. 1 album Rumours returns to the top 10 this week, as the set jumps 13-7. The album, released in 1977, is basking in the glow of sales and streaming increases spurred on by publicity generated from a viral TikTok video set to the album’s song “Dreams.” The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 24-dated chart (w...
John Prine Makes First Billboard Airplay Chart Appearance on Kurt Vile’s ‘How Lucky’ Cover
The track debuts at No. 28 on Adult Alternative Songs. Six months after his death, storied singer-songwriter John Prine ranks on a Billboard airplay chart for the first time. Prine debuts on the Adult Alternative Songs tally dated Oct. 17 at No. 28, credited on Kurt Vile‘s cover of Prine’s 1979 song “How Lucky,” for which Prine recorded new vocals last December. Prine’s chart history includes 15 entries on the Billboard 200 albums survey over a career that began with his first entry, his self-titled debut, in 1972. From then through his April 2020 passing, his music appeared solely on album-based lists. After he died, multiple songs of his reached Billboard tallies as fans celebrated the Americana/folk icon. A posthumous release, “I Remember Everyth...
‘The Boys’ Take Entire Top Five of September 2020’s Top TV Songs Chart
It’s followed by a pair of Billy Joel songs (“We Didn’t Start the Fire”; No. 2, 7.3 million streams, 3,000 downloads, and “Pressure”; No. 4, 844,000 streams, 2,000 downloads), The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” (No. 3, 5.2 million streams, 2,000 downloads) and Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” (No. 5, 2.9 million streams, 2,000 downloads). Billie Eilish’s “Listen Before I Go” is the first song on the chart not from The Boys (and recorded in the last few decades), coming in at No. 6 (7.6 million streams) after being heard in the third episode of the third season of Netflix’s Baby (Sept. 16). See the full top 10, which also features entries from The 100, P-Valley and Power Book II, below. Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)1. “Dream On,” Aerosmith, The Boys (Amazon)2. ...
Hollywood’s New American Legion Drive-In Books Stevie Nicks Concert Doc
“We are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to screen this epic concert film,” enthused Post 43 theater director Bill Steele. “The boutique setting of our drive-in will enhance the on-screen concert experience.” Post 43 is both a historic, private clubhouse for local veterans in the heart of Hollywood and home to a newly remodeled, state-of-the-art, 6,000 sq.-ft. cinema with seating for 482 guests. When the pandemic forced the closure of the theater, the Legion’s internal theater team proposed moving the theater operations outdoors and was supported by the club’s leadership, who saw an opportunity to serve the greater film community of Los Angeles. 24 Karat Gold film features a set list of fan favorite Nicks songs from her solo career and as a member of Fleetwood Mac inc...
Song of the Week: Stevie Nicks Lends Her Voice to the Fight on “Show Them the Way”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. There are no shortage of voices being raised across America today. It’s a sign of the times. Politicians, activists, artists, and everyday people look around and sense that something is terribly wrong — and, more troubling yet, that it’s only going to get worse without an immediate change in course. Presidential candidate Joe Biden, as you’ve probably heard him tell it, came out of political retirement to run for office after he saw neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups marching and stirring up violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’ve seen children-turned-activists like Emma Gonzalez and Greta Thunberg sound the warning alarm ...
Fiona Apple Performs ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ Songs at 2020 New Yorker Festival: Watch
Apple’s appearance at The New Yorker Festival was a treat for fans, who don’t often get to see the singer perform in a live setting. In recent years, she’s only given a handful of live performances, including an appearance at a 2019 tribute concert for Chris Cornell in Los Angeles and as a surprise guest during St. Vincent‘s set at Texas’ Trans-Pecos Festival in 2017. In addition to her musical performance, Apple also sat down for a virtual interview with New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum, who penned an eye-opening profile about the reclusive artist ahead of Fetch the Bolt Cutters‘ release in April. Fetch the Bolt Cutters marks Apple’s first new musical release in eight years. The album’s lead single, “Shameika,” launched the singe...
