Posts in Profiles
Malina Moye: Thriving in Song

To know guitar player, songwriter, and performer Malina Moye is to know her positive torrent of energy. Truly, the expression “lightning in a bottle” fits Moye aptly. Born into a musical family, the left-handed Moye got her first guitar at 9 years old and flipped it over and upside down so she could play it comfortably. At 12 years old, she started a family band with her siblings. Her bass-playing father and singing mother taught her what to look for when seeing other artists on stage or when parsing their writing. 

Santana, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Mozart were all early influences. But with all that, Moye knew that one day she wanted to find who she was as a solo artist. So, she moved to Los Angeles with just $20 in her pocket. She slept in her car and hunted pennies to have enough for sandwiches. But she made it through. Today, she’s a Billboard chart-topping artist and a killer national anthem player ahead of Minnesota Vikings football games. And Moye’s latest accomplishment is her new album, Dirty, which dropped officially on March 17. 

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Feist Contains ‘Multitudes’

When Leslie Feist was five-years-old, there was a rule at the dinner table. Her mom laid down the law. No singing during meals! Otherwise, the future four-time Grammy nominee wouldn’t stop humming around the house, so her mom had to institute the dinnertime directive.

Feist’s singing got to be so common that her brother would hide little cassette recorders around their home because she would sing stream-of-consciousness melodies so often. Then he would “torture” her by playing it all back. But her ambition paid off. She started choir when she was six, even going to an elementary school that focused on it. That prepared her for perhaps the most serendipitous moment of her early career. Feist, whose newest album, Multitudes, arrives Friday (April 14), says she began going to punk shows and one day in high school a few girls approached her about it. They’d seen her at the gigs. So, they offered her the chance to sing in their band. 

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Spencer Haywood: the NBA star who opened the door for generations of prodigies

Spencer Haywood was standing in the Cincinnati snow, freezing his butt off. The stylish green and gold bellbottom Seattle SuperSonics warmups he wore did little for the cold wind, which would blow up the thighs thanks to the wide ankle hem. The short-sleeve top didn’t help much, either. The 1970s had just begun but Haywood’s career, remarkable as it was, as a former ABA Rookie of the Year and MVP, had stalled again. But for the future multi-time All-Star, who later dealt with substance abuse issues while in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, he wasn’t standing in the sub-freezing night because of any personal or professional infraction. No, he was in the process of changing the league forever. As such, he wasn’t even allowed to stand on the Cincinnati Royals court, opposite Tiny Archibald and Norm Van Lier, or go back into the locker room and get his street clothes. He was an “illegal player” and banned from the game before it started because, simply, he was in court fighting a bigger battle.

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‘I had to seek therapy’: what happens when an NBA career ends before its time?

Kenneth Faried is around 7,200 feet above sea level. At times, though, the former Team USA starter and Denver Nugget, he has felt much lower. His G League season with the Mexico City Capitanes concluded in late March, the team narrowly missing the playoffs. But Faried played well, averaging 11.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists on the year. Still, he remains far from his ultimate goal. Many NBA fans probably remember the “Manimal” and his ferocious blocks and dunks. From his rookie year in 2011, Faried defied expectations. At 6ft 8in, he rebounded in traffic like an 8-footer. But now, he’s working to get back to the league after the game changed under his feet. For a player known for his hustle, the question remains, can he chase down another chance? And can he do so ahead of 9 April, the last game of the NBA regular season and the final day to amend rosters? He’s trying. But the road can be unrelenting.

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‘My Kind of Country’ Contestant Ashlie Amber Is on the Rise

It’s impossible to take your eyes off Ashlie Amber.

The rising country star with the magnetic smile and the “’fro-hawk” hairstyle was recently on the debut episode of the new Apple TV+ television series, My Kind of Country. The show, which is produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kacey Musgraves, features hosts Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen and Orville Peck in search of the best country artists from around the globe. On it, Amber was quickly complemented for her signature look by Guyton, who also underscored what Amber brings to a song, vocally.

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American Songwriter March Cover Story: Macklemore Finding His Purpose

Every day, Macklemore (the Seattle-born rapper and businessman Ben Haggerty) wakes up knowing he will grapple with the realities of addiction. But he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, he says. Addiction is a disease. It’s the only one, Macklemore notes, that you can pretend you don’t have. Even those who work hard on curtailing their addictive personalities—giving up alcohol or some other mind-altering vice, let’s say—can weaken, forget how just one beer or one cigarette (or worse) can tip the scales toward demise. This is what Macklemore grapples with daily, like millions of others around the globe. It’s his cross. But it’s also his salvation. For Macklemore, his compulsive tendencies made him who he is, for better or worse, and, in that way, they create the lens that allows him to see and discover who he is acutely. To view himself clearly—not by over-indulging in any drug (not anymore, at least), but by providing an unflinching truth and way to know himself. This and much more comprise the subject matter of Macklemore’s new album, Ben, which is out March 3. 

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Can Smush Parker go from NBA player to a league referee?

Former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Smush Parker says he was “born with a basketball.” Both of his parents were ardent players, so Parker has been around the game since he was an infant. Now, though, he’s more likely to have a whistle in his hand. Yes, the 41-year-old is looking to become just the fourth former NBA player to referee in the league. But he says it’s no easy task to master the ropes.

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Rolling Stones’ Bassist Darryl Jones is Leading with the Bass

In the world of music, there are certain places and instruments that people tend to gravitate to. Many want to be the lead singer, up there on the microphone, belting out their lyrics. Others want to be the lead guitarist, shredding skillful solos. Drums are also a popular option, wild people on the kits. 

It’s not often, though, people want to grow up to be bass players. What does a bass do? Why not just play guitar? Can you solo with the bass? Indeed, the instrument is a bit mysterious. But in another way, it’s also the most important instrument in a band. It’s the cornerstone, says bassist Darryl Jones, that touches aspects of melody, harmony, and rhythm. It’s the linchpin that bridges all three. For Jones, who has long toured with The Rolling Stones and played with everyone from Madonna to Sting to Miles Davis, the bass is creative bliss. This is the subject matter of the new documentary, Darryl Jones: In The Blood, which is set to release this fall (October 7).

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Sheila E Sampling Life’s Cornucopia

Bay Area-born percussionist, songwriter, and performer Sheila Escovedo, known better by her stage name Sheila E., is living proof of the value of diversity when it comes to one’s upbringing and creative output. The versatile, prolific artist has collaborated with just about every big name under the sun, from Prince and Tito Puente to Hans Zimmer, Carlos Santana, and Beyoncé and she says, she owes this fact to growing up with every style of music being played in her home from a young age. Indeed, Sheila says, music was swirling around her even before she left her mother’s womb. She learned Latin Jazz at a young age before even studying classical violin. Later, she became more than proficient in rock music. She has salsa and gospel albums in the works, set to drop later this year, and she’s a legendary icon amongst just about everyone who’s held a beat or hummed a melody. But what this amounts to most, is that Sheila understands how to fit in with any song. It’s all about space, she says, and figuring out what not to play as much as choosing which notes or beats to strike.  

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Tegan and Sara: Making the Most—“[Music] is This Universal Language

Music is a personal matter. Your favorite songs, the tracks that make your heart pump and your soul swell, may not do anything for anyone else. They may just be your own sense of pride or salvation. But music can also be passed down through the generations, too. Vinyl records, a favorite bootleg live performance, can be handed from adult family members to kids, and while individual songs or refrains may not stick to each person who indulges them, there is a good chance that, between kin, something will be loved in common. And for the outstanding musical duo of twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, that reality occurred early in their lives.  

The two were born to young parents, who were 21 and 22 years old when the twins came into the world. So, of course, music was everywhere in the household, as is the case for many young couples. There was dancing and lip-syncing by all, including the kids. And this early introduction sparked something in the twins, who later ventured out on the road after high school, signed with Neil Young’s record label, and have since gone on to earn accolades out the wazoo. Tegan and Sara recently shared the release of their new LP, Crybaby (out in October), their second release of 2022 (Still Jealous came out earlier that year), the world is as open as ever to them. Sometimes it even resembles a luxurious “buffet.” 

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John Fogerty: Discovering It All Over Again

One syllable and you know it’s John Fogerty. His voice utters a note, a refrain and it comes out like lightning striking gravel. “Bad Moon Rising.” “Proud Mary.” “Fortunate Son.” These are just a sample of the songs that, thanks to Fogerty’s voice, have landed in the musical lexicon in the United States and abroad. These are the sinews and bones that make up a legendary body of work. And as it does for many legends before and since Fogerty, the magical journey of creation began even before he could speak—even before he was born in Berkeley, California, in 1945.

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Harry Connick Jr: When Harry Met Music

Musician Harry Connick Jr. started young. That’s not always the case, of course, for every legendary songwriter and performer, but it was so for the New Orleans-born crooner. For as anyone who has ever visited the Crescent City knows, the bayou births songs. Melodies are in the ether. Rhythms emanate from the cobblestone streets. This is the world that Connick Jr. came into as a young person, and he took it just about as early as humanly possible. In New Orleans, anyone who is interested in music has immediate access to some of the greatest versions of it around, especially live performances. Artists roam the streets with instruments in tow, capable of playing and passing a hat at any moment. But for Connick Jr., his education, in a way, began even before that. Before he was born, his parents owned a record store. It was tradition for them to have albums playing in the house seemingly at all times. So, Connick Jr. began to play his own songs beginning at 3 years old.

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Bob Boilen Talks His Musical Journey and Creative Style: “I Discover As I Go”

Bob Boilen works to bring music to the masses.

Whether on the weekly NPR program All Songs Considered or via his Tiny Desk Concert series, Boilen has jumpstarted the careers of countless acts, like Tank and the Bangas and Fantastic Negrito. He’s also showcased myriad songs to listeners who, like him, are constantly in search of what’s new, fresh and interesting in the sonic world.

Boilen doesn’t just reside on the media side of the music business. He’s also a songwriter, composer, and artist, himself, who creates textured, sometimes somber tracks that swirl and hover in a listener’s ear. Songs that display a lifetime of music appreciation as well as a hope to chisel out something surprising for music lovers to sample. To wit, Boilen’s latest solo offering is a new six-track, nearly 30-minute album he released on Bandcamp on January 14. Titled Brick Walls & Blue Skies, the project is as much a product of a lifetime of listening to songs as it is a call-and-response between Boilen and his favorite engineering software. 

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Buddy Guy Lives for the Blues—“If I Can Make You Smile, I Can Sleep Better”

Legendary 86-year-old musician Buddy Guy wants to keep the blues alive. It’s been his mission his entire life to honor and participate in the significant musical style. Even before he could put words to the cause, he was constructing makeshift instruments out of wires.

“There are very few old blues cats hanging around,” he tells American Songwriter. “Every little bit helps.” As a kid, he was born so deep in the Louisiana countryside that his modest home didn’t have running water or electricity. In the summers, it would get excruciatingly hot. But there was no air conditioning. His mother put up screens in the windows to keep air flowing in and the mosquitos out. At one point, though, she noticed the bugs getting inside the house. She checked the windows and saw the screens had been fiddled with, stripped of their wires. Why? Because the young burgeoning musician had taken the wires out to make his own makeshift guitar. That’s the tradition from which Guy comes and the type of foundation that makes his newest album, The Blues Don’t Lie, which he dropped last year.

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‘I make it miserable for them’: TJ McConnell and the art of the NBA pest

TJ McConnell, a 6ft 1in backup point guard for the Indiana Pacers, welcomes the pressure.

“Where I’m from,” McConnell tells the Guardian ahead of his team’s late December matchup (and eventual win) against the Boston Celtics, “the NBA isn’t a possibility for most guys. It’s been a crazy ride.”

The 30-year-old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-born hooper, who is playing in the NBA for his eighth season, came into the league undrafted and unheralded. McConnell joined the Philadelphia 76ers before the 2015 season after impressing in summer league and has been a mainstay in the pros ever since. He’s played for the Pacers since 2019. But while his career averages of 6.8 points and 5.0 steals per game are solid, especially for someone who usually comes off the bench, what really stands out is McConnell’s ability to disrupt a game at any moment. During his tenure in the NBA, he has come to be known as one of the best in-game thieves in the league, especially when defending an inbounds play in the backcourt. Truly, he’s picked off a pass or stripped the ball from an opposing player so many times, he’s lost count. In other words, McConnell, who has more than 650 career steals, has mastered the art of being a pest.

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