Features
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Matt Maeson found the straight and narrow on a long and winding road
The forearms of Matt Maeson are tattooed with a foreboding message: “Born a sinner,” says one. “Die a martyr,” concludes the other. The statement itself may be pure rock and roll, but that was not the…
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INTERVIEW: St. Lucia searches for the gods, holds out for a brighter future
Jean-Philip Grobler still dreams of having the biggest band in the world. The St. Lucia frontman acknowledges that the time may not be right for his earnest, heart-on-sleeve pop music. Even when he was in the…
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INTERVIEW: Dream Wife ‘cut’ out for a bigger platform in the U.S.
“I’m gonna fuck you up, I’m gonna cut you up,” sings Rakel Mjöll of Dream Wife on “F.U.U.,” the closer to the Icelandic-U.K. pop-punk trio’s explosive 2018 debut album. Dream Wife RUSSO, BTCHKRFT 7:30 p.m., Tuesday,…
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Mutual Super Friends: Ayokay gets his starring role
Alex O’Neill and Mike Temrowski grew up on the same block in a Detroit suburb. The two were friends from the third grade on, first playing superheroes before finding and falling in love with music.…
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Interview: Caitlyn Smith knows the magic words, puts them to good use on ‘Starfire’
For every star Music City churns out, there are 100 other artists struggling to break through. Even many of the success stories have rough beginnings, like Chris Stapleton, Margo Price or Maren Morris, all of…
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J. Roddy Walston and the Business rebel against ‘the Soft Life’
Sometimes J. Roddy Walston feels at odds with the ways of the world. “Everything’s easy and instant and same-day-delivery,” he says, sitting back on a couch. “You don’t even have to think about getting online;…
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Q&A: Lyrics Born on the story behind Sorry to Bother You, his 10th LP
In breakout smash hit Sorry To Bother You, one of the most talked-about films of the summer, a black telemarketer living in Oakland finds a magic key that lets him speak like a white man.…
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Tiny Desk Contest winner Naia Izumi on being a role model for those with autism
Winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest has been a major career boost to those who have come out on top. But Georgia multi-instrumentalist Naia Izumi has remained remarkably nonchalant after beating out 5,000 entrants into the…
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Chicano Batman asks life’s big questions, prepares a return to the studio
SAN FRANCISCO — In Los Angeles, just like in the Bay Area, finding an affordable place to call home has become more difficult in recent years. That hasn’t gotten past L.A.’s hardworking band of the…
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The Aces hit blackjack with ‘Volcanic Love’
Provo, Utah’s pop band The Aces titled their debut album after a line in an Edgar Allan Poe poem. But When My Heart Felt Volcanic was not a comment on Poe’s morbid curiosity in 1847’s Ulalume.…
