As the opening act for country superstars like Keith Urban and Blake Shelton, Illinois native Brett Eldredge has had a master-class in performing. Now, the happy-go-lucky singer-songwriter, who released his fourth studio album, Brett Eldredge, in late 2017, will have the opportunity to show what he's learned on ... More

Jesse McCartney has long had his feet firmly planted in pop music; from his roots as a boy-bander (Dream Street, anyone?) to his 2004 breakout solo hit “Beautiful Soul,” McCartney has specialized in serving sugarcoated vocals and lyrics. While he continued to attract a loyal gaggle of tween ... More

In the past few years, Hayley Kiyoko has gone from a Disney Channel star to the so-called “lesbian Jesus”—a cheeky moniker bestowed on her by fans thanks to her über-relatable lyrics about relationship frustrations. As one of pop music’s only openly gay female artists, Kiyoko says that just because ... More

Having yielded a dozen albums and three Grammys, Ben Harper’s voice—confident and velvety—personifies a life of musical discovery. When we catch up on the phone, the singer-songwriter tells me about the early years of his career spent chasing down blues legends like Louis Myers of The Aces, Brownie McGhee ... More

With most rock stars, you're lucky if they stop to take a selfie. But Gene Simmons, Amazonian frontman of Kiss, is not most rock stars. On his ongoing “Gene Simmons: The Vault Experience” tour in support of the Kiss Vault, a massive box set chronicling his five-decade career, Simmons offers ... More

As a solo artist, Finneas O’Connell (stylized as FINNEAS) delivers a delicate lyricism and minimalistic production style. Similar to his music, the young artist's background is humble and bohemian; he was born into a creative family who took pride in fostering an artistic household rather than a lavish lifestyle. “I ... More

With her heart in jazz music and her head in formal composition, Kim Anderson has a range of sonic influences. The composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist grew up in New York City before attending the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied music composition. But her education didn't end there; ... More

On a recent call ahead of her new album’s release, singer Lissie is in Illinois for her niece’s seventh birthday party. After having cake and hanging out with family members, she explains, she’ll jet off to London to launch the album before embarking on a European tour. When I remark ... More

For fans of BRÅVES, the pop-rock band's the high-concept video for the song “Me The Thief,” in which a trio of women (two of them apparently identical twins) exchange in slow-motion kisses, likely came as little shock. After all, BRÅVES’s Johnny What has been known for his boundary-pushing More