Courtney Conlogue lives her life on the hunt, striving to compete for — and win —the World Title. A two-time runner-up in 2015 and 2016, she’s had a remarkable 2019 season, coming in first at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in April. The 27-year-old credits her success in part …
Read More »Ty Segall on Going Guitar-Less, Performing Multi-Night Residencies
Ty Segall has a pretty good reason for plotting a multi-night residency at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom. “This sound silly,” the garage rocker says, “But I wanted to figure out a way to stay at home for the summer.” Segall has performed at the Teragram every Friday since July 26th, …
Read More »Woodstock Remembered: John Sebastian on the Sun, Fun and Tie-Dye
I wasn’t scheduled to perform, but I was there from the beginning. There was a casualness about the format there that has never existed again. I just showed up backstage and asked Chip Monck [the stage manager and announcer] if I could help. He said, “Sure, millions of people are …
Read More »Chance the Rapper Had a Mission While Making 'The Big Day': 'No Dull Moments'
Last Thursday, the producer Trap Money Benny — immortalized by Drake thanks to his preference for Hennessy over champagne — got on a call with Nate Fox, one of Chance The Rapper‘s longtime collaborators. Fox was in “crunch mode” trying to finish The Big Day, Chance’s long-teased “debut album.” “He’s …
Read More »Gordon Lightfoot Is Still Following That Carefree Highway
Anyone who ever owned an album by Gordon Lightfoot might not immediately recognize the man sitting on a metal chair in a dressing room at New York’s Town Hall. These days, Lightfoot only passingly resembles the strapping, mustached, square-jawed troubadour whose ballads, like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early …
Read More »Stream These Albums: April 2019
Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride Father of the Bride (which is out this Friday) is so zealously detailed and meticulously contoured that you easily sink into its inventions: the whirl of country picking, surf-guitar twang and classical interlude in “Harmony Hall”; the loopy hip-hop of “Sunflower” with its creeping-vocal …
Read More »'Stairway' to History: Inside the Met's Dazzling New Exhibit of Rock Instruments in New York
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to an overwhelming collection of historical art objects, including a mummy mask from 60 A.D., Greek bronzes from the 8th century B.C. and the original “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting. Starting April 8th, it will also welcome a different type of antiques …
Read More »How Metallica's Lars Ulrich Landed a New Gig: Soundtrack 'Thunder' Drummer
Late last year, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich worked on a recording that was incredibly unusual for him. He pummeled his kit for two days, generating militaristic rattles and big, tribal rhythms. As he played, he watched footage of Ben Affleck and Oscar Isaac yanking money out of the walls of …
Read More »Inside Fitz and the Tantrums' New Single '123456'
Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick is hard on himself. Even after three successful albums with his band Fitz and the Tantrums, the indie pop singer finds the writing process challenging. “This is our fourth one, so it’s not my first time,” he says. “But it doesn’t get any easier, the journey you …
Read More »Blondie's Debbie Harry Finishes Long-Awaited Memoir 'Face It'
Debbie Harry has finally finished her long-in-the-works memoir, Face It, which she expects will come out in the second half of 2020. “I talk a bit about my internal functions — not biological but mental,” the Blondie frontwoman, 73, tells Rolling Stone. “It’s more personal.” The book will “weave through” …
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