A Song That Changed My Life: Hawthorne Heights on Saves the DayBand Members: JT Woodruff, vocals and guitar; Matt Ridenour, bass and vocals; Mark McMillon, guitar, backing vocals, and Chris Popadak, drums

The Storyteller: JT Woodruff

The Song: “Shoulder to the Wheel” by Saves the Day

With its earnest, get-in-the-car-and-go sing-along chorus and propulsive, hook-laced rhythm, Saves the Day’s “Shoulder to the Wheel” captured the house-show spirit of the late ‘90s New Brunswick underground. The track — a melodic punk snapshot of believe-in-yourself ambition — awakened bands to an escapist state of mind, pushing them beyond basement parties and onto the open road.

The Background:

Always leaning toward movement, Hawthorne Heights — an anchor of the Midwest emo-core punk scene since the early aughts — have continued to evolve, expanding their harmonious choruses and surges of cathartic screams across seven studio albums with threads of alt-rock textures. That restless evolution of sound, combined with touring, has galvanized the band as one of the defining acts of the hardcore scene.

For frontman JT Woodruff, his aversion to daily norms — coupled with a Jack Kerouac On the Road “nowhere to go but everywhere” mindset — first flickered to life growing up in his hometown of St. Mary’s, West Virginia. He recalls, specifically January 1999, the moment when he first connected with “Shoulder to the Wheel” — its melodic alacrity and rhythmic drive hitting him immediately. Moreover, the song’s believe-in-yourself, hit-the-road chant became a directive: he sought out a copy of BYOFL (Book Your Own F*cking Life) as a manual for his wanderlust. The pairing — song plus DIY guide — established JT’s mantra: seize every opportunity and never hold back; just go.

That early mix of song plus guide set the tone for decades of music and life on the road. Now — as Hawthorne Heights celebrates the 20th anniversary of If Only You Were Lonely with an international Lonely World Tour — the experience has come full circle, a reminder that the open road can still lead anywhere.

The Story:

For JT, the energy of the road and the restless, wandering spirit embedded in “Shoulder to the Wheel” quickly became his compass for navigating the rugged terrain of early indie-rock touring. What began as a dream didn’t stay abstract for long — the song triggered a transformational shift. It wasn’t just about having fun or discovering newfound freedom; it revealed the physical grit and mental fortitude required for emerging acts to survive and thrive in the pre-ultrafast broadband Internet era.

“This song specifically made me want to buy a van, grab my band and friends, and just hit the open road. And that’s what I did.” 

Knowing enthusiasm alone wouldn’t be enough, JT leaned on his fresh hardbound edition of BYOFL, Book Your Own Fucking Life, a DIY touring guide before everything was readily available online. With it, he had both the practical roadmap and the musical conviction to chase something bigger.

By the summer of 1999, JT bought a van and booked an entire tour. Long drives, nights on the road, and a steady flow of local shows forged resilience, cohesion, and deep friendships — the kind that help carry the mental weight of touring. He elaborates, “Saves The Day introduced me to the New Jersey music scene in general. Back then, the bills on shows were so diverse. Through them, I found bands like Lifetime, New Found Glory, and Reggie and The Full Effect. It made me scour the entire Equal Vision roster.”

That dreamy, out-of-the-window state watching the world pass by eventually morphed into more than a touring philosophy — it influenced songwriting. JT moved toward internal, personal themes that reflected Quixotic philosophies. One lyric in particular struck him: "Get us as far as far can be, get us away from tonight.”

During these long stretches of travel, buried dreams often rise under an open sky. JT explains, “The interstate can take you anywhere in the United States, which is why it is so beautiful. I've lost myself out there and found myself at the same time.”  The underlying On the Road “keep rolling under the stars” mindset — restless and expansive — became his motto for both touring and life: “The world is out there to chase your dreams — you have to go after them; they won’t chase you.”

Even now, decades later, JT returns to the song. “A few days ago, I listened to it on a cruise ship with my wife of 20 years. I still feel everything I felt the first time I heard it — which is why it is so magical.”  For JT, dreams rarely come easy; they demand initiative, courage, and persistence — all stemming from within.

He concludes: “Chase every dream you have ever had. It will help you tear down all the walls and set aside excuses. Just get in the van, so to speak. Let it rip — gun it to 70 mph on the interstate.”

Photo credit: Sarai Kelley

The post A Song That Changed My Life: Hawthorne Heights on Saves the Day first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Lauren Demarte promoted to Chief Operating Officer at GoDigital MusicExec also oversees operations in Colombia
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Stevie Wonder Returns to the Lutefish Stage for a NAMM ReunionLutefish recently reported that, on Day 1 of this year's NAMM, Motown icon Steve Wonder "made his way back to the Lutefish booth to reconnect with artist Devyn Rush and her remote band members, highlighting how music can bring people back together."

According to a statement from Lutefish, "Last year, Wonder encountered Rush performing live on the Lutefish stage, debuting the Lutefish Stream (technology built to jam online in real time) before joining in to create a spontaneous duet that captivated onlookers and social media alike. Rush, reflecting on that moment, said, 'I didn’t think anything could top last year’s duet, but having Stevie come back to me — pun intended — this year was even more beyond my wildest dreams.'"

Rush summed up the encounter publicly, noting, “There is no doubt that Stevie Wonder is a special person and a true gift to this world, but like I told him on the mic… his music isn’t about what he does, it’s about who he is.”

Wonder also shared stories and talked about his love of music, technology, and reuniting the world.

“We created Lutefish and the online platform for people to make more music,” stated Whitney Winkels, Sr. Marketing Manager at Lutefish. “We are musicians ourselves, and to enable others to make more music, connect, and utilize music as a universal language, well, that is truly something special.”

"It was an absolute thrill to have Stevie Wonder stop by our Lutefish booth for the second year in a row," Winkels told MC. "This year, he spent an extended time with us in our isolation booth, where he asked us all about our new features and experienced the Lutefish stream live. He even took a few of our streams to try from home! Definitely a magical NAMM occurance."For more information, visit www.lutefish.com. The post Stevie Wonder Returns to the Lutefish Stage for a NAMM Reunion first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Live Nation files to pause antitrust case for appeal, days after pulling public post calling for DOJ to ‘move on’ and settleLive Nation Entertainment asks judge to pause the DOJ antitrust case while two legal questions are reviewed by an appeals court.

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Tip Jar: A Tale of Loss, Redemption, and Fulfillment That Is All True and UpliftingWhen I was just back from my first year in college, I was staying in the house in Lexington on Hunt Road, and I was just getting things together and rehearsing and playing at the house. We had a big open basement and I had a great little set-up there with guitars, a turntable, and a collection of records I was trying to practice off of—and lift licks from—Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Al Kooperand Mike Bloomfield solos.

So, guitars were a big thing for me, and I had a Fender acoustic and had just bought a beautiful Fender Stratocaster, white and in perfect condition.

My parents had gone away for the weekend and my younger brother invited all his slacker and stoner friends over to drink beer and hang out. They were a real bunch of thugs and dopers and the party got started and I was downstairs when the police showed up at the front door and created quite a mad dash for the doors and exits. Kids came running down the back stairs for the garage door exits, and I got hit from behind with a table leg and was out like a light.

When I came to, the police were everywhere, quite a few items had been stolen from the house… and when I looked over at my little studio, my beautiful 1971 white Strat was gone. I was heartbroken. How could my brother have friends like this and what in the world had he done to these people?

My younger brother vanished, turns out he didn’t know any of these people, and I spent two days cleaning the place up and trying to track down my Strat and the person who had taken it from me.

I tried for years to ask people for leads—try to find the people who were there that night—but I was met with a dead-end at every turn. It was really sad because, as the years wore on, that 1969 Jimi Hendrix Strat had become pretty valuable. But time moves on and as the decades went by, it became a smaller burr under my saddle, but still a pain in my heart, and I learned to live with the sadness and the disappointments of life and various circumstances beyond my control.

“I am sorry for what I did 40 years ago. Please understand that my few years as a lost teenager do not represent the person I am and try to be. I’ve thought about trying to find you and make amends for many years. I’m glad I finally did.

I wish you well. I’m guessing your music career brings you much happiness and I hope that continues for many more years.”

One afternoon as I was driving west through Dallas, heading to Marfa, when I got a text on my phone—nothing new there, but the message was a bit odd: it said, “are you Eric Sommer? Are you Stevie’s older brother?” That was interesting, so when I got it again the next day, I responded and said, “yes, that’s me… what can I do for you?”

“I am the guy who stole your guitar from your basement 40 years ago. I am in a much better place now, and what I did that night has haunted me for all this time. I would like to try and give you your guitar back and ask forgiveness for what I had done so long ago.”

It was a haunting message, and I was pretty taken aback. I said that would be fine, I am glad he called, and it showed his true character. I gave him my address and he said he was a lost, messed-up kid, high on drugs that night… and sold it the next day.  He had no idea what happened to it, but he had something that I would like, that was the same brand, and model but a little different year and he will have it re-fretted, set-up, and sent as soon as possible.

The box arrived a few weeks later, along with the letter enclosed here.

“Here’s my American Standard Strat. I think its model year is 1995. I bought it brand new at Ray Hennig’s store in Austin in 1996. I bought it off Ray himself and he regaled me with stories about how Stevie Ray Vaughan used to hang out in his store every day. Check him out on YouTube.”

I’ve spent most of my life on the road believing guitars are vessels. They carry songs, sweat, rooms, and years. But sometimes they also carry memory—unfinished business vibrating quietly inside the wood. That white Strat didn’t just come back as an instrument; it came back as proof that time doesn’t only take things away. Occasionally, if you’re lucky, it gives something back in a different key.

We don’t get many chances to resolve the long echoes of our younger selves. Fewer still arrive unexpectedly, wrapped in cardboard, with an apology inside. When I play that guitar now, I don’t hear the loss anymore. I hear distance traveled—by both of us. And that feels like music doing what it’s always promised to do: turn noise into meaning, and history into something you can finally lay down.The post Tip Jar: A Tale of Loss, Redemption, and Fulfillment That Is All True and Uplifting first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

New Music Critique: The AntennasContact: antennasrecords@gmail.comWeb: theantennas.netSeeking: Label, Distribution, ManagementStyle: Folk/Roots Rock

There’s an intriguing quality to The Antennas, driven by guitar work that feels fresh and purposeful, especially on “High Noon.” “I’m Alright” flirts with a low-grade angst, but the vocals verge on disinterested, flattening what could be a more compelling turn. There’s a clear ambition here—echoes of a modern-day Tom Petty sensibility—and when the vibes align, this could really click; for now, it feels like a promising signal still searching for its frequency. The charisma is there, but maybe it just needs a little prodding.The post New Music Critique: The Antennas first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

From UMG’s deal with superfan platform EVEN to Live Nation’s $25B in 2025… it’s MBW’s weekly round-upThe biggest headlines from the past few days...
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Signing Stories: Westside CowboyDate Signed: August 2025Label: Island Records/Adventure RecordingsBand Members: Reuben Haycocks, guitar, vocals; James Bradbury, guitar, vocals; Aoife Anson-O’Connell, bass, cello, vocals; Paddy Murphy, drumsType of Music: AmericanaManagement: Alex EdwardsBooking: Carly Goldberg, Andrew Morgna, Wassmerman Legal: Ally HornPublicity: Jaycee Rockhold - Pitch Perfect PR, jaycee@pitchperfectpr.comA&R: James TalbutWeb: westsidecowboy.com

Honing one’s sound and being unique can vastly increase the odds of industry attention. It’s a truism taken to heart by Manchester’s Westside Cowboy. The fast-rising band melds alt-country, punk, Americana, folk, and indie rock into a style they’ve dubbed Britainicana. “Don’t look for [a deal],” recommends drummer Paddy Murphy. “Just write the best music you can.” 

“Which is aggravating to hear,” chimes in guitarist Reuben Haycocks. “We had people say that to us, and I would be like, ‘Fuck off. You’re already signed.’”

Nevertheless, the tactic worked. They first inked deals with a pair of local boutiques, Heist or Hit and Nice One Records. Alex Edwards, who runs Nice One with Pete Heywoode, began managing the blossoming act. Touring then ramped up, and during this period they played London’s Sebright Arms. Edwards had invited a modest throng of record people to the show, but the band believes their performance that evening was subpar. “We thought we’d shagged it,” gulps Murphy. 

Yet it didn’t matter. Word was starting to get around. Edwards, who works with English Teacher and formerly supported Sports Team, both successful Island Records acts, similarly invited label people to a subsequent gig at The Social. A trickle of interest turned into an avalanche. “This sort of weird hype started,” tells Murphy. “It wasn’t engineered. It was a right place, right time type of thing.”

The group that once wanted to be on an indie soon found itself in Island Records’ offices. Before leaving, the president said they were sending over a contract. Chuckles Murphy, “We kind of laughed, because we’d never been in a situation like that. Two hours later, it was in our email.” The agreement with newly minted imprint Adventure Records is especially generous with the timeframe around which it will relinquish their masters.

Being on a sublabel of a major comes with advantages. “It means that smaller bands like us are less likely to get lost in the shuffle,” the percussionist points out. “Hopefully, it means we get the appropriate attention and care.”The post Signing Stories: Westside Cowboy first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Chris Welz named partner at Secretly Distribution after company’s ‘biggest year ever’The longtime COO steps into ownership after two decades at the independent distributor.
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BEE GEES LIMITED EDITION 4 LP COLLECTION DUE FEBRUARY 27UMe has announced the release of a new limited-edition box set by one of the biggest and most beloved acts in popular music history, the Bee Gees.     

Out February 27, You Should Be Dancing is a four-disc collectors’ item featuring the highly sought-after original 12-inch versions of some of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb’s most iconic dancefloor-fillers, plus previously unreleased extended versions of five further Gibb brothers’ classics. Additionally, the set also includes the previously hidden 90’s UK club hit, Decadance, as well the long-awaited physical debut of SG Lewis’s viral 2021 remix of More Than A Woman.     

Limited to just 1,000 units, the You Should Be Dancing box set will be a prized possession for music fans the world over.     

You Should Be Dancing boasts the 12-inch versions of the Bee Gees’ era-defining late 70s masterworks Stayin’ Alive, More Than A Woman, Night Fever, and You Should Be Dancing. 

The brothers’ signature R&B-influenced sound is also represented with the inclusion of unreleased extended versions of the smash hits Jive Talkin’, Nights On Broadway, Tragedy, and Love You Inside Out. Elsewhere, there’s the group’s thrilling original take on Yvonne Elliman’s 1978 global chart-topper If I Can’t Have You, the pre-Saturday Night Fever funk of the US top 20 Boogie Child, and the fan-favorite album track You Stepped Into My Life.    

Bridging the gap in the Bee Gees’ astonishing multi-decade career is the inclusion of SG Lewis’s TikTok-conquering Paradise Edit of More Than A Woman, pressed on vinyl for the very first time as part of this collection. And rounding out the set is the group’s ultra-rare update of their own You Should Be Dancing, reimagined as the bonus track Decadance for the brothers’ 1993 album Size Isn’t Everything. Previously only available outside of the US, Decadance is featured in both its original incarnation as well as the Ben Liebrand Vocal Mix.      

The Bee Gees’ impact on popular music and popular culture is undeniable, both as performers as well as songwriters with no less than 21 different Gibb-written songs topping either the US or the UK charts going back to the 1960s. Add to that global record sales approaching a quarter-of-a-billion, nine GRAMMY® Awards, over a dozen Ivor Novello awards, the only songwriters to place five songs simultaneously in the US Billboard top 10, Kennedy Center honors, a knighthood for Barry Gibb, Brit and American Music Awards lifetime achievements and secured spots in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame®, Songwriters Hall of Fame®, and Vocal Group Hall of Fame®, and a picture is painted of why this band of brothers have long been such an extraordinary phenomenon.      

That record-breaking legacy continues into the 21st Century with over 26-million monthly listeners on Spotify, including a staggering near two billion total streams for the band’s signature blockbuster, Stayin’ Alive. Most recently, SG Lewis’ Paradise Edit of More Than A Woman clocked north of 115 million Spotify streams, boosting the original’s popularity to where it’s now also closing in on a billion streams.   

TRACKLISTING LP 1 A1: You Should Be Dancing B2: Boogie Child B3: You Stepped Into My Life   LP 2 A1: Stayin’ Alive A2: If I Can’t Have You B1: Night Fever B2: More Than A Woman   LP 3 A1: Jive Talkin’* A2: Nights On Broadway* B1: Tragedy* B2: Love You Inside Out*   LP 4 A1: More Than A Woman - SG’s Paradise Edit B1: Decadance B2: Decadance - Ben Liebrand Vocal Mix   

“I see the Bee Gees in the tradition of the great songwriting teams of the 20th century–Goffin/King, Lennon/McCartney, Fagen/Becker,” summarized writer and novelist Daniel Weizmann in a 2002 email communication.

“Had they merely been a singing group, an ‘Aussie boy band that went disco’ as they’re sometimes portrayed with scorn, then half of Western civilization wouldn’t know at least three Bee Gees songs by heart. They wrote as they sang, with gusto, subtext, heart, and surprise. And when they cast a foreigner’s shocked innocent eye on the urban chaos of ’70s NYC, they captured modern times for all time–it was magical.

“Give them vanguard credit, too–when the whole culture seemed to gravitate West, the Bee Gees had the good sense to go East, to Miami, with Arif Mardin, and embrace dance music. Only the deepest respect for the genre could have allowed them to pull it off as they did. Like Teena Marie, (and unlike so many other blue-eyed soulsters) the Bee Gees disco actually made it to the dance floor.

“Not bad for three lads raised on the Isle of Man. In the five years that followed Main Course, it seemed like every other white rock act tried to make a disco record–some more cringe-worthy than others, very few as natural.

“Legend has it that the brothers wrote most of the material for a low-budget movie called Tribal Rights of the Saturday Night, for which they only had the roughest idea of a plotline, in under a week, holed up in the village of Hérouville in France. Can you imagine the task being handed to any other songwriting team? I’m guessing the results would have been disastrous. But because the Bee Gees had the spirit of dance music, of hustle, of the New York Times effect on man, deep in their blood, they brought the whole operation to life.

‘‘Sometimes super fame has this embalming effect. Like Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson, the very real artistry gets lost in the shuffle, the phenomenon takes over. But the Bee Gees continued to write unforgettable hooky, moving songs.It’s no wonder so many idiots hated them. They were that good.”

“Any list of the greatest groups in music history has to include the Bee Gees:  their harmonies, the sheer quality and quantity of their songs,” stressed author David Leaf, currently an adjunct professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in a 2020 interview I conducted with him.   

“I’ve been a fan since 1967 and so fortunate to have worked with them writing their authorized biography, creating the retrospective packages for the Grammy tribute to the group and, probably best of all, being entrusted to tell their story in the feature documentary, This Is Where I Came In.” 

I spoke with Leaf in 2020 and asked about the authorized biography he wrote on the Bee Gees.

“When my Brian Wilson biography, The Beach Boys and The California Myth, was still in galleys, in spring 1978, Jay Levy, an executive at RSO Records (the Bee Gees label then), read it because they were looking for somebody to write the authorized biography of the Bee Gees.

“I got the job and flew to Miami that summer to begin work on it. I spent time interviewing all three Bee Gees, their wives, Robert Stigwood, Andy Gibb and their parents, wrote the book and it came out in 1979. Throughout the rest of the century, I worked with the Bee Gees on various projects, including, perhaps most significantly, their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction,” underscored Leaf.

In the January 21, 1978 issue of the now defunct Melody Maker, I interviewed the Bee Gees for an article, How The Bee Gees Captured America. In the seventies I saw the group in concert, with an orchestra in 1971, and at The Midnight Special NBC television show tapings in Burbank, California.

“One of the reasons for the Bee Gees’ success,” explained Robin Gibb at their rented Benedict Canyon home, “is that we’ve never used music as soap box,” he underlined.

“Music, I’ve always believed, can take you away from reality and you have the option to identify with the music. Something happens when people are bound together through a song.

“Like, ‘How Deep is Your Love.’ Personalities are examined in that tune, but female or male aren’t even mentioned. It has universal connotations and it clicks with everyone. Before we cut that song, we knew we could fuse some of our own personalities into the track. Love is an anchor, it’s a foundation. Not all our songs are light and breezy. I’ve said it before, but we write our songs. We’re not interpreters. Ten years ago, most music was a social outcry, and we never subscribed to that pattern. We didn’t jump on trends and we’ve seen a lot of them the last decade. Flower power. Glitter… I think the Bee Gees have always realized that there is so much love to bring out in songs that it is a catalyst to bring people together.”

“Maurice is singing harder parts, falsettos,” offered Barry Gibb. “Before, we played it safe and strict. We used the orchestra as a cushion. It was beautiful, but we weren’t taxing our abilities. When I look back at the days when we toured with 30 pieces, I know we were on display and opposed to communicating with the audience. Going to a bigger band and leaving the orchestra at home was a logical extension. We didn’t want to cling on to something that didn’t make us feel comfortable. I think our stage act improved 100 per cent. The orchestra was beautiful, but restrictive at times.

“I think the kids and younger people want to open up a bit more at concerts. We’re now more self-contained on stage and I really dig working with our band. Looking back, the orchestra did colour many of our songs. But at times we might have overused the strings and some of our work became mushy. Strings are beautiful tools to work with. They can break your heart.”

During my handful of group interviews with the Bee Gees, in 1978 I visited the set of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which Michael Schultz directed.

I spent part of the entire afternoon walking around the yellow brick road at the fabled Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio in Culver City with Barry Gibb and Peter Frampton, who also appeared in the film.

Del Shannon, Bobby Womack, George Benson, Helen Reddy, Johnny Rivers, Minnie Riperton, Mark Lindsay, Jack Bruce, Monte Rock III, Al Stewart, John Mayall, Alan White, Jose Feliciano, Tina Turner, Peter Noone, Carol Channing, Keith Carradine, Etta James, Leif Garrett, Sha-Na-Na, the Paley Brothers, Kim Fowley, Margaret Whiting, Gwen Verdon and others appeared in a celebrity-driven finale conducted by George Martin.

It was the last movie to be made at M-G-M under the guidance of the studio’s existing management.

A security guard at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer main entrance lot gate recognized me from the nearby El Marino elementary school we had attended in Culver City. He handed me an all-access pass and parking permit for a space once reserved for Elvis Presley when he did Speedway.

On his lunch break my childhood friend insisted on taking me on a tour inside the M-G-M universe, including the dressing rooms of Judy Garland, Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra. We both marveled at a huge lobby poster of director Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason.

On the M-G-M lot, I asked Maurice Gibb about their last studio album, Children of the World, which yielded the hit single ‘You Should Be Dancing’. The LP was much harder-sounding than its predecessor, Main Course.

“We wanted an album that was more nervous,” underlined Maurice. “We felt Main Course was a little too varied. There were too many directions. We wanted to take the R&B flavour in Main Course a step further with Children of the world. We are always trying to establish a direction. Groups should have guidelines, but also be open for experimentation. When we did Mr. Natural we didn’t have a positive direction. We were thrashing about and some good things came out of that album.”

All three Gibbs were quick to credit Arif Mardin, producer of Mr. Natural and Main Course, for showing them new studio tricks and techniques.

“Our studio tactics had become lazy,” admitted Barry. “We had to own up and Jerry Wexler recommended Arif.”

They had some meetings with producers Thom Bell and Richard Perry but nothing came out of these discussions.

“Arif was incredible to work with,” disclosed Robin, “especially with Maurice. He changed our style of recording. We would start with one instrument and build up from there, as opposed to all playing at once. It is a clearer process.”

“Arif was a producer and a referee. He organized sound around a creative base,” Maurice acknowledged.

When the Gibbs recorded Main Course, they knew of previous problems and the result was three hit singles. Olivia Newton-John covered “Come On Over,” “Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)” was a huge hit in the US and “Jive Talkin’” was another at the top of the hit parade. “Nights on Broadway” was a top ten smash.

There was charted R&B airplay for “Jive Talkin’” and some compared the Bee Gees to the Average White Band, another Mardin-produced group.

“I can’t believe what a rush we’re all in. Things have never been better,” exclaimed Barry.  

“We were nervous wrecks at the end of the Sixties: touring, recording, promotion. I was living in Eaton Square and my neighbors must have thought I was a bit freaky. I can remember a time when I walked out of my front door and there were six cars and they all belonged to me. That’s madness,” he confessed.

“I feel very close to my family. We are all living in this house and planning for the future. There was an adjustment period five years ago, but all the little hassles and hang-ups have disappeared. We began to relate to each other as brothers.

“We don’t want to sit on our laurels. We knew we always had a lot more to offer to people than they thought we had. Right now, the family is throbbing. No one is looking out for himself and all are looking in.

“We’re working faster and I feel I can write a song in a minute with Maurice and Robin. I’m really happy that people are acknowledging our influence on popular music. You have no idea what a thrill it is to have a top five single in England. With all the new wave and punk rock out, I would have thought something like ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ wouldn’t have a chance. We always kept going forward and we’re getting stronger every day.”

“We’ve never been inclined to follow other people’s ideas,” reinforced Robin. “If anybody’s gonna follow an idea they’re gonna follow ours. Even though the Beatles influenced a lot of our music, we never aimed to follow what they were doing. We’re still very young as far as I’m concerned and there’s a lot of work around the corner, like films. In a way, we’re just starting.

“We’ve been through all the stages, struggling, and then hitting it big, we’ve split and re-formed, had number ones, toured the world. Of course, we want to continue improving in all areas, but our main concern now is strong albums.”

Robin has changed over the last few years. He appears more confident and far from the insecure figure that toured the US in the last part of the sixties.

“I know what people think of me,” he sighs. “I used to be very insecure. There was a lot of pressure around me and I had trouble coping with initial stardom and touring. That’s changed, as I’ve come from this boy-to-man period the last five years. A new era has started. I feel great about the people around me. I know the Bee Gees have touched people. I can see that by our fan mail and questions fans ask when they want me to sign an autograph. The most typical question we receive through the post is ‘When are you visiting again?’”

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love.

Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021 they wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. 

Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) was published on February 6, 2026 by BearManor Media.

Harvey spoke at the special hearings in 2006 initiated by the Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation.

In 2017, he appeared at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in its heralded Distinguished Speakers Series, and as a panelist where he discussed the forty-fifth anniversary of The Last Waltz at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2023.

During 2025, Kubernik was interviewed in the Siobhan Logue-written and -directed documentary The Sound of Protest,airing on the Apple TVOD TV broadcasting service. The film also features Smokey Robinson, Hozier, Skin (Skunk Anansie), Two-Tone's Jerry Dammers, Angélique Kidjo, Holly Johnson, David McAlmont, Rhiannon Giddens, and more.

Harvey was an interview subject along with Iggy Pop, the Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, Love’s Johnny Echols, the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, Victoria, Debbi Peterson, and founding members of the Seeds for director/producer Neil Norman’s documentary The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard. In summer 2026, the GNP Crescendo company will release it on DVD/Blu-ray.

Kubernik is a featured interview in the Alex Rotaru directed documentary Elvis, Rocky and Me: The Carol Connors Story that premiered in January 2026 at the 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival. She was Elvis Presley’s lover, and Rocky Balboa’s lyricist. The twice Academy Award nominated songwriter’s career is captured in interviews with friends Dionne Warwick, Dianne Warren, Bill Conti, Talia Shire, David Shire, Barbi Benton, Mike Tyson and Irwin Winkler. Her songwriting credits include the Rip Chords 1964 hit “Hey Little Cobra,” and Billy Preston & Syreeta Wright duet “With You I’m Born Again.”  During 1977, Carol Connors co-wrote “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky”).  The post BEE GEES LIMITED EDITION 4 LP COLLECTION DUE FEBRUARY 27 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Spotify says it has ‘helped artists generate’ $1bn+ in ticket sales to date. Now it’s teaming up with SeatGeek to drive even moreSeatGeek becomes the latest ticketing platform to join Spotify's growing live events ecosystem.
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David Guetta Talks Creative Process and Workflow with the Rhodes MK8 MIDIAccording to news on Tuesday, "Grammy Award–winning producer and DJ David Guetta adds the Rhodes MK8 MIDI piano to his Ibiza studio as a source of inspiration and a central controller within his setup. Drawing on its expressive sound and feel, he uses the instrument to explore how soul and musicality can exist beyond traditional genre boundaries within his in-the-box workflow."

“The first word I think of when it comes to Rhodes would be soul. I grew up listening to funk, from Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. It’s a sound that is very present in my life,” he explains.

In discussing how the Rhodes sound has shaped his songwriting over the years, Guetta shared, “When we wrote that record for Ariana Grande, it was together with Savan Kotecha. We started from a Rhodes melody with thirds, and it gave the song that warmth. I don’t think we would have gone there if we hadn’t started from that Rhodes sound.”

According to a statement, "The Rhodes MK8 functions as a central controller in modern studio environments. With polyphonic aftertouch MIDI and assignable controls, the instrument allows producers to shape dynamics, modulation, and expression on a per-note basis when triggering virtual instruments within a DAW. The MK8’s onboard knobs can be mapped to parameters in virtual instruments and effects, or routed to external hardware synthesizers."

See the full interview on YouTube.

Image credit: IndieToBe Agency & Backlight StudioThe post David Guetta Talks Creative Process and Workflow with the Rhodes MK8 MIDI first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

HYBE AMERICA launches Blue Highway Records in Nashville, names Jake Basden as CEOHYBE AMERICA's Nashville-based country, Americana and roots rock division rebrands as Blue Highway Records, effective immediately
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AllMusic's Favorite Music VideosAlthough YouTube may have killed the MTV star, we can still look back at some of the music videos that caught our eye when the channel was running all day, all night.

UK-based investor Independent Franchise Partners takes 3% stake in Universal Music Group worth $1.2bn+Reuter reports that the transaction makes IFP the sixth-largest shareholder in UMG
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