RECENT ARTICLES

Left at London loves spam—the meat variety, not the junk emails.

The Pacific Northwest trans songwriter (real name Nat Puff) likes to fry it up crispy and top it over a bowl of rice and a hard-to-get-perfect over-medium egg. Then she tops it with a half-sriracha half-kewpie mayonnaise sauce she mixes in to create an ideal morning meal. Though veganaise will “do in a pinch,” she says. Puff often had the stuff once a week, though less so more recently. Another meal she enjoys, on occasion, early in the day is a “breakfast burger,” which is vegan and involves turning plain buns into a French toast-style burger bookended with cinnamon. Inside? Crunchy peanut butter layered over the patty. Though she might try strawberries and powdered sugar on her next one. Yes, Puff concocts. Whether it’s a meal or her latest mixtape, she’s often at work, tinkering, finding the perfect balance, and recipe. That is evident in Puff’s latest single, “Make You Proud (feat. TYGKO),” which American Songwriter is premiering today (June 15). The song is set to release on her next EP, Transgender Street Legend Volume 3, which itself is out June 24.

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When a band gets big—when the group earns No. 1 records, Grammy Awards, and a string of sold-out tour dates in stadiums (including a spot opening up for The Rolling Stones)—it’s easy to forget where they’ve come from. It may not even be intended. But sometimes the roots can be lost for the sake of the fruit. Thankfully, for the fans of the popular Zac Brown Band, this isn’t the case for the group and its frontman. Brown remembers the grind. Remembers the decade it took for the industry to really pay attention. He remembers inventing a business model early on: playing sports bars midweek and eventually bringing in hundreds of people. Remembers camping on porches, and staying in friends’ garages. He remembers borrowing money from one of his 11 siblings for a PA system and microphones. Now, though, Brown and his band have grown, earned accolades, and are continuing their path upward. But it’s not for any lack of keeping in mind those initial good ol’ days.

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When talking with Mike Hadreas, who is known better as the glamorous, emotive artist Perfume Genius, about his early days with music, the word “obsessed” comes up over and over. Hadreas was obsessed when he discovered songs early in his life. Obsessed with dancing and singing, obsessed with hearing songs and hearing them again and again on the radio. Obsessed with his first album purchase, the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack. Obsessed with the Madonna song, “Like a Prayer,” which was “forbidden” by his parents. He loved that song’s weird, creepy and sad vibes. He was obsessed with the haunting, melancholy sensibilities of the songs he loved, even the campiness of the movie soundtrack. Now, many music listeners are obsessed with the music Hadreas makes under his Perfume Genius moniker. And his latest project? The forthcoming LP, Ugly Season, is slated for release on June 17.

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Chris Isaak is a bachelor. As such, as he packs for his upcoming tour, he says his living room looks like a “bomb went off.” He laughs at that. Laid back, Isaak talks about the process of preparing for a tour. He has his suitcases in the middle of his room, his possessions spread out, t-shirts and underwear, socks and shoes and belts. He’s wondering what Hawaiian shirts to bring. At least, he says, this isn’t the type of tour where he’s going to a range of climates. It’s a summer tour and he’s looking forward to it, so he’s packing light. “And as I said to the guys in the band,” Isaak tells American Songwriter, “it’s not like we’re going out to the Amazon. If we forget something, there’s always a Macy’s.” Isaak isn’t worried. In fact, he’s excited. He loves his band and is titillated at the idea of hitting the road with them. It’s about the music and he’s always had a “really good response” to music.

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Art Alexakis, the frontman for the uber-successful rock band Everclear, would hear the story repeated to him often. His family would remind Alexakis about the time when he was just 18-months old and in the front seat of his parent’s car as they drove up the Pacific Coast Highway. The song, “Wipe Out,” came on, rich with the big opening drum roll. This was before car seats and seatbelts, sometime around 1963 or 1964. And at that moment Alexakis began to wild out, moving and gyrating in the front of the car, possessed by the track.

It was so overwhelming that his father turned the song off because it was hard for him to drive with his son moving so much up there. But Alexakis began to scream, wanting it back on. So, his father pulled the car over, put it back on the radio, and when it concluded, Alexakis fell into his mother’s lap as his father finally drove back onto the highway. In other words, Alexakis has always had a relationship with music. So, today, celebrating his band’s origins and its debut record, World of Noise, which came out some 30 years ago, with a new tour this summer makes complete sense.

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Xavier Amin Dphrepaulez, who is better known as the Bay Area rocker Fantastic Negrito, may never make another record. At least, that’s what the musician says now, as his latest LP and accompanying visual album, White Jesus, Black Problems, are unleashed into the world today (June 3). For Dphrepaulez, who is constantly on the hunt for new inspiration to create and create more, he thinks he may never have quite the internal push as he did for his latest work: finding out he is the descendant of a white Scottish indentured servant who fell in love and had children with a Black slave nearly 300 years ago.

Dphrepaulez learned about their story, first, through a random DM and some subsequent heavy research. Filled with the fire of discovery, he began writing his new work and the powerful project is now set for the light of day.

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As a solo artist in charge of a piece of work all your own, complete with the final say, the task can be daunting, says legendary musician John Doe. It can also be great. When you’re working with a group, there are many voices in this mix. This can lean toward consensus or compromise—or disagreement. But, as with his past two solo releases—The Westerner in 2016 and now his 2022 album, Fables in a Foreign Land—Doe has been the ultimate voice when it comes to the direction (and the singing). Thankfully for him, though, Doe found his vision and his centerpiece song to the record.

Now, as the album is set for release on Friday (May 20), the musician, who rose to fame with his punk rock band X (with musician Exene Cervenka), knows there is heft and meaning to the work he’s set to unleash into the world. And the anchor to it is the album’s first track, “Never Coming Back,” a song that’s all about fleeing and knowing that there’s no returning to the past.

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When people talk about the idea of an artist’s life’s work, what is really being considered? Yes, in one way, an artist’s life’s work is the total accumulation of all that they’ve made and released into the world. But it can also have another meaning: a life’s work can also be a singular effort that encompasses a life and a career to date. For Lady Wray (born Nicole Wray), her newest album, Piece Of Me, represents the latter.

Wray, who released the LP earlier this year in January, has since been out on the road performing songs from it in cities all over the country (and she’ll continue that tour later this year, beginning in June). In so doing, Wray has gotten a chance to meet and connect with her fans—some of whom have been following her for decades now. This has been invaluable. She has shared smiles and tears with them. And the process has shown her just what her years of working and living in music have meant.

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Popstar Sabrina Claudio was raised around music. It showed up in family gatherings, parties, cleaning time, and chores. And while she never initially thought she’d be a well-known songwriter and performer growing up, she’s become just that, earning millions of song streams and airplay around the world. Today, Claudio, who is set to release her latest LP, Based On A Feeling, on Friday (May 6), considers herself an R&B artist at heart. She’s soulful and insightful in her craft. Yet, she also calls herself normal—perhaps even “too normal”—honoring authenticity in her work more than accolades or marketing manipulation. These roots have proved valuable as Claudio continues to grow and mature, both personally and professionally. In fact, she’s finally been able to hone her vision to one central tenant and that has inspired the bloom of her newest work completely—though it almost never happened.

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Emily Kokal, vocalist, guitar player, and songwriter for the band Warpaint, knows the value of being bored. She might not be where she is today—poised to release the group’s newest album, Radiate Like This, on May 6 and headed out for a European tour—had it not been for boredom. With nothing to do, she discovered songwriting books, guitar chords, and the beginnings of what would become her profession: creativity.

On those occasions when her mother grounded her as a kid, that’s perhaps when it all really started. Today, though, kids (and people, in general) are inundated with options and things to do. But what happens to people, she wonders, without times of uncertainty, without downtime? Thankfully for Kokal, she had her own moments like this, and they helped give her the tools to become the acclaimed artist she is now. With hope, she says, others will experience the same.

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When the clouds had parted and the drizzly U.K. rain had subsided, young Graham Nash could listen to American Top-40 radio on Sunday nights in his bedroom. He was about 13 years old and had already enjoyed work as an aspiring photographer when he began to take notice. Nash had started taking his first images around 11. But through Radio Luxembourg, Nash could hear the songs of Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Fats Domino fill his room. This, of course, spurred the desire to play the guitar. Now, seven decades later, Nash is still wielding a six-string and still writing music. He’s created his own hits throughout the years in various bands like the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. And Nash is celebrating many of the best tunes on his new live album, Graham Nash: Live, which is set to release on Friday (May 6).

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Hannibal Buress is back at the grind.

This time, though, instead of working on new standup material, as is often the trajectory for famous comedians like him, Buress is working on what may amount to a whole new career arc. The quick-witted and multi-talented artist released his debut EP, Eshu Tune, under the same stage name, in mid-April. That eight-song album features both his production work and beat making as well as his sly, skillful rapping. For Buress, the work is both an exciting window into future creativity and something that connects him to one of his earliest loves: music. It’s something that’s invigorating him these days and, perhaps down the line, the work will inform future standup specials. But in the meantime, it’s all about the songwriting.

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What goes into a Grammy Award-winning career? Is it hard work and focus from a young age? It can be. Is it knowing what you want and going for it? Yes, sure. But it’s also about exposing yourself to a myriad of aspects of the world because one never knows where a lesson or inspiration may come from. For acclaimed singer, producer, and businessman, Sean Paul, his path to fame and recognition began in Jamaica with his mother singing songs from the Beatles while taking him to school as a kid. She loved Paul Simon and Cat Stevens and so she exposed her son to them, too. Paul’s aunt owned a sound system and she’d play reggae and dancehall music. That’s when the wheels began to turn in Paul’s head and help to lead him to a career that includes Grammy nominations, collaborating with Beyonce, and more. And Paul’s new album, Scorcha, is set to drop on May 27 with features from Gwen Stefani, Sia, and more.

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Today, country singer Kane Brown is one of the biggest names in popular music. He’s earned multiple platinum record certifications, millions of fans, and more accolades than could fit in a 10-gallon cowboy hat. One might presume, therefore, that Brown is on top of the world and in need of nothing else, nor anyone’s help. But that’s as far from the truth as could be. Instead, Brown keeps a level head. He likes hanging out with friends at lake houses and admiring classic cars. Every morning at home when he comes downstairs to see his family, he makes sure to tell his wife that she’s “Superwoman.” Humility, sincerity, appreciation—these are the traits of an artist who will assuredly have a lasting, even multi-decade career. They are also the ingredients that comprise Brown’s career to date. For the standout songwriter and performer, life initially began tumultuous and precarious—as a kid, his family spent time homeless. Now, though, Brown, who is currently at work on his third solo LP, is as sought-after as it gets.

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