Experimental Pop Songsmith Julia Holter Emerges From the Wilderness
The bewitching sonorities composer-singer Julia Holter creates on her new album Have You in My Wilderness (Domino) might be loosely bunched under the banner of pop ballads — albeit of a musically...
View ArticleHow a Lucky and Talented Musician Got to Record at Sunset Sound for Free
Walking into Sunset Sound in Hollywood, you can’t help but admire the history of the place. Platinum records from Led Zeppelin, The Who, Prince and Van Halen adorn the walls. Without the support of a...
View ArticleYet Another Painfully Sexist, Stupid Musical in Los Angeles
Rebekah M. Allen’s musical about a loser squad of high school cheerleaders fighting their way up from the bottom of the heap sounds like it might be a satiric hoot. It isn’t. Catapulting the cause of...
View Article5 Free Art Shows You Should See in L.A. this Week
This week, a theorist sings soliloquies downtown and a Hollywood gallery debuts an exhibition in miniature, including mini protest posters. Q&A sing along Writer-theorist Wayne Koestenbaum will...
View ArticleCourtney Love Is in a Musical in Culver City, But It's Stupid and Sounds...
Todd Almond's Girlfriend, which played at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City this summer, was a throughly charming musical. His new show, Kansas City Choir Boy, now playing at the same theater, is...
View ArticleThis Tale of Complex Female Pop Musicians Has Great Acting, So Why the Weak...
For a musical that’s all about complex female pop stars, Breaking Through doesn’t have many catchy songs or much of a tale. The new show, currently playing at the Pasadena Playhouse, follows...
View ArticleWhy Country Singer Sam Morrow Chose L.A. Over Nashville
"I used be one of those people who would say, ‘Anything but country,’ when someone would ask, ‘What do you listen to?’” Sam Morrow says this sheepishly, wearing a denim jacket and old-style cowboy hat...
View ArticleSongwriter Jeff Bhasker Reveals the Origin of "Uptown Funk"
Plenty of musicians bang out good songs. But to really get a hit, you have to work for it. That is the lesson songwriter/producer Jeff Bhasker imparts as he discusses the painstaking efforts that went...
View ArticleDear L.A. Songwriters: Please Bring Back the Chorus
Over the last few years, I’ve had countless in-depth discussions with friends and fellow songwriters about the diminishing percentage of songs in popular music these days that contain one very crucial...
View ArticleUnpopular Opinion: Gordon Lightfoot Records Are the Best 99 Cents You Can Spend
It recently came to my attention that I’m supposed to be ashamed of my deep love for Gordon Lightfoot. If loving Gordon Lightfoot is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. But loving Gordon Lightfoot isn’t...
View ArticleLow Leaf's Music Is a Spiritual Quest — And She Wants You Along for the Ride
We’re in Echo Park sitting at a restaurant patio with musician Angelica-Marie Lopez, 28, known as Low Leaf. She’s distracted as we're facing Sunset Boulevard, watching cars and people go by. I ask...
View ArticleJudith Hill Has a Grammy and a Prince-Produced Debut Album — But She Almost...
In 2015, soul singer, songwriter, Voice contestant and in-demand backup vocalist Judith Hill went from her home in Pasadena to fulfill her dream of walking the red carpet at the Grammys. The acclaimed...
View ArticleLaura Jean Anderson Is a Righteous Singer With a Timeless Sound
Going to a Laura Jean Anderson show can feel like stumbling into a New Orleans nightclub from the 1960s. The soulful singer with the old-school, rock & roll voice appears to be entranced by her own...
View ArticleTim Heidecker's In Glendale Is His First Non-Comedy Album (No, Really)
Next week, on Friday, May 20, comedian and musician Tim Heidecker of Tim & Eric releases what he claims is his first straightforward, "earnest" album, In Glendale. While still funny, the Los...
View ArticleDiana Krall Guitarist Anthony Wilson Gets Personal on His New Album, Frogtown
For a number of years, Anthony Wilson would walk or bike regularly from his home in Northeast Los Angeles into a little-known neighborhood between the 5 freeway and the L.A. River. Elysian Valley (or...
View ArticleSam Beam and Jesca Hoop Are a Match Made in Quirky Singer-Songwriter Heaven
Without even listening to their new record, you can tell Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop are perfect complements for each other. “Neither of us had written a song with anyone else, so we both were like ‘How do...
View ArticleThe 10 Best Trump Parodies and Protest Songs
We love to hate our politicians, but the surprisingly successful presidential run of one Donald J. Trump has incurred more outrage, on both sides of the political spectrum, than any campaign in a...
View ArticleYou Still Can't Copyright a Riff — and That's a Good Thing
This is a story about a guitar riff. For the sake of clarity, and because it's one of my favorite riffs of all-time, I shall hereafter refer to it as The Riff. As a little kid, I was first exposed to...
View ArticleAsbestos Killed Warren Zevon — Now His Son Is Fighting to Ban It Once and for...
When we think of rockers from any era who left us before their time, we tend to follow the same well-worn script. Died young-ish? Clearly drugs, drink and Keith Richards-level hard living were to...
View ArticleA Cosmic Coincidence Inspired the Name of Folk Duo Venus and the Moon
It's a hot summer Saturday afternoon in Laurel Canyon, and good friends Rain Phoenix and Frally Hynes are seated on an outdoor restaurant patio drinking cranberry iced tea and discussing their...
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