Exclusive: Create Music Group now owns a minority stake in DistroKidCreate, supported by private capital backers Flexpoint Ford and Ares, made the investment earlier this year
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Riot Grrl Carmen Stuns at the LA OperaComposed by Georges Bizet and premiering in 1875, Carmen is a widely adored opera that's performed in French and set in 1820's Southern Spain. Even casual fans of the art form know the aria "L’amour est un Oiseau Rebelle" (aka "The Habanera"--you'd know it if you heard it), and "Votre Toast, Je Peux Bous le Rendre" (aka "Toreador Song"). These are tunes that have become ingrained in popular culture; they're uplifting, joyous and, in the case of the former, sensual.

But, as is often the case with operas, the arias are infinitely more satisfying when placed in the context of the full show. This latest LA Opera production of Carmen, the first show of the new season, is directed by Thaddeus Strassberger. The conductor is Domingo Hindoyan, while costumes and choreography (both of which are vital and beautiful here) are by Mattie Ullrich and Antonio Najarro respectively.

Tenor Joshua Guerrero is the spurned Don José, bass-baritone Liam James Karai is valiant toreador Escamillo, and soprano Kathleen O'Mara is the unfairly-ignored (by Don José) Micaëla. All are magnificent, as is the entire cast. Special mention to the village children.

But the star is mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb in the title role. First of all, Carmen is an iconic character; determined to remain free of patriarchal bindings, there's a punk rock energy about her from the very start. We first meet her during an argument involving donkey-based name calling, that quickly escalates into a knife fight. Carmen is eventually jailed for slashing a woman's face. It's a proper street brawl, a gutter war, and Carmen swaggers through it all with the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

The character of Carmen is also intoxicating. The men that cross her path are apparently hypnotized into acting like fools and throwing their lives away. While imprisoned, she convinces Don José to release her which results in him getting jailed himself! A buffoon-like officer, Zuniga, keeps showing up to woo her (badly), while super-masculine Escamillo swoops in (his teeth practically twinkling like a cartoon hero). Carmen has her pick, and she knows it. But more important than love, certainly than any man, is her freedom.

"Her freedom is more important than anything else--any person, religion or society," Chaieb said in an interview printed in the event program. "And she says it in the opera: 'Libre elle est nee et libre elle mourra'--free she was born, free she will die. And she will see it through."

"At the time the opera was written, a woman was as good as the man she married," Chaieb continued. "Carmen makes her own decisions. She has power over her body, her sexual life, whether she works or not--everything."

Ultimately, she does die. After 150 years, the word is probably out on that spoiler, and it is an opera after all. The main character usually kicks the bucket. In this case, Don José can't handle the fact that she chose to be with Escamillo, and he runs her through with a sword. But the key is, she knows that death is near and she still chooses freedom over an abusive, imprisoning relationship.

Dear lord, we love the character of Carmen so much. Fans of Deborah Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Alice Bag, Patti Smith, L7 and any other punk rock and/or riot grrl icon will love her too if they give themselves the chance to. Chaieb is perfect in the role; her voice soars and you simply can't take your eyes off of her.

Get out to see Carmen at the first available opportunity.

laopera.org

Photos by Cory Weaver

The post Riot Grrl Carmen Stuns at the LA Opera first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

10 Albums From 1986 That Deserve More AttentionThink 1986 was all about the big hits? These 10 overlooked albums tell a different story, from raw punk and experimental rock to heavy metal and power pop.

In the Studio with The Album Leaf: A Body of VoicesThe Band: The Album Leaf - Jimmy LaValle

Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by: Jimmy LaValle

Additional Mixing by: Joshua Eustis, Austin Tufts, Patrick Ryan Heaney, and Caesar Edmunds

Recorded at: Barking Dog Studios

Mastered by: Jared Hirshland

The Origin:   Capturing a multitude of delicate, dreamy melodic mementos and intertwining them into a wide array of escapist acoustic panoramas, The Album Leaf—sonic auteur Jimmy LaValle's solo project for over twenty-five years—has remained at the forefront of composing ambient leitmotifs that arrest the subconscious. His electro-ambient style has been noted for its devastatingly fragile cinematics, due in part to his ability to incorporate the abrasive punk sound of San Diego’s hardcore scene. While cutting his teeth as an active member of vanguard projects like The Locust, Guyver-One, and The Crimson Curse, LaValle played in parallel with the instrumental post-rock band Tristeza. This collision course served as the catalyst for his work alongside the somber, gothic world of The Black Heart Procession: these multiplicities fortify a midrib of musicality that remains emblematic of his hypnotic songwriting and continues to inspire generations of electronic and indie-ambient artists today.

LaValle’s insatiable curiosity for dissecting intense, dissonant noise began with his early four-track cassette recorder forays in recording that abrasive subculture, with those gritty instincts somehow influencing the lush, meditative textures of Tristeza. Working from early bedroom setups where tracks were pieced together during brief interludes between active band schedules, he perfected the art of finding music within the noise—led by the thought that there is beauty in the sounds all around.This creative urge became The Album Leaf. Two albums deep into his experimental solo pursuits, LaValle caught the ear of Sigur Rós with his intimate aesthetic after they picked up One Day I'll Be on Time. This critical introduction launched him into their Icelandic touring circle and eventually brought him to their Sundlaugin studio to record In a Safe Place. By fusing his experimental punk origins with his expanding ambient soundscapes and newfound studio connection, LaValle was able to bridge his work into a widescreen world of electro-acoustic songwriting, ultimately setting the stage for future shifts between solo work and full-scale collaborations.

That Icelandic session thrust The Album Leaf from an underground cult favorite directly onto the international stage, establishing LaValle as a vanguard of the vast indie-ambient scene. As demand surged for his emotive soundscapes across film scoring, television cues, and brand commissions, his sonic palette expanded exponentially, amassing an overwhelming library of music comprised of field recordings, the warmth of his vintage Rhodes pianos, and custom synthesizer sound design.

Yet even as his work grew into a massive discography of scores and studio releases, the brilliance of his melodies remained—an ongoing, overflowing album amicorum filled with sonic notations for all to discover. With his recent release A Body of Voices—an album elevated by seamless collaborations with artists like Theresa Wayman (TT) of Warpaint, Twin Shadow, and Stephen McBean of Black Mountain—LaValle carries forward this shared memento between creator and listener alongside a wide constellation of creative cohorts.

The Production: Every time Jimmy LaValle steps into the studio to create, he draws from a deep reservoir of acoustic sketches and unreleased ideas—a practice, more evident than ever before, of pulling pieces ready to be reimagined into expansive soundscapes. He is constantly thinking, trying to find the forgotten fragments of sound until he finally unearths that forlorn melody calling out for a current counterpoint harmony. This exploratory method has become front and center as he searches for the hidden musical threads within A Body of Voices.

“I have a lot of music that I've made and that I'm sitting on,” LaValle explains, reflecting on his backlog of instrumental sketches. “Some of those are more realized ideas than others. Some of them are unfinished and just a simple melody line or a chord progression. I'm pretty melodic to a fault and could hear where things could go. For this album, it was finding songs that I felt had room for another voice or could straight-up benefit from a vocal.”

Because he could naturally hear where those underlying tracks wanted to go, LaValle began identifying the specific vocal timbres and tonalities needed to complete them. For A Body of Voices, he reached out to artists who inspired him, tracking down the exact singers whose unique sonic identities he could already envision weaving seamlessly into his music.

This acoustic second sight allowed LaValle to treat the incoming contributions from his acclaimed collaborators as a modern serialization of the original album leaf tradition. Instead of rigid stems, these files became the guests' sonic notations in a shared digital journal—crafting their own sort of handwritten story within his space. By letting these distinct perspectives merge with his compositions, LaValle found the missing links needed to transform his isolated sketches into ambient dream-pop compositions that sit well within his sonic worlds.

This digital dialogue quickly shifted from passive file-sharing to an active, real-time creative loop as the incoming vocal tracks began to reshape LaValle’s own production choices.

When working with Theresa Wayman’s vocal contributions on "Intertwine," for example, LaValle allowed her unmediated cadences to illuminate the initial emotions of the track:

“Theresa gave me three vocal cadences set over the same subsection of the music: three different vocal takes, vocal ideas, directions,” LaValle explains. “I was able to take those and play what would be a verse, and then I caught the little things she did and thought, ‘oh, that's cool.’ I would then take that uniqueness, put it into Ableton, and do my own process with simple vocal production techniques.”

Yet even as his work grew into a massive discography of scores and studio releases, the brilliance of his melodies remained—an ongoing, overflowing album amicorum filled with sonic notations for all to discover. With his recent release A Body of Voices—an album elevated by seamless collaborations with artists like Theresa Wayman (TT) of Warpaint, Twin Shadow, and Stephen McBean of Black Mountain—LaValle carries forward this shared memento between creator and listener alongside a wide constellation of creative cohorts.

The Production: Every time Jimmy LaValle steps into the studio to create, he draws from a deep reservoir of acoustic sketches and unreleased ideas—a practice, more evident than ever before, of pulling pieces ready to be reimagined into expansive soundscapes. He is constantly thinking, trying to find the forgotten fragments of sound until he finally unearths that forlorn melody calling out for a current counterpoint harmony. This exploratory method has become front and center as he searches for the hidden musical threads within A Body of Voices.

“I have a lot of music that I've made and that I'm sitting on,” LaValle explains, reflecting on his backlog of instrumental sketches. “Some of those are more realized ideas than others. Some of them are unfinished and just a simple melody line or a chord progression. I'm pretty melodic to a fault and could hear where things could go. For this album, it was finding songs that I felt had room for another voice or could straight-up benefit from a vocal.”

Because he could naturally hear where those underlying tracks wanted to go, LaValle began identifying the specific vocal timbres and tonalities needed to complete them. For A Body of Voices, he reached out to artists who inspired him, tracking down the exact singers whose unique sonic identities he could already envision weaving seamlessly into his music.

This acoustic second sight allowed LaValle to treat the incoming contributions from his acclaimed collaborators as a modern serialization of the original album leaf tradition. Instead of rigid stems, these files became the guests' sonic notations in a shared digital journal—crafting their own sort of handwritten story within his space. By letting these distinct perspectives merge with his compositions, LaValle found the missing links needed to transform his isolated sketches into ambient dream-pop compositions that sit well within his sonic worlds.

This digital dialogue quickly shifted from passive file-sharing to an active, real-time creative loop as the incoming vocal tracks began to reshape LaValle’s own production choices.

When working with Theresa Wayman’s vocal contributions on "Intertwine," for example, LaValle allowed her unmediated cadences to illuminate the initial emotions of the track:

“Theresa gave me three vocal cadences set over the same subsection of the music: three different vocal takes, vocal ideas, directions,” LaValle explains. “I was able to take those and play what would be a verse, and then I caught the little things she did and thought, ‘oh, that's cool.’ I would then take that uniqueness, put it into Ableton, and do my own process with simple vocal production techniques.”

Photo Credit: Devin Oktar YalkinThe post In the Studio with The Album Leaf: A Body of Voices first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Spotify’s potential bill if The MLC wins its ‘bundling’ lawsuit outright rises to $619MPotential liability if The MLC wins its 'bundling' lawsuit outright has risen to approximately EUR €538M, according to Spotify’s Q3 2026 financial statements
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10 Songs That Sound Nothing Like the Artists That Recorded ThemEver heard famous bands sound completely different from their usual style? Discover 10 unexpected songs from Kiss, Metallica, Green Day, and more that showed a different side of these artists.

THOMSON REUTERS WINS A.I. FAIR USE CASEOn September 29, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Thirds Circuit upheld a district court judgment and ruled in favor of Thomas Reuters (the owner of the legal research engine, Westlaw) and against Ross Intelligence rejecting its fair use defense. Ross was a competing platform to Westlaw which took down its search engine in 2021 indicating that it did so because of the cost of the litigation. 

Ross used Westlaw’s summaries known as “headnotes.” Ross asserted as a defense that its use of the headnotes to construct its training data was fair use. Headnotes are brief summaries of legal points in a court’s decision. 

The Fair use defense provides for limited use of copyrighted works without the permission of the owner. It analyses four factors:

1. Purpose and Character of the Use

2. Nature of the Copyrighted Work

3. Amount and Substantiality Used

4. Effect on the Potential Market

A brief in the case was filed by The Recording Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association. The brief argued that training an A.I. model on copyrighted works with the intention of creating a competing service or product “cannot qualify as fair use.” The RIAA and NIMP brief noted:

“But as daunting as past challenges have been, they are dwarfed in scope and jeopardy by A.I. services that produce digital files that emulate and compete with human-authored music.

To train these models, A.I. companies unlawfully duplicate virtually all copyrighted music on the internet to ensure that the resulting outputs sound credibly similar in style and genre to the music on which the models were trained and to the music users seek in prompting the models.

The resulting outputs are proliferating in the marketplace at alarming rates. They flood streaming platforms, displace human-authored music, dilute royalty pools by diverting payments to fictional bands, and deceive consumers, who cannot tell whether they are listening to human artists or digital files created by a computer.”

The judge in the court of appeals case stated:

“Ross took an intermediate step of using the headnotes to train an A.I. program, which arguably presents a slight degree of difference in use,” the judge wrote. “But the undisputed evidence demonstrates that Ross used the headnotes to train an A.I. program for the benefit of its legal-research platform.”

“The undisputed evidence reflects that Thomson Reuters’ materials possess a creative spark, and Ross aspired to be a direct competitor by using them for a highly similar purpose. We therefore hold that Thomson Reuters’ materials are copyrightable and that Ross’ use was not fair use.”

Thomson Reuters released a statement:

“We are pleased that the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision in our favor. The appellate court agreed that Westlaw’s editorial content ---- created and maintained by our attorney editors --- is protected by copyright and that Ross’ copying of Thomson Reuters content did not constitute fair use.”

There has been a proliferation in the last few years of cases regarding the use of A.I. This case is a landmark case which addresses several issues.

Glenn T. Litwak is a veteran music and entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, music producers and hit songwriters, as well as management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels.  Glenn is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as SXSW and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Glenn has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer Magazine for 2022-2026. Email Glenn at gtllaw59@gmail.com or check out his website at glennlitwak.comThe post THOMSON REUTERS WINS A.I. FAIR USE CASE first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

HYBE AMERICAS launches Latin pop label TRU Records, with SANTOS BRAVOS as its first artistAlejandro Mejía has been appointed General Manager of TRU Records, overseeing its artistic and business strategy.
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How an Alternative-Rock Band Turned a Neil Diamond Song Into an Unexpected Hit in 1994Urge Overkill’s cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” found unexpected fame in Pulp Fiction, changing the band’s career forever.

An Artist Profile of Peter Hook: Out of OrderPeter Hook On New Order’s Ongoing Turmoil, the Rock Hall and… Dogs

“Sometimes you literally do have to pinch yourself…how lucky I’ve been.” Peter Hook, co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, is in a place of immense gratitude. His career, which has spanned six decades, has given him a life most musicians only dream of. Now, as the frontman for Peter Hook & the Light, he tours the world playing some of Joy Division and New Order’s most beloved albums and hits, including the highest-selling 12” single of all time, “Blue Monday,” along with selections from the Light’s catalog. 

But to say New Order’s legacy is a complicated one would be an understatement. The original lineup—Bernard Sumner, Hook, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert—hasn’t played together since 2007, when Hook announced the split. However, Hook maintained a 25 percent stake in Vitalturn Company Ltd. to maintain royalty rights in a secure manner once their label, Factory Records, closed down.

Sumner and Morris initially denied the breakup, then Sumner, Morris and Gilbert regrouped as New Order in 2011 without Hook, leading to scathing memoirs, contentious legal battles and royalty disputes over using the band name. Hook sued Sumner, Morris and Gilbert in 2015, alleging they’d formed a new company behind his back, one that generated an income close to $11 million. A final settlement was reached in 2017.

“What they did was, in my mind, absolutely unforgivable,” Hook says via Zoom. “It’s not particularly what they did, because it was basically about money and carrying on, which I sort of do get, but I didn’t get the et tu Brute bit.” 

The ongoing disputes have plagued the relationship between Hook and Sumner to such a degree that Hook doesn’t anticipate sharing the podium with him when both groups are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on November 14. Nonetheless, Hook doesn’t shy away from discussing it and offers his own insights into New Order’s latest lineup change. 

“Do you know what’s the weirdest thing?” he asks. “Now that Barney’s [Bernard] doing it on his own, it seems even more ridiculous than ever. Stephen and Gillian quit touring with him in June.” 

Hook’s candor recently landed him in hot water with Sumner once again. Speaking to Rolling Stone in April, he evidently made some comments that didn’t sit right with his former mate. 

“I did get a letter telling me off for my comments, so we’re still each at each other’s throats,” he says. “It’s quite interesting. I was looking up freedom of speech, which is a big thing, isn’t it? Even with old Donald [Trump], especially in America, freedom of speech is a big thing. I was quite shocked that they are criticizing my freedom of speech. I cannot tell you exactly what they took issue with, for legal reasons, but I think you can probably guess. But you’re entitled to tell your side and your story—you’re entitled to that.” 

The most perplexing part for Hook is the lack of communication at the onset of the dispute. Considering they’d been friends and bandmates for decades, he wonders why Sumner and the rest of the group didn’t simply start a dialogue. There’s a sense he’d much rather be on good terms with them than not. After all, the Rock Hall induction is a big deal. 

“They have a team round them in the same way that I do, and surely your first port of call would be to talk,” he says. “Then, if you couldn’t get anywhere, then do it. But the thing is that we’re all still here and we should be celebrating that fact that we’re getting in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” 

The conversation suddenly pivots to dogs after Hook’s daughter arrives. She has a little guy named Ned that Hook clearly adores. On his desk, he points out, sit the ashes of his beloved Labrador, who died at 15. His tone softens as he talks about her, then he notices this writer's chihuahua Paco. Though he initially thought Paco was a cat, we explain he’s just a small dog that has somehow managed to live to 17 (and counting). He seems genuinely interested in hearing about him and, in that moment, it’s obvious just how caring and sensitive Hook really is. It’s no surprise the betrayal he felt from his bandmates cut so deeply.

But despite the dissolution of New Order, Hook’s career has continued to flourish. In addition to his work with Peter Hook & the Light, he was the guest bassist for Gorillaz’s 2020 single “Aries” from the band’s Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez project. His relationship with frontman Damon Albarn stretches back to the Blur days. 

“Someone like Damon Albarn is incredible,” he says. “I find him to be incredible. He’s so consistent. He writes non-stop. It’s unbelievable.”

He asks me if I’ve seen the Blur documentary and with a tinge of embarrassment I reply, “No, but I need to.” 

He continues, “Well, Damon lives in a lighthouse at the edge of England. It’s a beautiful place. The band convened there in his studio, and there was a really sad moment when he was talking about the lighthouse. He turned around and he goes, ‘I never thought I’d end up here on my own.’ It was a really sad moment for somebody as successful as him with all the things that he’s achieved for him to say that he was lonely. And weirdly, the other three members of Blur ignored it, and that’s probably one of the most profound things he could have said. Mate, if I’d have been there, I’d have gone and given him a hug. No one gave him a hug or anything, not even a slap on the back.” 

One can’t help but wonder if he sees himself in Albarn and that maybe—just maybe—he needs a hug from Sumner, Gilbert and Morris to finally be at peace.

peterhookandthelight.live

Photo by Jason MooneyThe post An Artist Profile of Peter Hook: Out of Order first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

D'Addario Foundation's Karen Shelley, Executive DirectorYears with Company: 2.5

Address: New York, NY

Web: daddariofoundation.org

Email: foundation@daddario.com

Grantees: Over 200 nonprofit organizations

BACKGROUND

Playing an instrument brings many benefits, but not everyone has access to instruction. The D’Addario Foundation—the charitable arm of the renowned instrument accessory brand—has been bringing music education to high-needs communities for decades. Karen Shelley is in her third year as the nonprofit’s Executive Director.

From One Student to Another

I played clarinet as a kid. I also played saxophone and piano, but clarinet was my primary instrument. As an adult, I’ve been learning guitar. [Having played an instrument] makes me feel more connected to our grantees and partners. I have a sense of what it means to be a 12-year-old learning an instrument. 

Supporting the Classics

Jim D’Addario is still involved at D’Addario & Co. He and his late wife, Janet, were the ones who launched the foundation, I believe in concert with their son John D’Addario, Jr. It started with recording up-and-coming classical guitarists. They brought artists to Carnegie Hall and would have them perform. It also meant they were in New York and could take some U.S. touring opportunities, because some were coming from overseas. Then we shifted to music education. 

Play Time

We support hands-on music making as opposed to music exposure. We get a lot of grant requests from folks who are bringing concerts to schools, for instance. While that’s great, we must have parameters for what we support. And we support putting music into the hands of individuals of any age and teaching them, turning them into music makers.

Mission No.1: Funding Nonprofits

I like to think of our work falling into three different buckets. One is our nonprofit partnerships. We’ve got about 200 around the world. They are all teaching music, and we support them with cash and in-kind grants, which are product donations. Those partners are, for the most part, teaching music to high-needs communities. So, it’s either individuals who come from low-income households or have something that would otherwise block them from accessing music education—an individual who is currently incarcerated, going through the foster care system, or unhoused. Our partners are going into these communities and teaching music. There might be a small registration fee but for the most part these are free programs with free instruments. 

Mission No.2: Doing Research

The Immersive Music Challenge has two components. The original is this five-year study, where we’re evaluating the impact that music education has on a child’s academic performance and social-emotional wellbeing. We consider “immersive” to be four hours a week or more of instruction; they also have an opportunity for sectionals and ensembles, for both practice and performance. In most cases, there are wraparound services, like transportation or homework help. We’ve got a third-party team at the University of Chicago conducting that evaluation. And then this year we introduced the IMC Ecosystem, which is our effort to expand this work and bring attention to the study by bringing on partners from nonprofit music education providers. 

Mission No.3: Granting Scholarships

Each year, we give college scholarships to up to 10 recipients. The primary qualification is that the applicant has grown up in one of our partners’ music programs. Beyond that, we prioritize students who will be the first generation in their family to attend college. We also prioritize students who have a demonstrated financial need. It’s a hard decision to make, because we get about 100 applications each year. Once they have that award, it stays with them for all four years of college as long as they’re in an accredited program. 

Prison Songs

Our most common [partners] are nonprofit, after school programs. But we’re agnostic—if you’re helping people make music, we want to support that. We have one partner who teaches music inside prisons, working with incarcerated individuals. There are concerts produced right there behind bars. 

In-Kind Contributions

We’re providing any product that D’Addario & Co. manufactures. When we give out a cash grant, it’s literally a check. But all our cash grants also come with an in-kind contribution. The partner receives a promo code that they input on checkout at daddario.com. If it’s worth $1,000, it will knock off $1,000 from their total for that purchase. That way, we’re able to donate products they need, as opposed to us saying, “We’ve got some drumsticks, pads, and reeds,” and passing those out. They’re able to select what is most needed for their programs. 

Qualifications

We have clear eligibility guidelines on our website. But generally speaking, it must be a nonprofit organization specifically teaching music education. We’re looking at the percentage of individuals an organization serves that are high need. That’s important to us. This is a competitive process; those who get awarded are those who match highest with our criteria. We prioritize organizations that are teaching either year-round or for the full academic school year. We also prioritize organizations on the length of time the individual is engaged. For in-kind contributions, they must be teaching at least one student on average at least two hours per week. For cash grant consideration, it must be a minimum of three hours. But we have organizations that are teaching six hours a week. 

By the Numbers

For 2026, we have 35 states and 22 countries represented in our grantees. Last year, we were in 34 states and 16 countries, so we’ve grown a bit. And each year we have around 200 partners. In 2025, we awarded $455,000 in cash awards and $155,000 in product. In 2026, it will be $615,000 in cash grants. I don’t yet have a total for in-kind, because those awards continue to happen, whereas the cash awards are done.

Make a Difference

We have an interactive map on our website of who we support, and it has all 200 or so grantees and partners. Those groups may need teaching artists, volunteers, patrons, even just people to come to their concerts. 

First-Hand Experience

Going on visits is amazing. To see how engaged the students are is incredible. I visited a site in Miami a couple months ago, and afterwards a couple of the kids gave me a picture they drew that said thanks for listening. As a visitor, I don’t want to intrude. I want them to have their day the way they would normally. But they saw it as someone coming out to listen.

Two-Year Grants

Historically, we’ve only given one-year grants, and our partners have had to reapply for additional funding the next year. They would still go through the same competition process for that grant. This year, we introduced two-year grants. We had to introduce that over the course of a couple years, because if we did it all in one then the next year our entire budget would be spent just on those renewals. 

Internships and Beyond

The D’Addario Foundation occasionally offers paid internships, and we prioritize applicants who are recipients of the D’Addario Foundation College Scholarship or students who are alumni of our partner organizations. The post D'Addario Foundation's Karen Shelley, Executive Director first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

GARY CALAMAR NEW ALBUM ODD NUMB3RS AND SLANTED RHYMES NOW OUT ON BIG STIR RECORDSGary Calamar is a film and television music supervisor who has been nominated five times for Grammy Awards. His credits include The Man In The High Castle, Six Feet Under, True Blood, House, Weeds, Entourage, Dexter, Varsity Blues, and 3 Body Problem.  

As a DJ this century, he hosted a lengthy stint on radio station KCRW-FM before moving to 88.5 KCSN-FM in September 2018 with his Sunday 2-4 p.m. shift, The Open Road.

In 2010, Calamar’s first book was published by Sterling, Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again, co-authored by music journalist Phil Gallo, with a foreword by REM’s Peter Buck. It examines the story of the development of record stores.     

Calamar is also a singer, songwriter, and recording artist.

In 2014, Atlantic Records issued Gary’s debut EP, You Are What You Listen To.

Calamar's new album, ODD NUMB3RS and SLANTED RHYMES, is now available via Big Stir Records. The album is a compilation of his previous singles along with 3 new tracks featuring Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh on “I Got An Idea,” and Robyn Hitchcock on "Who Are We Gonna Be Today."

Calamar lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California. They have a daughter, Zoe.

If you are in Studio City, CA, on November 24th at 7:00 pm, Gary will have a record release party at Licorice Pizza. 12230 Ventura Blvd. 

Q: Besides your radio and music supervision work, over the years, did you ever have plans to record as a solo artist? Were you in teenage bands or ever played in clubs?  

A: NO. I was a big music nerd fan growing up, but it never crossed my mind that I would ever have an album of original songs out. Ever since seeing The Fab Four on my grandparents’ black and white TV in the Bronx in February 1964, I wanted to somehow get involved with this Rock and Roll thing one way or another. Fortunately, I had an older brother, Ronny, who guided me in the early days and turned me on to the great artists of the British Invasion and L.A. scene. My favorite afternoon was going through the racks in a record store.  I always loved wordplay, and I would make up little songs about teasing my brother or mocking my teachers at school, but it never got to the point where I would call myself a songwriter.

I had a friend who taught me a few chords that I tried to wrap my fingers around, and I played, just for fun, in my bedroom. Eventually I got a little better and made some progress. I was playing sloppy versions of “Wild Thing” and “My Generation” and eventually started to write some songs.  I recorded a rough cassette, “Four Dead Presidents”, and slipped it to Gary Stewart at Rhino Records, and he gave me $500.00 to go and properly record my handful of songs. I recorded the songs with Mike Randle and John Would and “released” a cassette, ADVANCE in 1991. I played a few local shows, and I continued to write.

When I was music supervising the HBO show Six Feet Under, I was working with Atlantic Records on the soundtrack, and I played the VP, Kevin Weaver, some of my songs. He liked them, and he offered to have them recorded, and we released the EP, You Are What You Listen To, which got some good reviews and airplay in 2014.

Q: You emerged from the record retail world and had managerial stints at Moby Disc, Rhino, and Licorice Pizza. Looking back, how might the retail experience have influenced your journey in the record and music world?  You did write a book last decade about record stores and shops that coincided with Record Store Day. 

A: I wanted to get close to the music anyway I could, and working at a record store seemed achievable. My first job was part-time at the record department at Gimbels in Yonkers, NY. I was so excited and so into it that they made me a manager after about a month. They eventually closed down that department, and I joined some friends on a road trip to Los Angeles. The weekend I got here, The Talking Heads were doing a free show at UCLA, Nick Lowe was playing at The Roxy Theatre, everybody was raving about a band called The Knack, and I was tuning in to Rodney Bingenheimer on the radio at KROQ. This Yonkers boy was thrilled to be in the land of The Beach Boys and The Byrds. It took a while, but I eventually landed a job as a manager trainee at Licorice Pizza in Pasadena, and I loved it. I eventually managed the Norwalk and West L.A. stores. We did in-store appearances with Madness and ASIA. I was offered an in-store with X early in their career, but I was afraid the punks would tear the store down, and regretfully I passed.

It was later at Moby Disc where I met my producer, John Would, who owned a cassette duplication business upstairs, and we worked on music together. Listening to full albums all day long was a perfect education for the radio and music supervision jobs which came later.

When working at the Rhino store in Westwood, I was introduced to KCRW who had a close relationship to the store. Several of the people I connected with at record stores are still in my life today.

Q: Let’s talk about your Sunday afternoon radio shift, The Open Road, on KCSN- FM (88.5), playing the signature sounds of "Adventurous Pop Music both timely and timeless." How do you program your shift, and what is the intention behind the programming and sequencing? You really don’t do interviews.

A: My wife, Ali, was friends with one of the DJ’s at KCRW, and I was very interested in getting my foot in there. They had a spot for me in the music library a few hours a week, but she made it very clear that if my goal is to get a show on the air, I should forget it. It’s not gonna happen. I got friendly with the then music director Chris Douridas, and he could see I was a serious music guy. One day, as I was entering CD titles in the computer, he mentioned that they were going to be looking for a Saturday overnight person. What? I jumped out of my chair and literally got on my knees and begged him to give me a shot. He did, and I am forever grateful to Chris. 

Being a DJ on the radio is my favorite job. Fortunately, on KCRW and now at KCSN, I get to play what I want to play and don’t have to follow any pre- arranged playlists. I came up with that slogan “Adventurous Pop Music Both Timely and Timeless,” and it’s a good description for what I try to do every week.  There is such a wealth of great music on my personal playlist since I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in The Bronx, and more great artists coming out all the time. I like to have some fun with the music, and let people know about bands coming to town and reflect on current events with fun and creative sets.

Q: You were previously heard on KCRW-FM. You did interviews with Brian Wilson, Jeff Tweedy, Wayne Coyne, and film composers Elmer Bernstein, Thomas Newman, Lalo Schiffrin, and Danny Elfman. Reflect on your tenure at KCRW-FM?      

A: I owe a lot to my time at KCRW. I feel I was there during a great time for the station, and it really put me on the map.  The station was the cultural center of Los Angeles, and I was honored to be a part of the team. I learned a lot from DJ’s Chris Douridas, Liza Richardson, and later Nic Harcourt. I was also impressed by their music supervision projects and inspired to try and follow their lead.  I had some great interview guests at KCRW. At KCSN, I don’t do that as much but have had John Doe from X and Robyn Hitchcock sit in with me.

Q:  You have a new album just released by Big Stir Records. It follows your 2014 EP on Atlantic Records. How did this just-issued album come together for Big Stir? I know the endeavor was partially birthed emerging out of your produced Mimosa Music Series at the Federal Bar.

A: Releasing an album was always something that was in the back of my mind, but I didn’t actively pursue it. I didn’t send tapes to record labels or anything like that. When I met Rex and Christina from Big Stir Records at The Federal Bar, they told me about their label, and we found that we had a common love for left-field pop music. They were somewhat familiar with my work as they were fans of the band Eggplant, who had done an early cover of my song, “I Got An Idea”. I casually mentioned that they should put out an album of mine and left it there. I didn’t really think anything would come of it, but they reached out to me a few months later to discuss a release.  

Q: How did the series begin? I know it was first a gathering at your home, and artists like Donovan played in your backyard.

A: When I started The Mimosa Music Series my work as a music supervisor was peaking. I was working on Six Feet Under, Dexter, Weeds, House, True Blood, and others. So, I worked with the record labels to do a showcase series for their artists and invite music supervisors to my house in Laurel Canyon. It was a daytime series so it didn’t conflict with their evening shows. It caught on, and it was fun. We had great artists like Donovan, John Doe, Steve Earle, Roseanne Cash, Robyn Hitchcock, Dave Alvin, Iron and Wine, John Hiatt and many more. The crowds were getting bigger, too big for the house.

My beautiful wife strongly suggested that we move these shows out of the house. Fortunately, The Federal Bar in North Hollywood was very happy to continue the series there. It was great. We had more amazing showcases with free admission, free bagels, and free mimosas. When the pandemic hit, we pulled the plug, but it was a very special time.

Q: Mark Mothersbaugh and Robyn Hitchcock collaborated with you on the album. I imagine you knew them from your radio shifts. How was the creative process with them on the songs they were involved with? Did you have demos that were then brought to fruition?

A: YES. “I Got An Idea” was one of the first songs I ever wrote, and now having Mark Mothersbaugh on the track it feels complete. It came about organically. We live in the same neighborhood in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, and our daughters went to school together, and we shared carpools. Although we are friends, I was nervous about asking him, but thankfully he dug the track, and I am grateful that he wanted to work with me on it.

Robyn is an amazing artist and a beautiful guy, and our paths have crossed many times over the years. One thing I always remember is when I did my very first radio show, I was subbing for someone on the overnight shift. One of the songs I played was Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row”, all eleven minutes. As it turns out, Robyn was scheduled to be a guest on the popular morning show at the station the next day, and he was driving into L.A. from Northern California. He tuned in to KCRW, and he heard me play the Dylan song.

When he was a guest on the morning show, he said on the air that he loved hearing Gary Calamari (sp) play “Desolation Row” last night as he was driving in. And I was ecstatic that Robyn heard me play it. So, we first bonded through the airwaves, and since then I would see him at his shows. We kept in touch and became pen pals. I had him as a guest on my radio shows several times over the years, and he’s played a showcase at my house as well.

I was working on “Who Are Gonna Be Today,” and I was happy how it was progressing. I thought, if I can get Robyn involved, it would take it over the top. He’s a busy guy, but thankfully he found time to work on it with me.

Q: Was there a concept behind the actual album title?

A: My daughter Zoe introduced me to the term “slanted rhymes,” which I was not familiar with but thought it was a cool term, and I thought my songs or “numbers” were a bit odd, so it just came to me.

Q: Discuss with me the other tunes/recordings on the album. 

A: I had the idea for “She’s So Mid-Century” and liked the idea of comparing the cool lady in the song with mid-century architecture and pop culture. I had a good start to the song but was stuck, so I reached out to a new friend at the time, trash pop rocker Palmyra Delran and rockabilly queen Kim Lenz to see if they had any lyrical ideas. I thought they had a great sensibility for the song and they came up with some great lyrics.

“The Prince Of Pico Blvd.” This one came to me when I was a DJ at KCRW. I always thought it was cool that some of the great DJs all had a cool radio name like Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack, The Real Don Steele. So, I wanted a cool radio nickname too, and I came up with The Prince of Pico Blvd., as that was the street that KCRW was located in Santa Monica. I never really used it on the radio show, but I got a good song out of it.

Q: You produced five soundtrack albums for Alan Ball’s HBO Series' Six Feet Under and True Blood. How was working with Alan Ball and HBO? 

A: He’s the best. Not only is he super smart and a very creative guy. He is very respectful to everyone on his crew. He loves to use a lot of music in his projects. So he keeps a music supervisor busy and is open to ideas and collaboration. It was funny. I started working with him on True Blood after working with him on Six Feet Under.

On Six Feet Under, we used some sophisticated and serious music. When I first started pitching music to him for True Blood, I started thinking in that direction, and he said, “Hey, this is a show about sexy vampires, and let’s have some fun with the music”.

Q: As a music supervisor, it seems this century, how has the role of a music supervisor for movies and television developed? Can you walk us through a typical scenario of getting the job and the various functions working with studios, directors, producers, and suggesting and coordinating licensing for film and TV?    

A: Well, where to begin. I often think that it’s harder to get the job than to actually do the job. There’s a lot of talented music supervisors in town, and we are all competing for the good jobs in film and TV.  In a nutshell, I start working when I receive the initial script and do some internal brainstorming of what style or genre might work overall as well as for each of the characters. Next, we have a spotting where we watch the rough cut with the showrunner or producer as well as the composer, writer, and editor. We go through the show and stop at all potential music spots and discuss what may be right for the scene.

After that, I go back to my music cave and try out different songs against the scene and see what is working. I report back to the showrunner with a handful of song ideas, and a favorite is picked. Then I reach out to the record label and the publisher and request the use and negotiate a fee.

Q: Is there a vast difference in working on a feature movie and a television series? 

A: Yes. It’s case by case, but there is long lead time on a movie. It may be a year or more from when you start on a project and final decisions are made, and the movie gets mixed. On a TV series, once you get started, you are generally on a schedule, and things move more quickly. But these days of miniseries and shows that take a long time between seasons, anything can happen.

Q: You now have Go Music. When did this company formally begin?

A: I named my company GO Music after we wrapped Six Feet Under, which I co-supervised with fellow music supervisor Thomas Golubic, and our company was Super Music Vision. It was a good name but too long for me. When Thomas and I went in different directions, I decided I wanted a name a bit snappier and took the name from a free music paper that I used to pick up as a kid, GO Magazine.

.The post GARY CALAMAR NEW ALBUM ODD NUMB3RS AND SLANTED RHYMES NOW OUT ON BIG STIR RECORDS first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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How Joe Satriani Made Instrumental Guitar Music a Mainstream Attraction

New Country Music Roundtable 2026Country music means many things to many people, and it isn’t solely the stomping ground of truck drivers and rhinestone wearers. It’s a big tent that incorporates many cultures, religions, and political ideologies. Importantly, there are fresh artists looking to carry the genre forward into a new era. We spoke to a handful.

Chris Johnson

hollywoodhillbillies.us

What drew you into country music originally?

Well, it was really big in my hometown, which was an equestrian, agricultural, and farming community. The town had regular country music concerts at the local fair and rodeos, and there were several local nightclubs that featured live country bands where I would go to see musicians perform.

Who were your early influences?

I was really into all kinds of music, but mostly country, Southern rock, and blues rock. For country, my influences were Merle Haggard, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Gram Parsons, and The Byrds.

My Southern rock influences were the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Eagles, and The Black Crowes. My blues-rock influences were The Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Arc Angels, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, J.R. Wells, and Little Walter.

How do you think the genre has changed since your involvement, if at all?

Well, it has changed somewhat. It has become a big tent of musical sounds and themes. On the charts now, you have really traditional stuff, ‘90s-sounding material, along with all types of mashups and influences, with folk, pop, rock, and hip-hop overlapping.

There’s always a battle between the traditional and contemporary. Where do you sit?

I lean more toward the traditional side of storytelling, but on this record I experimented with modern production styles, hoping to reach a greater audience.

How do you describe your sound, and where does it sit on the country spectrum?

I would say this record is more traditional. However, it’s somewhat folk on the ballads and darker-themed songs, a little country-pop on the up-tempo stuff, and perhaps has a little sprinkling of Southern rock on the songs with higher-gain guitar sounds.

Tell us about your latest release.

It was recorded and produced by Nick Morzoff. It features Jordan Ziff on guitar, Federico Delfino on bass, Stephen Haaker on drums, Skip Edward on keys, Randall Hess on pedal steel, and Aubrey Richmond on fiddle and harmony vocals.

The songs were all pulled from my catalog of tunes that I had written and that we auditioned for this record.

Redd Faye

reddfaye.com

What drew you to country music, and who were your early influences?

I don’t know. By 5 or 6, I loved to sing. To anything. Dog, doll, the sky. I grew up in a place where I could sing wildly and expressively, without borders. When I visited my grandfather on his farm in Oklahoma, on later visits my signed recording artist and great-uncle Stoney Edwards would play guitar and we would all sit on the porch and sing together. That seed grew after his death. To continual lineage, which belongs to me. Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, the Judds and Stoney Edwards.

My love for country music began [with] the storytelling, the connection, basic emotion, a freedom to exist.

How do you think the genre has changed since your involvement, if at all?

The game has changed a lot in country music since my great-uncle Stoney and his generation. Charmingly enough, so many people still love the recognizable sounds of country, folk, Appalachian that those roots have remained.

Music is like a wire—how far can you stretch it? It can stretch and evolve, but it still has a starting point. Collaborations have come from every walk of music to country now and some of them work.

There’s always a battle between contemporary and traditional country music. Where do you stand?

I suppose from the outside looking in, it can look like a battle. But from the inside looking out, I see banjos the steel guitar, drums, fiddles notes, and expression.

Yes, some of it is very different, but it all comes from an organic place. Finding the two that actually work together—that’s where something spectacular happens. It’s inevitable, to fit some of that in, but you’ve got to know when and when not to.

How do you describe your sound, and where does it sit in the country spectrum?

When I put my phone to someone’s ear or my mouth close to the microphone to sing, I expect to hear something warm, I recognize—something traditional—but I also expect to hear something surprisingly intelligible. Roughness versus softness. Desperation versus subtlety, anger versus love. Telling the story. Giving life to those origin expressions that come from us all. Like yodeling.

I don’t think music has to have boundaries, but the emotion and essence of what makes my voice my voice must be there. I think it’s important to have foundation in traditional country, but from there, it’s completely natural to take a fork in the road.

What inspired your next release?

I’m ecstatic to answer this because my next release is called “Yippee Ki Yay Mothertrucker.”

It’s about empowering us women and celebrating the unsung heroes I’ve met out on the road.

They’re great people, dedicated men and women with big hearts who just want to get the job done.

It’s truly about women truck drivers, but it’s also about the trucking industry as a whole. This industry has kept America moving for many years, as it will for many years to come. I’m proud to say it’s kind of a truckers’ anthem!

What’s next for you?

I’ve been putting my band together so we can begin our USA tour, and hopefully, in the coming months, take it overseas. I’m excited putting the name Redd Faye really out there and letting people commune with what we’re creating. Everything I’m doing is to connect and flow.

Jesse Lynn Madera

instagram.com/jesselynnmadera

What drew you into country music, originally? 

Love this question. I write songs that seem to fall into a few different genres, but country is pretty much always somewhere in there. My sensibilities as a songwriter come from growing up on country music. Willie, Kris, Dolly… they were gods. I was born In Parkersburg, West Virginia, and my grandparents were self-described hillbillies. Country music was always on the radio. Grandma sort of sounded like Kitty Wells when she sang around the house and Grandpa taught himself how to play banjo. I think I was just born with it in my ears. 

How do you think the genre has changed since your involvement, if at all?

Well, it has changed a lot, and I know that’s a sensitive topic. Modern day country, on pop country radio, does sound a lot different from what I grew up on. And it’s not to say that the songs themselves aren’t good. I think those hitmakers still crank out some well-crafted songs. The '90s were a glorious time in country music, and I miss those kinds of songs, that kind of production, that kind of musicianship. On the other hand, we have never had so many incredible singers all at once! I just guess that the demand may have changed or something. I’m not sure. But I don’t consider myself a true country artist anyway, so maybe I should just keep quiet!

There’s always a battle between the traditional and contemporary. Where do you sit?

Team traditional, I’m sentimental. 

How do you describe your sound, and where it sits on the country spectrum?

I am an artist like a painter is an artist and I see what I do as creating collections. I’m indie so I have some freedom to just write and sing what comes naturally. We moved around a lot when I was young so I picked up a lot of different sounds. Country music tends to show up somehow, somewhere in most of my songs but I don’t know that I’d be officially classified as a country artist. Some of my songs, like ‘Austin’ or ‘Sweet Pretender’ or ‘That House’ fit neatly on the spectrum. I’d say they’re more '90s country with some southern rock. There’s a Hammond on Austin for instance, which probably immediately gets it kicked out of the Country Club. 

Tell us about your latest release...

My latest single is called ‘Woke Up In L.A.’ and it’s my version of country. There’s a lot of Dolly influence I can hear, there’s an Appalachian feel to the melody. I wrote it several years ago about moving from New York to L.A. and fantasizing about Montana. I love so many places and am an escapist. I’d left my band in N.Y.C. and moved to L.A. for love. It was scary to leave the momentum I’d achieved for a place where I hardly knew anyone and to start over from scratch. I was scared. I was not fun to live with and I take responsibility for my own discontentment. I learned from that time of life and I don’t regret the move at all. 

What do you have planned for the coming months?

I’m about to go on tour with Amy Speace in October, play festivals in winter, more shows in the early spring, and then I’m heading out late spring with Colin Blunstone to tour in the Netherlands. I’m also finishing writing songs for my next album and will be recording those soon. Looking forward to all of it!

Hailey Benedict

haileybenedictmusic.com

What drew you into country music, originally?

From an early age, I remember twirling in my living room with my mom to artists like The Chicks, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, and Martina McBride. A couple of years later, I was gifted a CD and discovered my love for Taylor Swift. I was immediately enthralled by her picturesque storytelling and the sheer relatability of her music. Looking back, it’s funny because I never even realized the music I was listening to was “country” at the time. To me, it was always just great, relatable music that made me feel something. One thing I always admired about my parents is that they listened to all types of music without ever putting it in a specific box or genre. Although they weren’t musical themselves, we had music of all kinds playing around the house. When I started writing songs at age nine, much of what I grew up listening to naturally infused itself into my sound. As I developed, it became very apparent that storytelling, the true core of country music, was always the North Star of my writing and became the true home for my music.

How do you think the genre has changed since your start, if at all?  

I think the genre itself has embraced a crossover spirit over time, and it has been so exciting to watch it grow. Country music has so many different influences nowadays, and with so many diverse voices, its landscape has become incredibly rich and special. There is a reason it is one of the biggest genres today, and I believe that’s due to its ability to embrace so many subgenres. But the really special part is that no matter where it explores musically, country storytelling always lies at the center.

There’s always a battle between the traditional and contemporary. Where do you sit? 

I would definitely say contemporary, but it often depends on the song. Part of the joy of being a songwriter is that sometimes a song naturally writes itself, and almost in a kismet kind of way, it chooses its own style. Those writing moments can exist separately from my specific artist brand, letting the song dictate whether it leans more traditional or modern.

How do you describe your sound, and where it sits on the country spectrum? 

I’d describe my sound as a true country-pop mix. The heart of it is always in the lyrics, and like any good country song, my favorite challenge is nailing the “hook” or the “flip.” Musically, I love to experiment and infuse whatever I’m currently listening to into my own songs, regardless of the genre. I like to think of musical genres like a really good painting: you can paint a beautiful picture using just the color red, but there are so many other colors on the palette. Adding those different shades makes the art more vibrant, dynamic, and full of depth, so why not use all the colors available to you? I feel the same way about creating music and trying not to let anything keep me in a box.

Tell us about your latest release... 

“Chem History” is my newest single, and it captures that country-pop fusion I was describing earlier. Sonically, it features staple country instrumentation like steel guitar, banjo, and shimmery acoustics, but we also layered in luscious vocal stacks, unique synths, and pop-leaning melodies. The song actually started as a hook I had saved in my phone. It’s not just a play on words, but a clever, tongue-in-cheek way to describe that one relationship that always has a funny way of reappearing in your life. It tackles that age-old question: could it be fate, or is it just a bad habit? I had so much fun co-writing this one with my incredibly talented friends and co-writers, Claire Douglas and Clara Park!

What do you have planned for the coming months? 

It’s been such an exciting year getting to release the music I’ve been working on for the last couple of years. I’m incredibly grateful for my team at Big Loud and how much they’ve encouraged me to write and push myself to constantly beat my own catalogue. On top of having new music out, I’m continuing to write and work toward my debut album. I’ve been collaborating with Josh Kerr (Keith Urban, Maddie & Tae, Thomas Rhett) on producing, and it has been so inspiring to watch his process and learn alongside him. Beyond the studio, I absolutely can’t wait to get back out on tour and connect with fans everywhere!

Timmy McKeever

timmymckeever.com

What drew you into country music, originally? 

For as long as I can remember it’s always been country music playing around the house and in the car. It was always legends like Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith… guys who influenced me as well as many other artists. Growing up on the West Coast, people think it’s strange that I fell into country music but because that’s all that we listened to, it felt right.

How do you think the genre has changed since your start, if at all?

I think it’s definitely widened as far as what can classify as a “country” song. I believe streaming has had a huge impact on the genre as a whole because artists are now being influenced by whatever kind of music they want to listen to. I think some artists have been influential in the sonic trends of the mainstream genre, and that goes back to the roots of it. There have always been trailblazers like Hank Jr. and other legends that redefined the genre, but I think the interesting thing about country music today is not the mainstream trend but all the different subgenres that fall beneath it. I think this aspect of it will only continue to grow as country music expands its global reach.

There’s always a battle between the traditional and contemporary. Where do you sit?

Full transparency I pull from so many different influences that I think my music has flavors of both. I listen to classic country just as much as I do contemporary. But I also listen to rock & roll, pop punk, rap, and many other genres, and I think all of it comes to light in its own unique way with the different melodic, lyrical, and production decisions I make.

How do you describe your sound, and where it sits on the country spectrum?

I describe my sound as rock-leaning country with pop elements. At the end of the day, I make music that feels authentically cool, and music that feels like me. I’m just grateful that my music has been able to reach an audience that connects with my sound like I do.

Tell us about your latest release…

My latest release is a track called “Drove Her Away.” It’s a feel-good take on a breakup situation about taking accountability for the relationship ending. It lives up to its name and is a great song to bump with your windows down on a backroad, on a boat, or anywhere in between. I love the track so much and I hope the fans love it as much as I do!

What do you have planned for the coming months?

Our next release is one of my favorite songs I have ever written, and I absolutely cannot wait to get it out. Aside from that I’m grateful to be able to spend some time in Nashville as touring for the year winds down and pull back the slingshot as we head into next year. Right now, I’m in the works with what is in my opinion the best music I’ve ever created.The post New Country Music Roundtable 2026 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.