Patti Smith headlines the upcoming Higher Ground Festival in London soon – details in ad at top of this page! To celebrate here is her in depth interview with John Robb in 2010 where she details her creative life in New York and with Robert Mapplethorpe in an emotional account that has tears, laughs, poetry.
Read MoreOn Friday (June 7), Lupe Fiasco dropped "Cake," the second single from his new album, Samurai. This track exemplifies top-tier hip-hop lyricism, with the Grammy award winner demonstrating his verbal mastery. Produced by Soundtrakk, the song hosts Fiasco celebrating his achievements and highlighting his exceptional skills while dismissing those who have attempted to undermine him. Through his use of diverse literary concepts, rapping techniques, and impactful cultural and historical references, including Optimus, Kabbalist, and Vonnegut, Fiasco crafts a performance that continues to affirm his standing as one of hip-hop's greatest lyricists.
Read MoreMore than 20 members of Riverdance put on a show on the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin yesterday morning ahead of 12-hour danceathon to raise money for a cancer charity. Each year, Riverdance announces the charity with which it will be partnering throughout the season and this year it has chosen Childhood Cancer Ireland. Nearing 11am yesterday, a unique show of gossamer blues and greens greeted passersby to mark the announcement. Patricia McColgan, sister of Riverdance director John McColgan, whose son was diagnosed with cancer as a child, said: “It’s just wonderful. Riverdance is such a powerful, hopeful expression of Irishness. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our kids to be involved with this. Some of them have been through some very tough times and it’s a fantastic celebration for them to be centre stage.”
Read MoreRenowned music legend Angélique Kidjo celebrated her recent win at this year’s Telecel Ghana Music Awards. Her collaboration with Stonebwoy on the track “Manodzi” featured on his 5th Dimension album, was honoured with the “Record of the Year” award at the prestigious event".
Read MoreWhen esperanza spalding glides through our area in the coming days, she’ll be moving in a deliberate spirit of grace. “The whole point of this tour was like a resting place,” the Grammy-winning bassist, singer, bandleader and songwriter, who stylizes her name in all-lowercase, explained this week in a conversation with WRTI. “Because I've been doing so many big, complicated projects that I really just needed a resting place,” spalding explains. “So it'll be familiar things. Songs that don't feel like a strain. And it's very intimate. It's not like: Ta-Da! It's kind of close, things that are known and feel like comfort places from all the records, except for Emily's D+Evolution.”
Read MoreRosanne Cash will be at the National Concert Hall on Thursday 13th June with John Leventhal and songwriter Aoife O'Donovan, to mark the launch of the Musician Treatment Foundation (MTF) in Ireland.The fund provides vital orthopedic care for musicians' shoulders, elbows, and hands and has so far delivered over $2.7 million in care through its Physicians for Musicians network.
Read MoreWhen Patti Smith described her 1975 debut album "Horses" as “three-chord rock merged with the power of the word,” she was connecting herself to two artistic streams. First, there was the relatively simple “garage” sound of groups like Count Five, ? and the Mysterians, the Seeds, Chocolate Watch Band, etc., which she—and her longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye—felt epitomized the primal power of American rock. Second, she was asserting that the poetry of masters such as William Blake, Walt Whitman and Arthur Rimbaud, and their 20th century acolytes Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Charles Olson, could be spiritually integrated into music that would aspire to literary heights. As Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jim Morrison, Robert Hunter and other Smith-approved poet-composers had already proven, lyrics could be literature.
Read MoreToday, NPR World's Coffee "30A Songwriters Sessions" featuring a performance from Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams. Even though it's officially their fourth album as a duo, Campbell and Williams have been playing together for nearly 40 years. Campbell, a Grammy winner who had played with Bob Dylan and The Black Crowes, was initially reluctant. Eventually, after years of playing together with Levon Helm, Campbell and Williams took the leap. Their latest album, "All This Time", is a celebration of their longtime commitment to one another. It also features a special appearance from Helm, recorded shortly before his passing.
Read MoreAt 83, Joan Baez, the trailblazing singer and civil rights activist is publishing her first collection of poetry. She talks to Kevin E G Perry about the power of protest music, her years with Bob Dylan, her ‘odd couple’ relationship with Steve Jobs, and her fears for a future under Donald Trump.
Read MoreChristine and the Queens has shared a new song, “Rentrer Chez Moi,”with a Sasha Mongin–directed video with choreography set in the desert. Check it out below. The single follows Chris’ album Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, released last year. “This song makes me cry because it is true, so much love I have for you, this deep decision to always stay honest—for the dance to be then the shared moment, the joyful celebration,” Chris says in a statement on the song and video.
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