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For those who grew up in the 1980s, the names Sharon, Lois & Bram have a special meaning. The trio, which first rose to fame in their home country of Canada and then later in the United States, created the acclaimed television program The Elephant Show, which featured the three, and an unnamed person inside an elephant costume, playing music and learning life lessons. Think Mr. Rogers with more settings and songs. Thanks to the show, which became a hit in reruns in the U.S. on Nickelodeon after its five seasons aired up north, the three were later made members of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor. (Sadly, Lois Lilienstein died in 2015.) Fans of the trio, both young and old, can now climb into a time machine and enjoy live versions of their biggest hits on the new LP, Sharon, Lois & Bram Best of the Best Live, which is out today (November 19).

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Golden-voiced soul singer Allen Stone remembers the day he wrote the lyrics for his song, “Unaware.” It was ten years ago in Los Angeles in a recording studio with just one other collaborator. At the time, while he was happy about the work, it was also just one of about 25 songs Stone had put together for his debut self-titled 2011 LP. Funny how something that seems relatively unremarkable can turn into a life-changing moment.

For Stone, who has been thinking about “Unaware” and other early compositions due to the forthcoming release of his latest LP, the acoustic APART, on November 12, the heartfelt, emotive track has since changed his life.

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The founding members of the indie rock band, The Moldy Peaches, met at an open mic for middle schoolers in Westchester County, New York. Later, they formed a friendship and creative partnership in a record store in that same small town when Kimya Dawson was around 20 years old and Adam Green was about 13.

Despite their age difference, the two became pals. Dawson was used to being around kids as a summer camp counselor. Her mother was an elementary school teacher and her parents ran a daycare center in their home. Consequently, there were seemingly always children running around the house, even when Dawson was writing and recording her bedroom songs. In fact, some of her early solo work included kids humming along. Not to mention, she’s got a childlike spirit as prominent as any other feature.

For Green, he was in awe. Dawson, who had grown up locally, went to college on the other side of the country in Olympia, Washington, before moving back to New York State. She knew people he’d only read about in books, like Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna. But when they began plucking and plunking out little songs together in the record store, that’s when the real creative magic between the two friends commenced.

Now, fans of the acclaimed indie band can hear those early songs with the release of their new collection The Moldy Peaches – Origin Story: 1994-1999, which is out on February 25.

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When hip-hop was still in its infancy, the popular rock band Blondie was there in support. Many can pose that they were there, but Blondie, which was founded by and comprised primarily of singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, was taking trips from Manhattan to the Bronx, meeting with early rappers, DJs, graffiti artists, breakers and absorbing the culture.

Both Harry and Stein followed their curiosities and, as such, Blondie was one of the first mainstream groups to introduce rapping to the populous. The band was excellent at playing, melding, and jumping genres, from rock to disco and rap. The band’s smash hit, “Rapture,” featured Harry rapping, influenced by the famed emcee Fab 5 Freddy.

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In Seattle, an important, perhaps genre-defining conversation has been going for the past six months about one local artist more than any other. That person is not Macklemore or Ryan Lewis, Ann or Nancy Wilson, Kurt Cobain or Jimi Hendrix. It’s Bam Bam frontwoman, Tina Bell.

Haven’t heard of her? You’re not alone.

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For as long as they’ve known each other, brothers Sean and Robin Pecknold have been influencing each other, for the better. The two, who are five years apart in age (Sean is older), have, in their own ways, been pushing one another towards success—From Robin’s infancy when Sean wanted to play with his new baby brother and Robin copying Sean’s baseball uniforms hand-drawing his own numbers on white t-shirts to look like his older bro, to the two collaborating on music videos for the now-famous Grammy-nominated band Fleet Foxes, which Robin started in Seattle. Sean is driven by Robin’s songwriting, whether he’s working on a new video for Fleet Foxes, or not, and Robin remains forever impacted by his brother’s guidance and decision making. It’s a heartening bond in a world that can forget how crucial substance is over swath, family over fame.

And it’s something the brothers continue to celebrate today, even after the release of Fleet Foxes’ most recent LP, Shore, in September.

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Through the swirls of life, perhaps some things don’t much change. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, bonds like friendship subsist through the years and all that’s within them. If so, it must be because of some magic, or something intangible; a truly special quality. For artists Hollis (aka Hollis Wong-Wear) and Ryan Lewis, that connection is solidified through hard work and collaboration. It’s funny; sometimes the best aspects of friendships aren’t about the friendship, itself. It’s about what you do together, what you make with your hands and minds.

For Hollis and Lewis, that includes Grammy Award-winning work on the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album, The Heist, on which Hollis is featured (see: “White Walls”) and in elaborate music videos (see: “Wings”). Hollis’ latest solo single, “Let Me Not,” was co-written with Lewis. That creative occasion, for Hollis, was the sole effort of late that she conducted masked-face-to-masked-face. Hey, anything for a friend, right?

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It may have taken some time, but now the quintet of musicians who make up the U.K.-based band, Asking Alexandria, have finally realized what’s most important when it comes to the music they make: each other. And in so doing, the five members of the metal band have realized that each is more than just a musician. Each is a whole human being with a life and interests outside of their instrument. But while realizing these truths about one another and their group might lead some artists in the same position to drift away or go off into other parts of their own worlds, for the members of Asking Alexandria, acknowledging this reality, has only made their unit stronger, more cohesive, and their forthcoming album, See What’s On The Inside, which is out October 1, that much more formidable.

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Even if you’re not a fan of the National Basketball Association, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Muggsy Bogues. The man still holds the record for the shortest player ever to suit up in the NBA— at five-foot-three. Remarkable in a sport that prides height over most else.

Bogues, who was also on the very memorable 1990’s-defining Charlotte Hornets team, is a basketball gold medalist. He’s appeared on Saturday Night Live in an episode with Charles Barkley, RuPaul, and Nirvana. Bogues has helped lead several NBA teams to the playoffs and in 1993-1994, he averaged a double-double (10.8 points and 10.1 assists).

Today, his name is synonymous with “heart over height,” or with just beating the odds. If the NBA was Goliath, Bogues is the ultimate David. He’s also starred alongside Michael Jordan in the original Space Jam movie and made an appearance in a Hootie & The Blowfish music video.

So, we thought, who better to ask than Bogues, who has a new memoir coming out about his life in 2022 (available for pre-order here), for a playlist of Top 10 inspirational songs? He is, after all, a man who has beaten all the odds. And of the list of songs, Bogues says:

“I had to pick Tribe because he mentioned me in there in the song. And Hootie & the Blowfish, me and Alonzo [Mourning] have a Grammy plaque hanging up because we were part of the video. Migos because that’s what you’re listening to today. But I’m also an old-school guy, so Michael Jackson is always going to be there. He’s the king of Pop. And then, Teddy! He’s going to turn off the lights!”

Without further ado, here are Muggsy Bogues’ Top 10 inspirational tracks:

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At the time, Michael Bacon had never been on a date before. The future co-founder, along with his movie star brother, Kevin, of the Americana duo, the Bacon Brothers, says he was a “weird kid” growing up. In high school in Philadelphia, Michael, who is nine years older than Kevin, found himself gravitating towards the British Invasion bands whereas his compatriots would flock regularly to Motown and R&B. Michael played cello growing up and loved fretted instruments. This drew him to the pop sounds from across the Atlantic. One day, venturing to a British Invasion-style concert, Michael saw a beautiful young woman sitting alone at the show. He’d never asked anyone out before, but Michael got up the gumption to do just that and she said yes.

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September 11, 2001 — a day that will live in infamy. A day that every American saw an attack on our own soil the likes of something never before seen in this country. It was an act that, as Alan Jackson put it in song, stopped the world from turning.

In the words of Alan Jackson, Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day? / Were you in the yard with your wife and children / Or working on some stage in L.A.? Did you stand there in shock / At the sight of that black smoke / Risin’ against that blue sky? / Did you shout out in anger / In fear for your neighbor / Or did you just sit down and cry?

Every one of us has a story and will forever remember where we were on September 11, 2001. The President of the United States’ Chris Ballew, Malina Moye, The Black Tones’ Eva Walker, Melvins’ King Walker, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Polyrhytmics Ben Bloom, Ednah Holt, Lynn Mabry, and George Birge tells American Songwriter in their own words, how they remember the tragic events of 9/11.

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