Ann Powers News

Country music legends Wynonna Judd & Cactus Moser make their Café Carlyle debut with Wynonna & Cactus: Party of Two, October 15-19.

Singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel will return to the Café Carlyle for her seventh engagement, October 1-5. Reviewing a previous residency at the legendary cabaret, The New York Times called Joel, daughter of music legend Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley, a?oea singer following her own heart.a?? Joel, who recently exuded characteristic warmth, humor, and musicality in the 2018 documentary Always at the Carlyle, will sing a mix of original songs, Broadway numbers anda?"alwaysa?"a tune from her dad and one from Ray Charles. a?oePeople don't know this, but my middle name is after my dad's favorite singer, Ray Charles, so I always pay homage,a?? she explains.

Country music legends Wynonna Judd & Cactus Moser make their Café Carlyle debut with Wynonna & Cactus: Party of Two, October 15-19. Five-time Grammy winner and New York Times best-selling author, Wynonna has always revolved her career around telling stories.

Erin Durant's Islands is out on Keeled Scales today, garnering a stamp of approval from Ann Powers and Robin Hilton at NPR Music, notable and essential release designation from Stereogum and Bandcamp, respectively, a deep dive in a rising feature over at The Line of Best Fit and beautiful reviews at American Songwriter, Highway Queens, Secret Meeting and Paste Magazine as well as Greil Marcus' Real Life Rock Top 10 at Rolling Stone. Pitchfork had published their review early with Laura Snapes saying that 'Islands polishes Durant's sound to a resonant and gently rollicking gleam...Durant's songwriting is fine-boned and small-scale, and her lyrics are quietly epic.' Erin Durant's sophomore record, produced by TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone, is an odyssey of sorts, ambitious instrumentals mix with a vague, but compelling, journey, allowing one to lose themselves in the worlds she creates and the sometimes surrealist stories that link these eight songs.

'Dream Within a Dream' is the new 7-inch single from pop savant Tristen, out May 10 via Louisville's This Man Records. Crafted from Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem, the single - like the mononymous singer-songwriter and musician known for her 'knack for penning an infectious hook' (Entertainment Weekly) - marries complex, introspective lyrics with rollicking, jangly guitars.

Platinum recording artist Wynonna and her band The Big Noise are coming to the historic Wheeler Opera House for ONE-NIGHT ONLY. Tickets for WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE are $88 (and can be purchased at the Wheeler Opera House Box Office or online (970.920.5770 / aspenshowtix.com). The Wheeler Opera House is located at 320 E. Hyman Ave., Aspen, CO.

The Country Music Association, which recently announced its new international artist-focused touring series, Introducing Nashville, has added back-to-back performances at Blue Note Tokyo in Japan on Saturday, March 30 featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson and Lindsay Ell. Prior to Japan, Introducing Nashville will visit multiple cities in Australia and New Zealand with Clark, Dawson, Ell and Tenille Townes (Australia only). Tickets for Introducing Nashville's Japan performances are on sale here.  

The Country Music Association has announced its new international artist-focused touring series, aptly titled Introducing Nashville, which launches in March of 2019 in Australia and New Zealand featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson, Lindsay Ell and Tenille Townes (Australia leg only) followed by an industry event in Tokyo, Japan including Frankie Ballard. Tickets for Australia and New Zealand are on sale here. 

Emerging singer-songwriter Savannah Conley today releases an enrapturing live performance video for the track “Same Old Eyes” off her debut EP Twenty-Twenty (watch HERE). The visual arrives just as Conley's North American tour with Caamp kicks off – beginning last night in Pittsburgh, with performances to follow across the US and Canada – from Toronto to Chicago to New York and Boston.

Nashville's genre-bending band of misfitsRepublican Hair is excited to release their new single “Chaotic Good” today. The track is available via all DSPs and follows this summer's tongue-in-cheek protest anthem “f**k A Bomb,” which was featured on Spotify's Rock This playlist (4.3 MILLION followers).  On the heels of highly successful Northeast and Midwest tours, you can catch Republican Hair live next month at Lightning 100's Festivus Charity Show in Nashville on December 7th with Dispatch.

On December 6 Adia Victoria will present 'A Delta Blue Christmas.' The event will take place at Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville, TN.  It kicks off in the afternoon with a panel discussion on the extended history of black art & the blues as protest and its place in activism. The evening will consist of a performance-based poetry reading with Adia, Caroline Randall Williams and Ciona Rouse, followed by two performances by Adia Victoria - a set of solo acoustic blues numbers, followed by a full-band set of new material.  Tickets for both the afternoon and evening events can b purchased HERE. A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit Jessi Zazu, Inc. 

MerleFest, presented by Window World, is proud to announce the initial lineup for MerleFest 2019, which will be held April 25-28. The annual homecoming of musicians and music fans returns to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The complete lineup for MerleFest 2019 will be announced over the next few months. Today's lineup announcement includes Wynonna & The Big Noise, Keb' Mo', The Earls of Leicester, Sam Bush, Tyler Childers, Peter Rowan and The Free Mexican Air Force, and many more. The 2019 Late Night Jam on Saturday, April 27th will start at 10:30 p.m. and run well past midnight, hosted by Chatham County Line. This very popular after-hours hootenanny in the Walker Center gathers many performers from the festival for impromptu artistic collaborations and one-of-a-kind superstar jams that have become legendary in the festival's history. Ticket sales for both the festival and Late Night Jam begin at 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 13th.

The War and Treaty were recently featured on WXPN “World Café.” Listen/share HERE. Hosted by NPR's Ann Powers, the performance and interview were recorded live from Nashville's Sound Stage Studios and features songs from the duo's acclaimed debut album,Healing Tide. Of the husband and wife pair—Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter—World Café praises, “The War and Treaty makes inspirational music pulled from a deep experience of both American roots music and the couple's personal experience of surviving and thriving in the sometimes perilous 21st Century.”

It is considered by many to be the greatest all-female rock band of all time. Its members were pioneers-all four composed, sang, and played their own instruments, in the face of a music business determined to exploit them, and in a time and a world incapable of accepting them. The band lasted four years, from 1970-1974, but has never received the recognition it deserved. "One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace," David Bowie told Rolling Stone in a 1999 interview. "And that is Fanny…. They're as important as anybody else who's ever been, ever; it just wasn't their time. Revivify Fanny. And I will feel that my work is done."

What do the voices of the moment sound like? NPR Music and Lincoln Center are proud to unveil the complete, all-female artist lineup for the free night of music and conversation on August 1, part of Lincoln Center's Out of Doors festival in New York City. Carly Rae Jepsen, Jamila Woods, Mitski, and Phoebe Bridgers come together for a song circle, performing stripped down versions of their original music and discussing modern popular-music culture with moderator Ann Powers. I'm With Her performs the opening set.

Joshua Hedley is the subject of the latest “My Opry Debut” episode, which premieres today at Rolling Stone Country. Watch/share HERE. Of the mini-documentary, Rolling Stone Country proclaims, “The vocalist offers a pristine delivery, reinforcing his reputation as one of country's new crop of must-hear live performers.” Chronicling Hedley's preparation and experience debuting at the legendary Grand Ole Opry, the video includes exclusive performance footage of “I Never (Shed A Tear)” plus scenes of Old Crow Medicine Show's Cory Younts surprising Hedley with the Opry invitation during a live interview at WSM Radio. 

Nora Jane Struthers has written 'some of the most quietly powerful narratives within the new wave of Americana artists,' says Ann Powers of NPR Music. The songs that last decades and weave themselves into the fabric of listeners' lives are usually the ones in which an artist lays her soul bare for the world to hear. Struthers' new album Champion on Blue Pig Records, is built on these kinds of songs. 

In conjunction with National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Brandi Carlile's music video for “Hold Out Your Hand” is premiering today via NPR Music. Watch/share HERE. Of the acclaimed musician, NPR Music's Ann Powers declares, “…when Brandi Carlile commits to a cause, she commits. That's not a surprise—the Washington state-based singer-songwriter is famous for the depth of her dedication, whether to family, a cause, or the gorgeously crafted songs that have made her a central figure in the 21st-century singer-songwriter scene.”

Grab your sunscreen and head down south for the Chillin' on the Lucie music festival in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Oct. 3 - 7. Headlining will be country icon, Wynonna, with her band The Big Noise, and hit-maker Joe Nichols, with two more to be announced. RaeLynn, Thompson Square, Craig Campbell, Restless Heart, Love and Theft, Trent Tomlinson, Scooter Brown Band and Southern Halo are also scheduled to perform at the festival, with more acts to be announced. Tickets can be purchased here.

Joshua Hedley's new song “I Never (Shed A Tear)” is premiering today (listen HERE). The song is second track unveiled from Hedley's highly anticipated debut album Mr. Jukebox, which will be released April 20 on Third Man Records and is now available forpre-order.