music

In January and February of 1974, Bob Dylan embarked on his first concert tour following an eight-year hiatus after a devastating motorcycle accident that he suffered in 1966. It was a reunion tour with the Band, commemorated in the…

I may be wrong about this, but I don’t think so: music, particularly pop music, will never reach you in a more visceral way than it does when you’re very young. Something about the hunger and plasticity you have at that time of your life…

Jubilee at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.(Photo: Fabian Obispo)In April of 1873, during their first global tour, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were summoned to a smallish room in Buckingham Palace to perform a handful of spirituals for Queen…

Roky Erickson, a guitarist and singer in the 13th Floor Elevators, a foundational psych-rock group from Texas, died on Friday. The cause of death was not immediately announced, but Erickson had a long history of health troubles. In 1968,…

Ever since my early teens, I have had two obsessions: music and journalism. When I was a senior at Hudson Catholic Regional High School for Boys, in Jersey City, in 1982, I took a journalism class, and the teacher assigned us to…

Jamila Woods.(Photo: Courtesy of Jamila Woods)As popular culture accelerates, so does the rate at which new music is put out and consumed. New albums now appear on streaming services at the stroke of midnight on a Friday, and are…

Singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen.(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Women's emotions are often dismissed. The culture at large tends to treat women's anger and pain and sadness and even joy and enthusiasm as girlish. A woman in love is…

'Star Wars' actor Adam Driver credited the military for his rise to stardom in Hollywood. The 35-year-old, who joined the military after 9/11 and served the country for three years, says his time with the armed forces helped shed some…

Chris Orrick.(Photo: Michael Tolle)Pop musicians are often dismissive of critics. From Ariana Grande to Young Jeezy, performers want to let you know that they don't care, and that their response to criticism is "fuck the haters." Artists…

Safiya Sinclair joins Kevin Young to read and discuss Natalie Diaz’s poem “From the Desire Field” and her own poem “Gospel of the Misunderstood.” Sinclair is the author of the poetry collection “Cannibal” and the forthcoming memoir “How…