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In her 6th decade as an artist—and as prolific as ever, having released her 55th album earlier this year—Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Judy Collins is taking a rare moment to look back on her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers. The cultural icon will perform an exclusive series of shows bringing to full bloom her chamber-folk masterwork supported by a string quartet. The show will also feature Judy’s most beloved songs from her decades-spanning oeuvre.
 
Wildflowers is Gold-certified and landed No. 5 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts—it remains Judy’s highest-charting album. The meditative 10-song Wildflowers is one of the first orchestral pop albums of the 1960s, and it was a milestone entry in Judy’s career because it featured her first three original compositions, "Since You Asked," "Sky Fell," and "Albatross.” “Since You Asked” was written in response to a formative moment in 1966 when Leonard Cohen made a special trip to Judy’s apartment to play her his song, “Suzanne,” and, while there, asked her why she wasn’t writing her own songs. That very day, Judy sat down at her Steinway and wrote, “Since You’ve Asked.” “Albatross” was featured in the 1968 film adaptation of The Subject Was Roses. In addition to these originals, Judy curated a stunning collection, featuring songs by not-yet household names such as Joni Mitchell—her version of “Both Sides, Now” was a Top 10 hit—and Leonard Cohen, including the song “Priests” which Leonard never recorded, along with adventurous selections by Jacques Brel and Francesco Landini. 
 
These special Wildflowers concerts which feature her early but successful songwriting efforts present something of an intriguing gesture. They bookend Judy’s most recent album—Spellbound, released in February, 2022—which marks the first time ever she wrote all the songs on one of her albums.


 

“Doe beautifully balances a rocker’s heart and a poet’s soul.” — The LA Times

“One of the warmest, most welcome voices in pop music.”—NPR Music

The John Doe Folk Trio is the latest project from the X frontman. Formed in his home of Austin, TX, the trio recorded Doe’s latest album “Fables In a Foreign Land” and consists of Doe, bassist Kevin Smith (Willie Nelson) and drum Conrad Choucron (NRBQ).

John Doe was born in 1977 when he arrived in Los Angeles. His previous life in Tennessee, Wisconsin & Baltimore was a great & fertile time but new music and social changes led him to events that created a life in art. He graduated from Antioch College in Baltimore in 1975, worked as a roofer, aluminum siding mechanic, and ran a poetry reading series. Ms. Meyers was his landlord in the rural black community of Simpsonville , MD.

John met Exene Cervenka at the Venice poetry workshop Nov 1976 and he started working with Billy Zoom around the same time. When DJ Bonebrake joined X in mid-1977 the line up was complete. They released six studio records, five or six singles and one live record from 1978-1993. Five of X’s records have been re-issued along with two compilations. The Unheard Music documents their lives and progress as a band from 1980-83. In 2009 the film was included in the Sundance UCLA Archive of greatest films of all time. They appeared several times on American Bandstand, Solid Gold and David Letterman. As one of the last original punk rock bands standing, they continue to tour. The day that X played a free noontime concert in Fullerton, CA, they caused Orange County’s greatest high school truancy rate to date.

In 1988 John started a family and lived in the Tehachapi Mountains, near the “Grapevine” of Highway 5, which separates southern and central California. He has recorded 8 solo records w/ numerous renowned singers and players, more recently including Patty Griffin, Dan Auerbach, Aimee Mann, Don Was, Kathleen Edwards and Greg Leisz. He has appeared in over 50 films and television productions, with some of his most notable roles in Road House, Georgia, Roadside Prophets, Great Balls of Fire, Pure Country and Roswell. He continues to act these days but more sporadically as his touring schedule has become more demanding.

Other musical side projects include work with the Knitters, Jill Sobule and The Sadies. He continues to write poetry and has even taught workshops from time to time.

Tori Elliott's deep love of harmony is the driving force that shapes her soul-pop musical endeavor, Victoria Victoria. Her craft in songwriting is the seedbed for intricate vocal arrangements, creating a layered, ethereal experience; one that translates dynamically from her albums to her live shows.

2022 saw the release of Victoria Victoria's album, To the Wayside, which is a collaborative effort with guitarist and producer, Charlie Hunger. "Writing these songs with Charlie was an otherworldly experience," says Elliott, who engineered and produced her lead and background vocals in her home studio. "Arranging these songs for our live show was even more incredible." Hunter and Elliott teamed up to write glossy anthems of self acceptance such as Over My Shoulder and Move Right On, and enticing tunes of invitation like Really Really and Keep Up.

January of 2023 marked Victoria Victoria's debut tour with Charlie Hunter on hybrid guitar, her brother, Noah Elliott on keys and vocals, and renowned Memphis drummer, George Sluppik. The rhythm section makes for a sturdy foundation for transcendent vocal performances and inviting banter. The charisma and kinship between the band members left listeners with the sense that each Victoria Victoria show is truly a family affair.

.Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee JD Souther is “one of the most celebrated songwriters of his generation,” writes Interview Magazine. “Raised on a steady diet of big band and jazz during his childhood, Souther has routinely returned to that music— as well as the genius songwriters of the early 20th century (Gershwin, Cole Porter)—for inspiration. On his latest studio album, Tenderness, Souther combines these musical threads, striking a perfect balance between understated jazz and the ineffable pop narratives that have been the backbone of much of his greatest work.”

JD’s latest releases include Tenderness (Sony Music Masterworks), described by Uncut Magazine as an album that connects “LA’s ‘70s golden age with the Great American Songbook,” with songs that “sound like standards themselves.” Souther has also reissued expanded editions of John David Souther, Black Rose, and Home By Dawn (Omnivore Recordings), followed by a reissue of Longbranch/Pennywhistle (September, 2018 / UME).

Longtime friends Glenn Frey and JD Souther known as Longbranch/Pennywhistle originally released on the Amos label in 1969, the self-titled Longbranch/Pennywhistle may have ultimately been consigned to the side bins of the acid-rock era, but songs like “Kite Woman” and “Run, Boy, Run” serve as the literal seeds of the country-rock movement Frey and the Eagles perfected to a T. Besides navigating the success of his own fine solo career (see “You’re Only Lonely”), Souther also went on to be a chief Frey collaborator on such pivotal Eagles songs as “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight.”

Souther has penned countless hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, Don Henley, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks and Dunn, and others, while establishing a cult following as a performer with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and as a solo artist. As an actor, he has appeared in the TV shows Thirtysomething and Nashville, among others. A passionate animal lover and advocate, JD is also involved with Best Friends Animal Society.

“Souther proves his work holds up as well as Dylan’s or Simon’s or Lennon and McCartney’s and... deserves such astute re-examination.” – JazzTimes

After Al’s US tour in 2019 with his band The Empty Pockets, he spent most of
2020 and 2021 sidelined due the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 2022, he came back
full force with a string of sold out shows in the United States and United Kingdom,
and he even made his debut in Israel. In 2023, he’ll continue his trek with several
shows throughout the United States. He will be playing his old favorites, like Year
Of The Cat, Time Passages, On the Border, Nostradamus and Roads To Moscow,
along with selections from his deep catalogue.

The Scottish-born singer-songwriter has released nearly 20 introspective and
lyrically powerful records featuring brilliant backing musicians (Jimmy Page, Phil
Collins, Richard Thompson, Peter White, etc.). His biggest platinum successes,
“Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages”, were released in 1976 & 1978
respectively. He’s had several top 20 singles, including the above-mentioned titles,
as well as “On the Border” and “Song On The Radio”.

In Al’s own Words: “I'm just a folk singer that is interested in history and wine that got lucky with some hit records! It's as simple as that really. I was always a huge music fan and originally, I had wanted to be Brian Jones and then Bob Dylan, but those two jobs were already taken. And in many ways, I'm still pretty much the same troubadour that I was back in 1965. I still get a kick out of hearing the
Zombies, Hendrix or They Might be Giants on the radio.”

Jimmy Webb: American Songwriter

“A night with Jimmy at the keys is not unlike getting to hear George Gershwin or Cole Porter live. It’s hard to believe one guy could have written all these amazing songs. If you get achance to see him live, grab it. “ Paul Zollo, Songwriters on Songwriting

“I need you more than want you and I want you for all time. “

“Someone left the cake out in the rain.”

“By the time I get to Phoenix. . .”

“Galveston, oh Galveston, I can see your sea waves crashing.”

“Up, up, and away in my beautiful balloon.”

Jimmy Webb’s songs are deeply embedded in our culture. His catalog of music and lyrics spans multiple genres and appeals to all living generations. He is always on the lists of the most important songwriters. With songs including “Wichita Lineman”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “The Worst that Could Happen”, “MacArthur Park”, “Galveston”, “Didn’t We”, “All I Know”, “The Highwayman”, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, he is clearly beloved by the best voices and admired by songwriters everywhere. Webb has been dubbed a modern-day Gershwin/Porter/Berlin and is a bona fide progenitor of the Great American Songbook. Yet at the same time, he appeals directly and widely to the country/pop/rock/rap culture of today.

Webb’s music runs the spectrum of modern music genres: country, pop, rock, jazz, rap, heavy metal, new age, gospel, disco, EDM, classical—and more. And his songs have been recorded by the foremost interpreters of these genres.

In his live shows, Jimmy’s intimate style is juxtaposed against his stature and exquisite piano skills. His humor and storytelling create such a personal atmosphere that the audience cries, laughs and sings as if in the presence of a long lost relative here for a brief visit. Jimmy walked with giants and regales audiences with stories of Mr. Sinatra, Elvis, Louis Armstrong, Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Nilsson, Richard Harris, Glen Campbell.

 

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Today, Bob Mould announces a fall Solo Electric tour of the United States starting on October 6 at the Atlantis in Washington, DC, and ending at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, WI on October 27. Support on the tour will be the long-time bassist in Mould’s touring trio Jason Narducy.  Mould says of this run, “I'm excited to be back in the Northeast and Midwest, especially during peak fall colors. I'm happy to have Jason supporting the tour — it's been a while since we've done solo shows together. I'm nervous, too: I've got a handful of new songs to share with you!"
 
On August 13, Mould is set to support Patti Smith at the Stern Grove Festival, an admission-free festival in San Francisco.  "In the late 1970s, at a record store signing event in Minneapolis, Patti graciously signed my ‘Because The Night’ 45 RPM picture sleeve,” he recalls, “Decades later, I'm thrilled to be on the bill with Patti and her band in such a unique and picturesque setting."
 
In addition to the solo run, Mould has two previously announced band shows, featuring his trio of Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster. The first of these is at WMSE’s Backyard BBQ in Milwaukee on August 26, followed by an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2 — playing on a bill with The Hold Steady, as that band celebrates its 20th anniversary. Mould comments that, "Craig Finn and Tad Kubler were part of the Disney Hall ‘See A Little Light’ tribute show in 2011. There are very few Bob Mould Band shows this year, and we're honored to be part of the Hold Steady's 20th Anniversary celebration."
 
Mould continues to tour behind his box set Distortion: 1989-2019 chronicling his solo career and work in the band Sugar over 18 studio albums, 4 live albums, and 2 albums of rarities and collaborations. More info HERE.
 
Also, it was recently announced that his first band Hüsker Dü has an album is putting out TONITE LONGHORN, a previously-unreleased double-disc set of rare live recordings from the legendary band’s embryonic on-stage beginnings. Drawn from the historical Hüsker Dü recording archives compiled by late sound engineer Terry Katzman, the album collects 28 explosive tracks captured over four different nights between July 1979 and September 1980 at Minneapolis, MN’s notorious Longhorn Bar. TONITE LONGHORN arrives via the band’s own Reflex Records at all DSPs and streaming services on August 25, 2023. A limited edition 2xLP black vinyl release was released this past Saturday, April 22 as part of the Record Store Day celebration.
 
Mould says in closing, "I'm looking forward to hitting the road again this year, both Solo and with the Band, adding “2023 is shaping up to be a pleasant mix of past, present, and future."