On Sunday night, Amanda Shires continued her daily I So Lounging livestream series with a three-song set that included a moving cover of Joe Diffie’s 1993 hit, “John Deere Green.” Diffie died that same day due to complications related to COVID-19. “Heard this one a lot when I was a …
Read More »Ringo Starr Pushes 2020 All Starr Band Tour to 2021 Due to Coronavirus
Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band have pushed their planned spring 2020 North American tour to spring 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak. “This is very difficult for me,” Starr said in a statement, “in 30 years I think I’ve only missed two or three gigs, never mind a …
Read More »J Balvin Reports From Quarantine, Talks Radiant New LP 'Colores'
It’s safe to say that J Balvin leads one charmed life. The Medellín-born artist entered 2020 as a second-time Grammy nominee for 2019’s Oasis, his joint album with Puerto Rican comrade Bad Bunny. At the year’s onset, Balvin’s reggaeton-house single featuring the Black Eyed Peas, “Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life),” …
Read More »George Harrison's Foundation Donates Half a Million to COVID-19 Relief
George Harrison‘s Material World Foundation has donated $500,000 to COVID-19 relief. The foundation — started by the late Beatle in 1973 with the release of the LP Living in the Material World — donated the funds to MusiCare’s COVID-19 Foundation, Save the Children, and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). …
Read More »Run the Jewels Muster Mayhem on New Song 'Ooh La La'
Run the Jewels unveiled another new bruising track, “Ooh La La,” from their upcoming album Run the Jewels 4. The track is centered around a sample taken from Greg Nice (of Nice and Smooth)’s verse on the 1992 Gang Starr classic, “DWYCK,” while it also features record scratching from DJ …
Read More »BTS Launches Web Series to Help Fans Learn Korean
If you’re going to learn Korean, why not learn it from K-Pop group BTS? The band has announced they will host 30 language lessons on social media app Weverse beginning March 24th. Each episode will last three minutes and will focus on Korean grammar and expressions, with a lesson plan …
Read More »Father John Misty Drops Live LP for COVID-19 Relief
Father John Misty has released a live album to benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 relief fund. In classic Misty fashion, the LP is humorously titled Off-Key in Hamburg, available now via Bandcamp. Misty, real name Josh Tillman, recorded the 20-song set at Hamburg Elbphilharmonie on August 8th, 2019, accompanied by the Neue …
Read More »Hear Paul Weller's Soulful, Synth-y New Song, 'Earth Beat'
Paul Weller fuses New Wave, pop, R&B, and electronic music on his new single, “Earth Beat.” The track finds the former frontman for the Jam and the Style Council singing about feeling hope for a new day with his guest on the song, R&B artist Col3trane. “I feel that Earth …
Read More »Flashback: Merle Haggard Sings for President Nixon on St. Patrick's Day
In March 1973, Merle Haggard and the Strangers released a new single called “The Emptiest Arms in the World,” a boozy, forlorn honky-tonk ballad from the soon-to-be-released I Love Dixie Blues LP. The country song’s lonely main character, however, might well have been positively giddy compared to the actual country’s …
Read More »Hear Heart's Nancy Wilson and Guitarist Eric Tessmer's Electrified Depeche Mode Cover
Heart‘s Nancy Wilson has teamed with singer and guitarist Eric Tessmer for a harder-rocking rendition of Depeche Mode’s synth-pop classic “Policy of Truth.” Where the original song was built from chilly synthesizers and Dave Gahan’s serenely smooth vocals, Wilson and Tessmer kick their guitars into overdrive for the song’s main …
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