RECENT ARTICLES

At 79-years-old, you might not expect to hear of Mike Love, co-founding member of the famed group, The Beach Boys, writing new music. But that’s exactly what the long time surf-rocker has been up to. On May 1st, Love (along with John Stamos of Full Housefame on drums) released his latest song, “This Too Shall Pass,” a rollicking little ditty about maintaining patience during the pandemic that assures the listener that will be a light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel.

We caught up with Love to ask him about the origins of the new single, what he’s been doing while social distancing (hint: meditation), what it was like growing up in a musical family, and much more Beach Boys-centric history.

If put to the test, American guitar player, Tim Reynolds, might be able to play the most notes per minute on an acoustic guitar. More than anyone else, he’s that proficient. But more than any finger pick parlor trick, Reynolds has moved audiences both as a soloist and as an accompanist to famed singer-songwriter, Dave Matthews. Reynolds, who burst into public consciousness with the release of the 1999 acoustic double album with Matthews, Live At Luther College, which featured the duo playing stripped-down versions of the Dave Matthews Band catalogue, is a master of the instrument.

Reynolds, who now tours with both Matthews as an acoustic duo and with the full band, is also no slouch as a solo artist on his own. He’s released several standout acoustic records and full-band records with his trio, TR3. He’s a prolific artist, both in movements and in oeuvre. We caught up with Reynolds, who also been live-streaming on his Facebook page during quarantine, to ask him how he first learned to play – and love – music, what it was like collaborating with Mathews and much more.

Released on the 1973 album, Abandoned Luncheonette, the soaring and forlorn ballad, “She’s Gone,” is one of the more personal songs for the popular and platinum-selling 1970s soul duo, Hall & Oates. Written in the group’s upper eastside New York City home apartment, “She’s Gone” was inspired by real heartbreak and buoyed by the comradery of deep friendship that’s often needed to get over a pain in order to move forward with life.

The song begins with a floating keyboard and a light snare. A thumping bass line quickly comes in next – bum-bum, bum-bum. An electric lead guitar and a wa-wa rhythm enter to back up the growing melody. Now the stage is set, the mood is open. Soon, two pretty voices come in together, unified. But all of this build up is a preface to the beautiful, soaring chorus, which acts as much as a release of strike as it does a song’s hook: “She’s gooooone! Oooooh why! I better learn how to face it!”

Even though the song was written nearly five decades ago, the feeling of loss expressed in the lyrics is as poignant now as it was in the era it was composed. We caught up with John Oates, one of the writers of the timeless “She’s Gone,” who is also, of course, one of the co-founders of Hall & Oates. We asked him about the origin of the song, how the duo felt once the epic tune was complete, how the recording process influenced the final track, and whether “She’s Gone” is the best song the successful friends has ever written.

For everyone in the U.S. and for many more abroad, the past weeks dealing with the deadly Coronavirus have felt like a fever dream. Most of the Western world has shut down, with only hospitals, pharmacies and grocery stores open to the public. For musicians, tours have been cancelled and plans for festivals and new releases have been put on hold.

Many songwriters, as a result, have turned to digital shows for both a creative release and as a means to interact with fans. One such prominent name to throw his hat into the digital arena is Death Cab For Cutie frontman, Ben Gibbard, who has pledged to play live every day for two weeks. And Gibbard’s shows are popular, with each garnering hundreds of thousands of views from fans.

We wanted to catch up with the Seattle-based Gibbard to talk about his relationship to the recent public health crisis and how he’s tried to cope through music.

Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, Josh Klinghoffer, has a lengthy and prestigious musical résumé. Among his many professional accomplishments, Klinghoffer has worked extensively with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarles Barkley.

This year, he is set to go on tour, opening for Pearl Jam with his new solo project, Pluralone. The band, Klinghoffer says, has yet to play a single show. But now they’re head on one of the most recognizable bills in the country, stopping at cities like New York City, Toronto and Nashville, among many others. Pluralone, though, which sounds like a mix of Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, should please rock fans with its elastic vocals and thoughtful, pulsing instrumentation.