Magic Mic A Grammy-winning producer shares his insights to finding the perfect studio mic  Getting clean, pristine sound begins at the source: the microphone. Designed to capture both nuance and ferocity of a performance, these devices are specialized for the studio. Some work well for specific duties, such as vocals, and others are able to handle multiple applications. But making sense of the seemingly endless varieties available is a dizzying... 

MELISSA MANCHESTER Thanks to a 21st century team approach, she brings her smoky vocals to a new set Much has changed in the four decades since “Midnight Blue” made Melissa Manchester a star and the 10 years since her last studio album When I Look Down That Road. But as she releases her new album, You Gotta Love the Life, there are some things that haven’t changed. “I really do have the same passion I did when I was 17,” says Manchester.... 

ETHAN JOHNS A second-generation production wiz moves to the other side of the glass By Michael Gallant For Ethan Johns, producing rock stars means carrying on the family business. After all, his father is famed producer Glyn Johns, whose credits include Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Dylan and the Who. “It wasn’t a big deal for me to have any of those people show up at the house,” says Johns, who grew up... 

ERIC JOHNSON & MIKE STERN Two guitar wizards on one album mean twice the musical magic By Jeff Tamarkin By any measure, Eric Johnson and Mike Stern are two of the most accomplished guitarists in recent history, but it’s doubtful anyone ever considered they’d make an album together. Stern, after all, is a renowned jazz artist, having had his initial breakthrough in the ’80s as a member of Miles Davis’ band. Johnson, on the other hand,... 

SCOTT WEILAND                         The former STP frontman returns to rock ’n’ roll on his latest solo set Blaster is Scott Weiland’s third solo album and his first under the moniker Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts. But whatever the name, any music Weiland releases lines up with the unforgettable output of his former bands: ’90s alt-rock greats Stone Temple Pilots, and supergroup Velvet Revolver, with Slash and Duff McKagan.... 

DONNY OSMOND His latest celebrates the former teen idol’s biggest musical influences  In the 50 years since Donny Osmond made his debut alongside his brothers on The Andy Williams Show, he’s recorded 60 albums, including his latest, The Soundtrack of My Life. The album features songs that were significant in the 57-year-old performer’s life, from the Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road” to the Supremes’ “Baby Love.” Stevie Wonder... 

JONI MITCHELL One of music’s greatest singer-songwriters creates an inspired box set Joni Mitchell is an eight-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who’s influenced everyone from Courtney Love to Taylor Swift. So it’s only fitting that her new box set has been crafted with care. It isn’t her first retrospective, but Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced is something special. The 53 tracks on these four... 

THE DECEMBERISTS The indie folk favorites take their time to create a compelling new album It’s been four years since the Decemberists’ sixth studio album, The King Is Dead, shot to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Finally, the Portland, Oregon-based folk-rock band—frontman Colin Meloy, guitarist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query and drummer John Moen—follows up with What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.... 

ALLISON MOORER On a new studio set, the acclaimed roots artist mines pain for poetry  Five years ago, as Allison Moorer released her seventh studio album, Crows, she was married to singer-songwriter Steve Earle and pregnant with their son. Now, as she releases her latest, Down to Believing, much has changed. Her near-decade-long marriage to Earle has ended, and their son, John Henry, has been diagnosed with autism. But Moorer has never been shy... 

AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT The critical favorites rewrite the rock rulebook on a Dope new album It’s official: The Airborne Toxic Event is no longer a “proper rock band.” The California quintet’s new album, Dope Machines, pairs loud guitars with glitzy synths and canned beats with live drums, and although leader Mikel Jollett struggles to define the sound, he knows it’s not what people were expecting. “There’s a set of rules you’re supposed... 

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Bro-country’s premier duo finds their musical sweet spot naturally Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard—the party-starting dudes behind the country juggernaut Florida Georgia Line—are taking a breather to look back on the monster year they’ve had. Their new album Anything Goes topped the charts—and their latest No.1 hit “Sun Daze” caps a series of chart-scorching hits. What’s more, their new tour landed a Top 3 spot... 

BETTY WHO A popular viral video leads to a major-label debut for a dance-pop diva Even if you don’t recognize her name, you’d likely recognize Betty Who’s breakout hit “Somebody Loves You,” which played as the backdrop of a 2013 viral video of a man proposing to his boyfriend in Home Depot while dancing with a flash mob. “Even today, people are falling in love with that song for the first time,” says the Australian singer-songwriter... 

TOWER OF POWER Hip for nearly 50 years, the soul vets prove you just can’t stop the funk Ask Emilio Castillo—who co-founded Tower of Power in 1968—how his band has survived, and he offers a simple answer. “It’s because we make the music exactly the way we want it to sound,” he says. “We noticed years ago that if we try to deviate from what we do, it doesn’t work—we still sound like us, only a bastardized version. So we’re going... 

JOEL CROUSE HOMETOWN: Holland, Mass. INFLUENCES: Waylon Jennings, Keith Urban, Tom Petty ALBUM: Even the River Runs, out now WEBSITE: joelcrouse.com A pastor’s son from a small farming town outside Boston, Crouse started singing in church at an early age. At 13, his Alabama-bred grandfather gave him his first guitar and introduced him to such legendary artists as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Three years later he was playing... 

SKYLAR STECKER HOMETOWN: Middleton, Wisc. INFLUENCES: Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Ne-Yo ALBUM: Firecracker, out now WEBSITE: skylarstar.com At just 12 years old, Skylar Stecker has a vocal range and a drive to succeed that rivals artists twice her age. Daughter of former NFL running back Aaron Stecker, she wrote her first song in the third grade, the same year she made her onstage debut at a hometown talent show. “That’s when I knew music was what... 

Imagine Dragons finds success takes some getting used to   Sudden fame can be a double-edged sword. Just ask Imagine Dragons’ frontman Dan Reynolds. “It sounds cliché,” he says, “but I never got into rock ’n’ roll for fame or drugs or girls. For me, rock ’n’ roll was about people doing what they wanted to do and saying what they wanted to say. I’m hardly a typical rock star. I have a wife and a 2-year-old daughter, and I love...