Two decades into his superstar career, Tim McGraw is still hungry for new musical adventures Tim McGraw is a man in motion. Twice a day, even while on tour, he hits the gym—lifting weights in the morning and devoting a couple of hours to a grueling CrossFit regimen in the afternoon. The concept of constant movement is also the driving force behind his creative philosophy. “I’m always looking for something that propels me forward and makes me... 

DIDO A soulful synth-pop hit-maker turns up the electronic heat Dido took her time making her latest album—five years, in fact. But the deliberate pace allowed her to develop a more ambitious sound for her fourth record, Girl Who Got Away. Although Dido has always favored acoustic backbones surrounded by delicate synths, Girl reflects a bold expansion into electronic production. Since she first made waves with her 1999 debut No Angel, the 41-year-old... 

THE JOY FORMIDABLE The ambitious indie rockers explore a bolder, broader range of textures  After spending years refining their debut album, Welsh rockers the Joy Formidable wrote their follow-up, Wolf’s Law, on a much shorter timeline. Though the writing process started off in a familiar place, they didn’t let that limit them. “We went back to the basics of songwriting, which was me and Ritzy with a guitar, jamming vocal ideas over it, or... 

  ALICIA KEYS – FIRED UP With a new album and a host of other projects, Alicia Keys is sizzling  BY RUSSELL HALL Sometimes an offhand comment can lead to magic. That’s exactly what happened to Alicia Keys as she began making her new album. Taking note of Keys’ energized demeanor, an interviewer called the 31-year-old singer-songwriter a girl on fire. “That’s it!” Keys thought. “That describes everything I’m feeling. Now... 

TEGAN AND SARA Twin talents enjoy the view from the bright side on their latest project After 13 years and a dozen albums, identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin are not afraid of change. “We always aim to create a slightly different record each time we step into the studio,” says Tegan. Take their latest album, Heartthrob. “Sara encouraged me to write outside my usual themes, like self-loathing, loss and heartbreak. So I wrote love songs for... 

AARON NEVILLE  An American treasure revisits the music that honed his otherworldly vocals   Aaron Neville has sung R&B, gospel and country, everywhere from Bourbon Street to Sesame Street, but now he’s returning to the street-corner sounds he’s loved since boyhood with his doo-wop record, My True Story. For the new album, Neville’s first on Blue Note Records, he called label president Don Was, who in turn reached out to longtime doo-wop... 

FIRED UP –  With a new album and a host of other projects, Alicia Keys is sizzling  Sometimes an offhand comment can lead to magic. That’s exactly what happened to Alicia Keys as she began making her new album. Taking note of Keys’ energized demeanor, an interviewer called the 31-year-old singer-songwriter a girl on fire. “That’s it!” Keys thought. “That describes everything I’m feeling. Now I just need to figure out what being... 

SOUNDGARDEN The seminal grunge-rock band picks up right where it left off  Nearly 16 years after their breakup, iconic grunge rockers Soundgarden are back with King Animal, their first new music since 1996. The band—singer Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd—first formed in 1984, and blew up 10 years later with their smash Superunknown, only to call it quits in 1997. “We just got burned out,”... 

DONALD FAGEN The Steely Dan co-captain finds new freedom on his latest solo effort By Russell Hall  Two years ago Donald Fagen decided to wipe the slate clean. His first three solo albums—1982’s The Nightfly, 1993’s Kamakiriad and 2006’s Morph the Cat—had been tied together by unified themes, based on stages of Fagen’s life. For his new record, Sunken Condos, Fagen cast aside such constraints. “Those first three albums, which appeared... 

TAYLOR SWIFT The 22-year-old shrugs aside mega success to focus on what matters most—her growth as an artist.   SOUNDGARDEN - The seminal rock band’s first studio record in 16 years proves they haven’t forgotten how to rock.   JOHN HIATT - One of music’s most revered singer-songwriters gets even more passionate about his work. DONALD FAGEN  - The Steely Dan co-founder finds new creative freedom and reward on his latest solo... 

KISS For a long time, beginning in 1999, Paul Stanley wasn’t sure Kiss would make another studio album. Worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Ironically, it was the making of the previous year’s Psycho Circus—the much-ballyhooed record that featured original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley reunited with Kiss founders Stanley and Gene Simmons—that put Stanley in that frame of mind. As he tells it, Criss and Frehley were recalcitrant participants,... 

MATCHBOX TWENTY On the pop-rockers’ latest release, everyone gets a turn in the spotlight Matchbox Twenty’s new album, North, is the band’s first collection of all-new material in a decade. It’s also their first release to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. But what really sets the record apart is the group effort to make it. Rob Thomas has long been the frontman and songwriting engine driving the pop-rockers, scoring hits like... 

ELLIE GOULDING Global success scores the singer more creative control on her latest      Ellie Goulding hit the ground running after she released her debut album, Lights, two years ago, and she hasn’t slowed down one bit. In her native England, she won a coveted Brit Award and was invited to play at the Royal Wedding. In the U.S., she scored an unexpected hit with “Lights”—which has been downloaded a whopping 3 million times. Now Goulding,... 

BRANFORD MARSALIS  Some call it magic but for this sax genius it’s just “playin’ tunes”  By Jeff Tamarkin  Branford Marsalis has never been one to hold back. The 52-year-old tenor and soprano saxophonist freely says and plays what he wants. So the title of his quartet’s new release Four MFs Playin’ Tunes shouldn’t shock anyone—but it does. “A writer came to the session and asked my least favorite question: ‘What’s the concept... 

JOSS STONE The neo-soul sensation wraps her vocals around a new set of classics Joss Stone was a nervous 16-year-old kid in 2003 when The Soul Sessions made her a star, thanks to its old-school grooves and the slinky hit “Fell in Love With a Boy,” a vivid reworking of a White Stripes song. Nearly a decade later, the British singer decided she’d like another crack at it. She re-teamed with Soul Sessions producer Steve Greenberg for her latest... 

It’s a midsummer morning, and Alanis Morissette is enjoying some rare downtime in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Although she’s lived in Los Angeles since the mid-’90s, clearly there’s no place like home. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” she says. “I used to come up three times a year but almost two years have passed this time. Today we’re getting all the cousins together—having about 10 kids in one place. I’m... 

  The Governor General’s Performing Arts Award is the highest honor the nation of Canada can bestow upon its artists. The first recipient was Gweneth Lloyd, who co-founded the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. This year the honorees included Stratford Shakespeare Festival artistic director Des McAnuff, classical pianist Janina Fialkowska, choreographer Paul-André Fortier and several other creative Canadians familiar with respectable, best-behavior black-tie... 

NORAH JONES How she made the most unexpected music of her career with some help from Danger Mouse.  In June 2009, Norah Jones was somewhere not many people would expect her to be: in a small Los Angeles studio, cooking up new music with producer Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton. Ten years ago, Jones’ diamond-selling debut, Come Away With Me, established her as a pop icon with a soft, jazzy touch. Each of her follow-up solo albums—all of which... 

GARBAGE Pioneering alt-rockers push forward, leaving the labels and the ’90s behind   On the eve of Garbage’s first tour in more than seven years, guitarist Duke Erikson is puzzled. “I’m trying to figure out how the hell to pack all this stuff,” he says, facing an unruly pile of clothes. “I can’t remember how I did this before.” Luckily, he and his bandmates had no such trouble reminding themselves of the chemistry that propelled... 

GRACE POTTER She and her Nocturnals look a little more glam, but they’re grittier than ever   By Russell Hall  Back in 2010, fans of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals had a couple of big changes to deal with. First there were two new members, bass player Catherine Popper and guitarist Benny Yurco. But for listeners who had been following the band since it first hit the jam-band circuit in the early 2000s, the second change might have been even... 

JASON MRAZ A talk about the meaning of music, finding the right sound and his favorite four-letter word. Jason Mraz is in a noisy Los Angeles rehearsal hall, taking a break from doing something that doesn’t come easily to him: telling other people what to do. Mraz first emerged from the Southern California coffeehouse scene just over a decade ago armed only with a guitar, a sweetly melodious tenor voice and a rapidly growing stack of original... 

COUNTING CROWS Adam Duritz and company make an eclectic set of covers their own  Nearly two decades have passed since Counting Crows exploded onto the scene with their multiplatinum debut August and Everything After and its smash single, “Mr. Jones.” Even as the band has built on that foundation with one critically acclaimed album of originals after another, it has carved out a reputation for interpreting others’ material—from filling in... 

LYLE LOVETT  One of America’s great singer-songwriters marks the end of an era Twenty-six years into his recording career, Lyle Lovett is still amused by the attempts to categorize his music. “Even now, people who don’t really listen to country music still think of me as country, and people who listen to country don’t,” he says. “It’s an odd place to be.” Odd perhaps, but Lovett can thank his idiosyncratic nature for providing... 

Bonnie Raitt One of music’s most beloved icons slides back into the rock ’n’ roll slipstream. Bonnie Raitt is always listening. “My ear’s always cocked for a possible direction,” she says. “Something that’s inspirational, either a song I want to do or a songwriter I want to investigate further. We’ve got hundreds of CDs in our collection and files on our computer. I take songs with me on my iPhone and listen every day when I go... 

The Roots Questlove talks about making dark, gritty hip-hop in “the happiest place on earth.” Make no mistake, the average modern person has a very full to-do list from day to day. But does yours look anything like Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s? Today he’s driving from his native Philadelphia to New York City, where he’s due to help put on a pair of Jay-Z performances at Carnegie Hall. That’s just a side project, of course—his main... 

U2 A look back at the making of The Joshua Tree on its 25th birthday. In the middle of the 19th century, members of the still-new Mormon religion found themselves under attack from theological opponents. By the time the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, was killed by an angry mob in Illinois in 1844, his followers were already making their way westward in search of more tolerant climes. Their journeys brought them by the mid-1850s to the Mojave Desert,... 

RINGO STARR Rock’s most famous drummer remembers the Beatles and looks ahead to a Starr-filled future. THE FRAY    Earning scars, telling stories and letting themselves get a little bit louder in the process. KEITH JARRETT    Jazz’s premier improvisational pianist reveals the joy and anxiety of playing without a net. SEAN GARRETT  The producer behind some of today’s biggest R&B radio hits takes you into the studio. ANI DiFRANCO  How... 

COMMON Catching up with the rapper, actor, author, poet and unlikely magnet for controversy. LOU REED How one of rock’s fiercest iconoclasts found common ground with the mighty Metallica. PETER GABRIEL Finding fresh new blood in familiar favorites with the help of a symphony orchestra. RAY MANZAREK The legendary Doors’ keyboardist extraordinaire isn’t finished lighting new fires just yet. JAM & LEWIS Behind the board with one of the greatest... 

CHICKENFOOT Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith are on a rock ’n’ roll mission. TORI AMOS Centuries-old classical compositions helped point this piano goddess in a new direction. ALICE COOPER America’s favorite shock-rock legend revisits his most beloved nightmare—with a few twists. VINCE GILL One of country music’s greatest guitarists, singers and songwriters finds a space of his own. LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM The guitar... 

JULY/AUGUST 2011 COVER STORY: MARY J. BLIGE FEATURE: SHINE ON – PINK FLOYD MUSICIAN: TOM MORELLO, CHICK COREA PRODUCER: JAY JOYCE Q&A’s: LADY ANTEBELLUM, KELLY ROWLAND, AMERICA, YES, DOLLY PARTON, BARRY MANILOW SPOTLIGHT: THE BANGLES, VANESSA CARLTON, THE KOOKS, JEFF BRIDGES, SARAH JAROSZ, LENNY KRAVITZ, GLEN CAMPBELL WHO’S NEXT: HOPE WAITS, BREANNE DUREN, PETER BALDWIN INDIE SCENE: BLUE OCTOBER BEHIND THE CLASSICS: “Tom... 

JUNE 2011 COVER STORY: JOURNEY FEATURE: SURROUND SOUND MUSICIAN: BÉLA FLECK, DEF LEPPARD Q&A’s: MY MORNING JACKET, COLBIE CAILLAT, JOSS STONE, MARC BROUSSARD, ADAM ANDERS, MARIANNE FAITHFULL, “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC SPOTLIGHT: THE GREENCARDS, THE JOLLY BOYS, MATT NATHANSON, CHRISTINA PERRI, GOMEZ, YOUSSOU N’DOUR, BATTLES WHO’S NEXT: KATIE COSTELLO, AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE, XIMENA SARIÑANA INDIE SCENE: GARLAND JEFFREYS BEHIND THE CLASSICS:... 

MAY 2011 COVER STORY: STEVIE NICKS FEATURE: SUMMER FESTIVAL MUSICIAN: BRUCE HORNSBY, HERB ALPERT ENGINEER: MARCELLA ARAICA Q&A’s: KIMBERLY CALDWELL, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, ARCTIC MONKEYS, RAY DAVIES, SUSAN TEDESCHI AND, DEREK TRUCKS, ROBBIE ROBERTSON SPOTLIGHT: QUEENSRŸCHE, JESSIE J, BOOKER T. JONES, FLOGGING MOLLY, MOBY, AUGUSTANA, HIROMI WHO’S NEXT: LAURA JANSEN, CARTER’S CHORD, GRAHAM STOOKEY INDIE SCENE: JONATHAN EDWARDS BEHIND... 

MARCH/APRIL 2011 COVER STORY: FOO FIGHTERS FEATURES: MATCH GAME MUSICIAN: ALISON KRAUSS, JOE BONAMASSA PRODUCER: James Stroud Q&A’s: R.E.M., LUCINDA WILLIAMS, BOOTSY COLLINS, AVRIL LAVIGNE, NIKKI SIXX, JAMES STROUD, STEVE EARLE SPOTLIGHT: DENGUE FEVER, PANIC! AT THE DISCO, JOHN OATES, BAND OF HEATHENS, WANDA JACKSON, JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT, THE DUKE SPIRIT WHO’S NEXT: HENRY WOLFE, FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI, KINA GRANNIS INDIE SCENE:... 

JAN/FEB 2011 COVER STORY: STING FEATURES: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, MUSICIAN: GREGG ALLMAN, ERIC JOHNSON, PRODUCER: PETER ASHER Q&A’s: BRIGHT EYES, THE DECEMBERISTS, DURAN DURAN, IRON & WINE, DOOBIE BROTHERS, JAMES BLUNT SPOTLIGHT: SOCIAL DISTORTION, ADELE, BEN E. KING, TIMES OF GRACE, CORINNE BAILEY RAE, OVER THE RHINE, THE DEARS WHO’S NEXT: FUNERAL PARTY, ANNA CALVI, PLAN B, INDIE SCENE: TIERRA NEGRA & MURIEL ANDERSON, BEHIND THE... 

DEC 2010 COVER STORY: KEITH URBAN FEATURES: THE INDIE SURVIVAL GUIDE MUSICIAN: KEVIN EUBANKS, STEVE LUKATHER PRODUCER: DANIEL LANOIS Q&A’s: MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, ANNIE LENNOX, REGINA SPEKTOR, BRYAN ADAMS, AMOS LEE SPOTLIGHT: YOKO ONO, THE DAMNED THINGS, RHONDA VINCENT, TAPES ‘N TAPES, INXS, CASSANDRA WILSON, CAKE WHO’S NEXT: HOPE, THE MEMORIALS, STEEL MAGNOLIA INDIE SCENE: CASEY DESMOND BEHIND THE CLASSICS: “Hard Knock Life... 

NOV 2010 COVER STORY: JOHN LEGEND & THE ROOTS FEATURES: MILES TO GO, WHOLE NEW WORLD MUSICIAN: JOE SATRIANI, RICHARD THOMPSON PRODUCER: DAVE STEWART Q&A’s: LINKIN PARK, LIZ PHAIR, NATASHA BEDINGFIELD, HUEY LEWIS, JASON BONHAM SPOTLIGHT: PHIL COLLINS, SUGARLAND, TRICKY, SHAWN MULLINS, BAD BOOKS, DAR WILLIAMS, AARON NEVILLE WHO’S NEXT: MATT WHITE, SECRET SISTERS, LAUREN PRITCHARD INDIE SCENE: PETER HIMMELMAN BEHIND THE CLASSICS:... 

SEPT/OCT 2010 COVER STORY: TOM PETTY FEATURES: MUSIC-BASED VIDEO GAMES, STAGE TO SCREEN MUSICIAN: CARLOS SANTANA, DEREK TRUCKS PRODUCER: LARRY KLEIN Q&A’s: JEFF BECK, SARA BAREILLES, MAVIS STAPLES, ROBERT PLANT, HEART, NICK CAVE SPOTLIGHT: LITTLE BIG TOWN, JENNY & JOHNNY, RAUL MALO, MAROON 5, NELLIE MCKAY, OF MONTREAL, JAMEY JOHNSON WHO’S NEXT: ESPERANZA SPALDING, JASON REEVES, BRENDAN JAMES INDIE SCENE: SARA HICKMAN BEHIND THE... 

M Music & Musicians is a celebration of music and the people who make it, from instrumentalists and vocalists to producers and other technical wizards who make our favorite sounds a reality. M aims to entertain and enlighten professional musicians onstage and in the studio, amateur musicians playing for the joy of it and passionate fans eager to learn how their favorite music is made. Subscribe today for $12 a Year >> M Music & Musicians... 

Issue 05 Cover Story: Sheryl Crow Features: Albums From Hell, Digital Dilemmas Gear Feature: Aces of Bass Musician Feature: The Black Crowes, Jimmie Vaughan Producer Feature: Bryan-Michael Cox Q&A’s: Tom Jones, Indigo Girls, Alejandro Escovedo, Crowded House, Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer, Belinda Carlisle Spotlight: Michael Franti, Squeeze, Nikki & Rich, Fefe Dobson, Goo Goo Dolls, Tegan and Sara, Tim O’Brien Who’s Next: Ryan Star,... 

M Music & Musicians / June 2010 Issue 04 Cover Story: Sarah McLachlan Features: Rock At The Movies, Deal Or No Deal? Gear Feature: Maximum Mixes Musician: Herbie Hancock, Robert Randolph Producer: Hugh Padgham Q&A’s: Jewel, Ozzy Osbourne, 3Oh!3, Timothy B. Schmit, Tift Merritt, Solomon Burke Spotlight: Devo, Dierks Bentley, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Against Me!, Hanson, Punch Brothers, Tonic Who’s Next: Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed,... 

M Music & Musicians / May 2010 Issue 03 Cover Story: Stone Temple Pilots Features: The Vinyl Frontier, Summer Festivals Musician: Chester Thompson, Melissa Etheridge Producer: Alan Parsons Q&A’s: Merle Haggard, Deftones, Taylor Hawkins, Nas & Damian Marley, Chely Wright, The Black Keys Spotlight: Minus The Bear, Josh Ritter, Betty Lavette, The Hold Steady, Bill Charlap And Renee Rosnes, Widespread Panic, The New Pornographers Who’s... 

Cover Story: Willie Nelson Issue 02 Cover Story: Willie Nelson Gear Feature: Get Great Vocals Features: Rock On Broadway, Social Networking Musician: Slash, Warren Haynes Producer: Don Was Q&A’s: Jakob Dylan, Kaki King, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Peter Frampton, Meshell Ndegeocello, George Thorogood Spotlight: Angels & Airwaves, Jamie Cullum, Mose Allison, The Chieftains, Cypress Hill, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Drive-By Truckers Who’s... 

Premiere Issue - Alicia Keys Issue 01 Cover Story: Alicia Keys Gear Feature: Mixing Live Sound Features: TV’s Hottest House Bands, Fighting the Loudness War Musician Feature: Pat Metheny, Producer Feature: Al Schmitt, John Fogerty Q&A’s: Ok Go, Orianthi, Steve Wariner, Little Steven Van Zandt, Angie Stone Spotlight: Vampire Weekend, Omarion, Juliana Hatfield, Medeski Martin & Wood, Lady Antebellum, Midlake, Freedy Johnson Who’s... 

Subscribe for only $12 a year >> Taylor Swift turns up the heat with her latest, Red. Plus: Soundgarden, John Hiatt, Aimee Mann, Donald Fagen, Nas, Lifehouse, Peter Frampton, Keyshia Cole, Paul Kelly, Kylie Minogue, producer Benny Blanco, Holiday Instrument & Gear Guide, recording drums and more.  Read More →