CROWDED HOUSE Neil Finn and company return with some very intriguing new music Upon its reunion in 2006 after a decade of inaction, Crowded House and its fans alike took some time getting used to a reality without original drummer Paul Hester, who passed away the previous year. But the new Intriguer album, recorded in the group’s native New Zealand and producer Jim Scott’s home base of Los Angeles, is very much the work of an act whose now-stable... 

TOM JONES An unrepentant sex bomb showing his spiritual side? It’s not unusual Tom Jones’ record label asked if he’d consider recording an album of gospel hymns—something nice and pretty that the company could sell around Christmastime. What he gave them was something very different. Praise & Blame is indeed an album built on spiritual themes, but its gutbucket blues-based rock sound is hardly holiday easy-listening fare. Jones and producer... 

SOLOMON BURKE Still rocking, still rolling, still ruling Solomon Burke was dubbed “The King of Rock and Soul” in the 1960s—and five decades later he is still ruling from the trademark throne he occupies on stage. Burke didn’t find crossover pop success as a young man, but in the 2000s a string of genre-busting albums earned him new respect and new listeners. Now 70, the father of 21 and grandfather of 90 struggles with health problems but... 

TIFT MERRITT After years of traveling, a singer-songwriter finds home Things could have turned out very differently for Tift Merritt. Five years, two albums, and one record company ago, she sat in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, hanging on five words: “And the Grammy goes to …” Her 2004 sophomore effort, Tambourine, had been nominated for Best Country Album. For a second, the Texas-born, North Carolina-reared singer-songwriter stood on... 

ROBERT RANDOLPH Taking the pedal steel guitar on a journey into the past By Chris Neal As a kid, Robert Randolph’s life revolved around the House of God church in Orange, N.J. And as a member of a strongly religious family, he was forbidden to listen to secular music. “The thing is, I did listen to secular music,” he says with a chuckle. “I grew up in church, but we lived in the inner city. We’d play our church music, but we would sneak... 

TIMOTHY B. SCHMIT Still soaring after all these years, with the Eagles and without Timothy B. Schmit is the first to admit he’s a lucky man. In 1977, after several years with the country-rock band Poco, the singer-bassist was invited to join superstar group the Eagles. Soon after he joined the band, founders Glenn Frey and Don Henley took one of Schmit’s work-in-progress tunes—“I Can’t Tell You Why”—and helped their new recruit turn... 

3OH!3 A duo that parties hard and works harder Good times play a big role in 3OH!3’s songs, but beneath the electro-rap duo’s hard-partying exterior lies a well-honed work ethic that has already helped the crew from Boulder, Colo. (area code 303), land three Top 10 hits. Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte—who met while attending the University of Colorado—locked themselves away in the Rockies to write songs for Streets of Gold, their third... 

OZZY OSBOURNE Rock ’n’ roll’s “Prince of Darkness” counts his blessings When Ozzy Osbourne got sober about seven years ago, he had to rethink the way he did a lot of things—including recording. In the old days he would start work on an album by going into rehearsals with his band, and one thing would lead to another. “I was ready to party,” he says. “Take away the band and the alcohol and the drugs, and you’ve just got me thinking,... 

JEWEL Learning to let both sides of her personality shine through “I’m a Gemini,” says Jewel, by way of explaining the title and theme of her latest album, and second country effort, Sweet and Wild. “I’m introspective and write poetry, but I also like to smoke a good cigar every once in a while and shoot guns.” Her multifaceted personality might also explain why the singer-songwriter’s 15-year career has spanned genres from folk... 

CHELY WRIGHT A secret weighed her down, and now the truth is lifting her up There are many words to describe the experience of hiding one’s sexuality in the notoriously conservative world of mainstream country music, and Chely Wright knows them all. “Crazy-making,” she says. “Painful. Lonely. Isolating. Awful. It about killed me.” Wright rose to fame in the 1990s with radio hits like “Single White Female,” but was compelled to keep... 

MELISSA ETHERIDGE A progressive survivor finds inspiration returning to her rock roots By Melinda Newman Melissa Etheridge attracts more than her fair share of what she calls “jumpers”: those overzealous fans whose exuberance leads them to leap uninvited onto her concert stage. “My people know how to watch the front row and go, ‘Oh, there’s a jumper,’” she says with a chuckle. “They can tell.” Etheridge has inspired just that kind... 

NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY Giants of rap and reggae find common roots in the musical family tree Scarcely a hip-hop or reggae album is released these days without a roster of guest performances by stars or hot up-and-comers, but full-length album collaborations are rare. That fact only made the prospect of teaming up for Distant Relatives, their new genre-blending album, more of an enticement for reggae singer Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and veteran rapper... 

TAYLOR HAWKINS A Foo Fighter and Coattail Rider conjures the sound of his childhood When he’s not pounding the skins behind longtime musical partner Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters, singer and drummer Taylor Hawkins fronts his own group, the Coattail Riders. The trio has just released its second album, Red Light Fever, a collection of lush power-pop featuring contributions from Grohl, Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, and the Cars’ Elliot Easton.... 

DEFTONES A brutal accident threatened their future, but brought them closer On Nov. 4, 2008, Deftones bass player Chi Cheng was involved in a car crash that left him comatose. The group shelved its just-completed album, Eros, and pondered its future. “We took some time off to figure out what we were going to do,” says drummer Abe Cunningham. “What should we do? Should we end it? Everybody had all these different thoughts. After a couple of... 

PAT METHENY The jazz guitarist’s new instrument might look funny—but it’s no joke No other jazz guitarist of the past four decades has done as much as Pat Metheny to broaden the definition of the instrument and expand its possibilities. Metheny reached out to listeners outside of the jazz mainstream with early releases like 1975’s Bright Size Life and 1980’s As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, and he’s maintained a huge audience... 

LITTLE STEVEN VAN ZANDT Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand man is on a rockin’ crusade Little Steven Van Zandt has diagnosed America’s ills—and he has the prescription. “We have no great art to replenish ourselves,” he says. “Art is not a luxury. We’re the only country in the world that thinks art is a luxury! There’s no spiritual nourishment going on right now. That comes from great art.” Van Zandt is doing his part to get great art...