RECENT ARTICLES

When you’re a professional in any field, there is a desire to be as successful as possible, often to make the most money and to earn the most respect you can. Those are the ambitions people are taught to strive for. But when you’re a professional artist, some of those profit-driven, more cutthroat goals can be looked down upon or feel uneasy. Or seem incongruent with your mission of making art, mining your soul, and metaphorically touching others. Therefore, what is one to do?

Artists want their work to be heard but also to rise above the idea of commerce. It’s a tricky balance and one that Nashville-based songwriter, Phoebe Hunt, has wrestled with for many years. Yet, via Hunt’s forthcoming album (Neither One of Us is Wrong, out November 12) and newest single, “Some Things Change,” which American Songwriter is premiering here today (September 16), there is a solution for the songwriter: to embrace the idea of reconciliation.

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Herb Alpert, the legendary recording artist, and A&M Records co-founder, remembers passing on the Kingsmen’s recording of “Louie Louie” in the late 1960s. At the time, the record just didn’t speak to Alpert, he says. So, he trusted his instinct and passed on the opportunity to distribute the recording. Even though at that moment, it may have steered him wrong, commercially speaking, Alpert doesn’t regret the decision, artistically. It’s of no real matter to the Kingsmen, of course, who went on to make history with their recording. Yet, the story is indicative of how Alpert approaches just about everything in his life: he uses his mind, intuition, understanding, and makes the best decision he can. It’s what led him to found A&M with partner Jerry Moss, and it’s what led him to record his famous 1965 LP, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, and what’s led him to release his newest album, Catch The Wind, out Friday (September 17).

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If you ask the co-founding members, Pat Via and Mitch Mitchell, of the New York City-based pop group, January Jane, they’ll tell you their first session together was like an “arranged play date.” The two met at a gallery opening in the Big Apple, introduced by mutual friends. Via, who sang, was looking for a guitar player. And Mitchell, who played guitar, was looking for a singer. Kismet. From there, they hunkered down to work and, as Mitchell says, “write, write, write.” The two then took opportunity after opportunity, setting out to “say yes” to whatever chance came their way. From there, came a gig at a renovated adult theater and a friendship and partnership with famed music journalist, Matt Pinfield. Now, the pop outfit is poised to release its debut EP, Your Drug, on September 17 via BMG.

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When blues artist, Adia Victoria, was first introduced to music in earnest, it felt for her like a religious experience. This, though, was at least somewhat tragically ironic for the future songwriter. At the time, Victoria was part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in her then-hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. She was also enrolled in the adjoining Christian school. For Christmas, the students would perform concerts for the congregation. For Victoria, learning the songs and performing with her friends in front of an audience felt like an epiphany. More than any Bible verse or bit of scripture, this is what actually felt divine to her. “That for me was a revelation,” she tells American Songwriter.

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Like high school sweethearts who say they’ll stay together forever but rarely do, it’s hard to maintain bonds—especially deep ones—to those you’ve grown up with. But that’s exactly what the members of the U.K. rock band, Don Broco, have done. From prior band names that now seem comical (Club Sex) to sticking together through sonic evolutions and experimentations, the members of the hard-rocking band are tight. So much so that it provides the space—the freedom—to try something new, to become different creative people, and to know that they will have each other’s backs. In an age where bickering is often more common than conversation, it’s a breath of fresh air amidst their shattering, thrashing tracks.

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At 18 years old, the Parisian-born singer-songwriter, Adeline, moved from the City of Lights to the Big Apple. For her whole life, the artist believed she would be a singer. She knew the reality was stitched into her DNA. But the journey didn’t wrap up overnight. It took some time.

In New York, she tended bar and worked as a model. She hustled and struggled. Eventually, a career began. As a kid, Adeline had acquired some experience as a performer, singing in children’s choirs for French Mickey Mouse Showequivalents across the Atlantic. It was a start but not a dream fulfilled. Eventually, however, she began to dig into her newfound love for the bass guitar. Later, as a result, she got a job playing and singing backup in CeeLo Green’s soul group. Now, after all that, Adeline has come to both an end of the road and a new beginning, both of which are marked by the release of her newest EP, Adi Oasis, out today (September 10).

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Kristian Matsson, aka the Tallest Man on Earth, can’t put his heels down. Literally, on stage, Matsson is always moving, leaping over amps, shuffling his boots, making facial expressions like an actor. Metaphorically, Matsson is curious. His mind remains interested in what else could be out there, whether it’s a new song lyric or some discovery concerning the human race’s relationship to planet earth.

There’s hope in movement, for Matsson. In a way, movement is what defines living. Which is why the songwriter can feel so forlorn when considering the considerable absence of touring in his life (and understandably so) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, as the world begins to open up, the artist and nuanced songwriter will have more chances to connect with fans, to move on stage, beginning in the U.S. this October.

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It’s often said that when you’re performing, you should play like a million people are in the room and as if everyone there, no matter the number, is important (because they are). Yet, not every artist follows this. Sometimes performers, especially if they’re famous, can treat others disrespectfully. Or even those few listeners in the bar can be arrogant or obnoxious to people just starting out. This is a dynamic that Irish singer-songwriter, Dermot Kennedy, is acutely aware of and one he tries to keep in mind always.

For Kennedy, who comes from a tiny hometown and who came up in Ireland through busking and open mics, he knows how hard it can be. But Kennedy, who has gone on to earn thousands of fans and millions of streams, also knows there are better days. In fact, that’s the title of his newest single, out now.

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For 20-year-old rising pop sensation AJ Mitchell, songwriting began when he was young —really young; like, five years old. It began at the foot of his father, whose prized possession was an old keyboard. While Mitchell’s parents would “blast” Stevie Wonder, KISS, Enya, classical music, and other varieties around the house, it was listening to his dad write and play that sparked everything. In fact, Mitchell says, he wanted to compete with his pops at the effort, even then. Now, all of that work has paid off and Mitchell, who has already garnered tens of millions of song streams, is set to release his debut LP, SKYVIEW, this fall.

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Grantham, U.K.-born singer-songwriter, Holly Humberstone, grew up in an old, rickety wonderland of a house. It was her childhood home and the place where she was raised by her art-loving parents, encouraged to pursue music as much as any other subject, and where Humberstone wrote many of her first songs. That old home was also the primary subject of Humberstone’s debut EP, Falling Asleep at the Wheel, which the artist released in 2020. Today, after she’s moved from the house and felt the sting and surprise of the world beyond her original borders, Humberstone has become steeled by what she’s exposed herself to, while still maintaining affection for her first home. Now, the songwriter is set on a new journey, which begins today with the release of her latest single, “Scarlett,” and her forthcoming sophomore EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, out on November 5.

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The paradox of modern times is that we have every option at our fingertips—every website, television show, song, and movie—yet, it seems hard as ever to follow your own true instincts. At times, we are drowned by choice. But for Heartless Bastards‘ frontperson, Erika Wennerstrom, listening to her intuition has actually been key to her success. She is patient with herself, now more than ever. But there was one occasion in particular during which she listened to what she wanted when faced with the choice to do the opposite. That decision to follow her own internal voice led to perhaps the biggest moment in her career: signing with the prolific Fat Possum Records. Now, Wennerstrom is set to release her popular band’s latest heartening LP, A Beautiful Life, on September 10.

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Chattanooga, Tennessee-born rapper, Isaiah Rashad, says he’s a “learn by doing” kind of person. To get to where he is today, which includes Billboard charting albums and the recent release of his latest (and critically acclaimed) LP, The House Is Burning, Rashad first spent a lot of time observing and studying. He felt comfortable, as they say, posting up in the back of the proverbial room with his eyes open and mind working. Then, when the time was right, he leveraged these observations into action. Rashad says he’s never felt particularly rushed about a project. In fact, his new album is his first in five years. But, it would seem, the patience and hard work have paid off. On Rashad’s new offering, you can feel the time and experience baked in. It’s dense, wide, and varied. And for Rashad, the release has put him squarely on the map, a new big name for award shows and fans to target.

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For the members of the Australian-born, Los Angeles-based group, Chase Atlantic, the relationship between life and creativity is symbiotic; one informs the other, which then, in turn, informs the first again. Around and around it goes. Like the three members themselves, who finish each other’s sentences, burst out into laughter, or spark memory after memory in a matter of moments, the constant step-by-step, A-to-B-to-C productivity is what keeps the group’s energy afloat and constantly churning out ideas. As a trio, they’re a factory of vibe and all of this is evident on the band’s latest single, remix and music video, “OHMAMI,” from the group’s latest release, Beauty In Death, all of which are out now.

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