JASON ISBELL The feeling, the fever, the folks, the fiddles, a farewell and the 400 Unit Jason Isbell is not feeling well. “I’m always kind of glad to get sick at home,” he says optimistically, “because I don’t want to mess with it when I’m on the road.” He’ll have to get out of his sickbed soon, like it or not—he and his backup group the 400 Unit have just completed their new album, and a series of high-profile gigs awaits. The... 

WANDA JACKSON The Queen of Rockabilly proves you’re never too old to earn new Stripes When the blues had a baby called rock ’n’ roll, Wanda Jackson was there for the delivery. “Back when I was touring with Elvis in 1957, we didn’t even call it rock ’n’ roll,” she remembers. “It was just ‘the kind of songs the kids liked.’” Jackson credits her then-boyfriend Presley with encouraging her to branch out from her country roots... 

BAND OF HEATHENS The secret to this Austin collective’s success? Don’t plan, just play It’s noon in Austin, but the Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist sounds like he’s still sleepy. “I’m a bit hazy,” he says by way of apology. “It’s been a long 24 hours.” With upward of 200 gigs a year, the group’s devotion to its packed-out schedule comes naturally by now. In fact, the Band of Heathens was quite literally born on stage—the group... 

PANIC! AT THE DISCO No need for alarm—the synth-popsters have returned to the dance floor When Panic! At the Disco announced in July 2009 that it was reinserting the exclamation point it had dropped from its name the previous year, there were two ways to read the news. One: The Las Vegas band really was panicking. This would have been understandable, given that bassist Jon Walker and guitarist and primary lyricist Ryan Ross had just quit, leaving... 

JOHN OATES Writing a musical autobiography by rediscovering his roots When John Oates first started getting to know Darryl Hall more than four decades ago, the two young Philadelphia natives had a love of R&B in common. But Oates had another passion, one that got obscured during the duo’s subsequent rise to pop stardom: roots music. Although you might not guess it from Hall and Oates’ hits, he cut his teeth on classic folk and blues as a... 

DENGUE FEVER Giving new life to a genre once thought lost to tragedy When the brutal Khmer Rouge regime took control of Cambodia in 1975, it set about destroying all elements of Western culture. American-influenced music was banned, and singers like Sinn Sisamouth, Pan Ron and Ros Sereysothea were put to death along with more than a million of their countrymen. Cambodia’s distinctive brand of garage-style rock practically vanished. “So much of... 

JAMES BLUNT Pop troubadour goes looking for trouble—and discovers electricity James Blunt’s first two albums, Back to Bedlam and All the Lost Souls, catapulted him to stardom with hits like “You’re Beautiful” and “1973.” Those discs also cast him in the guise of sensitive pop crooner. With his new album, Some Kind of Trouble, the former British Army officer shakes free of his balladeer reputation and unleashes an upbeat collection of... 

ERIC JOHNSON To shred or not to shred? For this guitar hero, that is the question By Russell Hall Eric Johnson might be the world’s most reluctant guitar hero. In the 1980s, as his star was first rising, the Austin native earned a reputation as a white-hot shredder. But from the start, Johnson has emphasized that technique is just part of a larger musical landscape. “If you play a show where you shred for two hours, you’ll see a lot of the... 

PETER ASHER Coaxing the best work from pop’s most amazing voices By Jeff Tamarkin When he and singing partner Gordon Waller began enjoying hits in the 1960s as Peter and Gordon, London-born Peter Asher made the most of his opportunity. In the recording studio, Asher kept a close eye on the steps that producers Norman Newell and John Burgess took to make now-classics like “A World Without Love” and “Nobody I Know” sound the way they did.... 

GREGG ALLMAN After a brush with mortality, a rock legend gets back to the blues By Chris Neal It’s been a few months since doctors used a device to spread Gregg Allman’s rib cage as part of his treatment for cancer, but he still winces at the thought. “That hurt so damn bad,” he says. “Unh! All the rib bones that go back and connect to your spine, they disrupt all that. Boy, that hurts. They can cut and sew muscles and skin, and that’s... 

THE DECEMBERISTS Whether in the studio or a barn, getting back to basics isn’t always easy Following 2009’s The Hazards of Love—the Decemberists’ second straight high-concept fairy-tale song cycle in a row—frontman and principal songwriter Colin Meloy decided to ditch the theatrics and record a batch of no-frills Americana tunes. Taking cues from the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. and the Band’s self-titled sophomore effort—barebones... 

IRON & WINE Making a clean break with some help from a little kiss of R&B From the spare solo acoustic songs of Iron & Wine’s early-2000s work to the expansive arrangements of the new Kiss Each Other Clean, Sam Beam has consistently steered his songs in ever more complex directions. For his latest, Beam drew from the sounds he heard on the radio as a kid, expanding his rustic folk sensibility with R&B horns, Afro-pop polyrhythms... 

BRIGHT EYES Conor Oberst and company reinvent themselves once again Could Bright Eyes be doomed? Rumors of the indie-rock powerhouse’s demise spread like wildfire when frontman Conor Oberst said in an interview that he had been thinking about bringing the band to an end. But fans can relax—for now, at least. “I was probably feeling that way that day,” he says. “But we’re just focused on getting the new record out and doing the tour. That’s... 

DURAN DURAN Mining fresh sounds from the musical territory they first pioneered Duran Duran emerged from England 30 years ago with a sound that uniquely melded dance, rock and New Wave. In the time since, the group has sought to continually reinvent itself—but when producer Mark Ronson suggested to the members that they return to some of the sonic trademarks that defined classic albums like 1982’s Rio, they were willing to try. The result is... 

THE DEARS Welcoming new voices and familiar spirits into a house built on constant change Over the last three years, no fewer than 15 people have had the privilege of calling themselves Dears. Of the four musicians who joined founding frontman Murray Lightburn and longtime keyboardist Natalia Yanchak in recording the band’s fifth album, Degeneration Street, three are on their third stints as Dears. For their loyal service, they earned a privilege... 

OVER THE RHINE A veteran duo gets a boost from its fans and a helping hand from a new ally After two decades and more than a dozen albums, Over the Rhine decided to take matters into its own hands with its latest, The Long Surrender—and into the hands of its fans as well. The husband-and-wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist turned to listeners for financing, a notion sparked by their newfound teaming with veteran producer Joe Henry.... 

CORINNE BAILEY RAE How love songs from the past pointed her to the future You can trace the creative renaissance of Corinne Bailey Rae back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Grammy-nominated English singer and songwriter performed last summer at a White House concert honoring Paul McCartney, recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize. Her soulful take on McCartney’s “My Love” is now a highlight of her new digital-only release The Love... 

TIMES OF GRACE A nearly broken man repairs himself with the help of an old friend Spending two weeks hospitalized and immobile in 2007 left Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz plenty of time to think. Rather than dwell on his current circumstances (surgery for a severe back injury he suffered while on tour in England), Dutkiewicz started composing what became The Hymn of a Broken Man, the debut album by his side project with former Killswitch... 

ADELE For a British singer coming into her voice, a bad habit leads to a great discovery Smoking is bad for your health, but it can be good for your musical education—just ask Adele. During her U.S. tour following her breakthrough 2008 album, 19, the Grammy-winning British singer wound up spending a lot of time with her Nashville-based bus driver. “I used to have to smoke at the front of the bus, and I would stay up there with him for a 10-hour... 

BEN E. KING After 50 years of R&B, a legend takes   on the Great American Songbook Fifty years is a long time for a song to remain popular, but that’s how long it’s been since Ben E. King first sang his standard “Stand by Me.” Today the classic—written by King with the producers of his original recording, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller—is still ranked as the fourth most performed song of all time by the performing rights organization... 

SOCIAL DISTORTION An all-American band explores its rock ’n’ roll roots and its own checkered past If well-inked Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness doesn’t already have a “Lucky Seven” tattoo somewhere on his body, now’s the time to get one. On Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, the California band’s seventh album, Ness continues his streak of building fresh songs from familiar ingredients. By now, the singer and guitarist should have... 

GEORGE THOROGOOD Still rocking, still laughing and still b-b-b-b-bad to the bone Guitarist, singer and songwriter George Thorogood’s raucous brand of bluesy rock ’n’ roll has been steadily satisfying fans for more than three decades through hits like “Bad to the Bone,” “You Talk Too Much” and “Get a Haircut.” Thorogood and his band, the Destroyers, have just returned to the road in support of last year’s The Dirty Dozen, a mix... 

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO A notorious perfectionist tries her hand at keeping it simple She’s sung with MadonnA and John Mellencamp, played bass with the Rolling Stones and Alanis Morissette, but Meshell Ndegeocello’s primary focus has always been her own solo work. Since getting her start playing in go-go bands in Washington, D.C., in the late ’80s, the singer, bassist and bandleader has rolled through pop, soul, funk, jazz and R&B. She made... 

WARREN HAYNES Gov’t Mule’s fearless leader adapts and survives By Chris Neal If playing in a rock ’n’ roll band is a full-time job, Warren Haynes is successfully holding down three full-time jobs at once. He has fronted his own band, Gov’t Mule, for the last 16 years; he continues to bring his virtuoso lead guitar work to the Allman Brothers Band; and since 2004 he has performed alongside several former members of the Grateful Dead in... 

DON WAS For one of rock’s best-known producers, it all comes down to the song By Howard Massey Don Was insists that the magic touch he brings to his production projects—albums by some of rock’s biggest names, many of which have sold in the multimillions—comes through him, not from him. “It requires lightning to strike in order for something amazing to happen,” he says. “Hopefully, it eventually dawns on you that you’re not the source.” Wherever... 

SLASH He’s back with a few new friends—and one very special old one By Chris Neal As recording progressed on Guns N’ Roses’ first album in 1986, the up-and-coming hard-rock band’s lead guitarist was getting anxious. He was OK recording basic tracks with the three guitars he had on hand—a BC Rich and two Jacksons, for the record—but he didn’t feel confident using any of them to lay down his leads. He couldn’t afford to buy a new... 

PETER FRAMPTON A charismatic guitar superstar comes alive once again for an unforgettable moment in the mid- to late-1970s, no artist was more ubiquitous than singer and guitar virtuoso Peter Frampton. His 1976 breakthrough solo album, Frampton Comes Alive!, sold six million copies and elevated him to rock superstardom. It also raised expectations that no one could have met. “It was a blessing and a curse,” he acknowledges. Beginning with an... 

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS One of soul’s leading ladies brings the boys back home The master funkateers in the Dap-Kings have earned mainstream attention over the last several years for their work with big-name artists like Amy Winehouse and Jay-Z, but their one true leader is soul singer extraordinaire Sharon Jones. Their new album together as Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, I Learned the Hard Way, is the fourth of their almost decade-long... 

KAKI KING This “musician’s musician” intends to go where the music takes her Kaki King may be the world’s most reluctant guitar hero. While she has been compared in the press to such fingerstyle giants as Michael Hedges, Alex De Grassi and Leo Kottke, King modestly brushes aside her reputation as a six-string virtuoso. “Critics have been more interested in how I play,” she says, “whereas my fans are more interested in the music I make... 

JAKOB DYLAN Chasing new sounds with an old friend Women and Country, the second solo album from Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan, came together in the studio within days. But that doesn’t worry him. “I’ve done records that have taken eight months, and I don’t know what happened in all that time,” he says with a laugh. Perhaps credit for that efficiency should go to the crack team of professionals he assembled for the record, including... 

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Their latest is a “straight-up rock record” with a few unexpected twists Drive-By Truckers’ brand of rock ’n’ roll is characterized by a full-on sonic assault led by a three-person guitar attack in the front ranks. It’s no surprise, therefore, that a guitar-drenched song titled “Drag the Lake Charlie” set the tone for the band’s latest album. “That was the first song we tracked,” says Patterson Hood, singer,... 

TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS How a lack of inspiration helped at least one band avoid disaster If things had gone as planned, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists would have released a new record last year just weeks before their label at the time folded—which would likely have doomed the album to failure. Fortunately, things didn’t go as planned. “We actually started recording and wound up feeling like it just wasn’t coming together,” Leo says.... 

CYPRESS HILL The hip-hop pioneers are back in business and ready to rock Cypress Hill didn’t intend to wait so long between albums, but the pioneering Los Angeles rap group had some business to attend to between 2004’s Till Death Do Us Part and the new Rise Up. Among other things, the foursome toured abroad, worked on solo projects, changed management and switched record labels. “We revamped everything, and it took longer than we thought it... 

THE CHIEFTAINS Finding a vivid common ground between Ireland and Mexico The Irish are deservedly proud of their talent for telling tall tales. But even Chieftains founder Paddy Moloney had a hard time believing the story behind his group’s ambitious new album, San Patricio, based on the story of a battalion of Irish expatriates who fought against Americans in the Mexican War. “There’s a Catholic Irishman, John Riley, who came from Galway to... 

JAMIE CULLUM In pursuit of diversity, he finds an explosion of creativity You can’t miss the symbolism in the cover of Jamie Cullum’s new CD, The Pursuit, even if you try. In the foreground stands the artist, nattily attired, his facial expression somewhere between anger and mischief. Behind him, occupying roughly two-thirds of the cover’s real estate, is a grand piano in mid-explosion, wood splinters and ivory keys flying through the air with... 

MOSE ALLISON A jazz and blues veteran changes things up—just a little It makes perfect sense that The Way of the World, Mose Allison’s first new studio album in 12 years, is released on the Anti- label. After all, he has always been an anti- kind of artist: anti-pigeonholing, anti-convention, anti-mainstream. His idiosyncratic songcraft and performance style may have kept Allison from reaching the level of fame enjoyed by many of his peers over... 

ANGELS & AIRWAVES Giving away music for free is only part of the plan While the record industry busied itself suing consumers for illegally downloading music, Angels & Airwaves came up with an alternate idea: Give away the songs for free. No strings attached. That’s exactly what the band did with its third album, Love, which the group first made available for download in February. “We felt in our heart that’s the way music is going,”... 

DOOBIE BROTHERS After four decades of musical adventures, they’re still grooving “I was surprised to hear people come up and say, ‘Man, that new album is classic Doobie Brothers!’” says Tom Johnston with a chuckle. “I thought that was awesome. That’s pretty hip.” World Gone Crazy, the Doobies’ first new album in a decade, is indeed immediately identifiable as the work of the group that first rose to prominence in the 1970s with... 

AMOS LEE Getting out of his comfort zone with an unexpected collaboration For his fourth and latest album, Mission Bell, Amos Lee teamed with members of the critically acclaimed Americana band Calexico. Recorded at the group’s Wavelab Studio in Tucson, Ariz., the album frames Lee’s storytelling skills in a blend of roots music and old-school R&B. The Philadelphia native and onetime elementary school teacher spoke with us about the new music,... 

STEVE LUKATHER Toto’s guitar giant steps out on his own with an emotional new album By Russell Hall Steve Lukather is feeling a little philosophical these days. The reason, he admits, is because he’s just come through an especially tumultuous year. “I’ve reassessed things,” says the veteran guitarist. “I stopped drinking and stopped smoking, and started going to therapy. It’s like the warranty is up at age 50. I have lots of friends... 

DANIEL LANOIS A master producer vows to raise the standard yet again By Chris Neal Daniel Lanois was riding his motorcycle down a Los Angeles street in June when he was cut off by a car coming from the opposite direction. He veered to miss it, swerved onto the sidewalk—and woke up a few minutes later on his back in a parking lot, suffering from six broken bones, a cracked pelvis and internal bleeding. Lanois spent the next three weeks in intensive care,... 

KEVIN EUBANKS Leaving the Tonight Show behind him, a jazz guitar master looks ahead By Jeff Tamarkin When a 30-foot hole opened up in the basement of Kevin Eubanks’ home in the notoriously unstable terrain of Hollywood, he wasn’t sure what to do at first. “It was a massive problem with my house,” he says. “I didn’t know whether I was going to sell it or rebuild the foundation.” A contractor suggested it might be a nice place to build... 

ANNIE LENNOX Revisiting the music of her childhood while looking ahead If Annie Lennox had done nothing in her life except sing “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” the 1983 No. 1 smash that helped define that decade, her place in pop history would be secure. But there’s been no stopping her for nearly three decades. With the Eurythmics—the duo she formed in 1980 with Dave Stewart—Lennox scored hit after hit, from “Here Comes the Rain Again”... 

BRYAN ADAMS Why strip his hits down to their bare bones? He does it for you A few songs into Bare Bones, the live album he released late last year, Bryan Adams pauses to make sure the audience knows what it’s in for. “I don’t know if you got the memo about tonight’s show,” he says, “but this is the band.” By “the band,” the veteran Canadian rocker meant the minimalist lineup of himself and pianist Gary Breit, his lone accompanist.... 

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE Rediscovering themselves as creative, dangerous and daring After spending most of 2009 working with producer Brendan O’Brien on a follow-up to their hit 2006 album The Black Parade, the members of My Chemical Romance were hit with an unsettling realization: They didn’t like their new material all that much. They felt bored and stifled. So when a quick session to write a couple of additional songs veered in a more inspiring... 

REGINA SPEKTOR A self-proclaimed “nerd” lets fans into the live music-making process In 2009, Regina Spektor’s director friend Adria Petty convinced her that the time was right to preserve one of her concerts on film. Petty (daughter of Tom Petty) traveled across England on tour with Spektor, filming behind-the-scenes footage, then shot her show at the Hammersmith Apollo. That performance is documented on the new DVD and CD set Live in London,... 

CAKE Two decades after forming as a “convulsive gesture,” an alt-rock stalwart doesn’t look back Cake frontman John McCrea isn’t given to retrospective analysis of how he, his music or his band has evolved over the past 20 years. “I feel strongly that the song should be its own universe,” he says. McCrea sees no need to find the threads that tie together either the band’s career or its new album, Showroom of Compassion. Fair enough.... 

CASSANDRA WILSON She listens and lets the songs speak to her—then she makes them her own Cassandra Wilson has a sixth sense when it comes to finding songs. “They will tell me if they are for me,” she says. “A song tells me that it belongs to me. It has to resonate and have some connection to who I am, who I’ve grown up to be, who I was and will be and who I want to be.” The veteran singer’s latest album, Silver Pony, includes several... 

INXS Reaching out to singers from around the world to celebrate a durable rock legacy Veteran Australian pop-rock band INXS set about making an instrumental album of new material. But the longer they worked on that project, the more they found themselves tinkering with older INXS tunes, spinning them into some unexpected new directions. “We weren’t really serious at first,” says keyboardist and principal songwriter Andrew Farriss, “and then... 

TAPES ’N TAPES An indie-rock upstart finds space in its songs during a full-circle journey to independence In some ways, the story of Tapes ’n Tapes reads like a case study of how the music business has changed over the last half-decade. The Minneapolis quartet released its debut, The Loon, in 2005, independently (in the U.S., at least) on its own Ibid label. The buzz earned them a spot on the roster of XL Recordings and a bigger budget for...