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“Here, hold him,” says Lucius’ Jess Wolfe, plopping her 6-month-old son Leo in my lap. I have never held a child during an interview before, but it feels appropriate: There are babies everywhere at the East Nashville home where the band is stationed for the day, also including Mia, the young daughter of Wolfe’s bandmate Holly Laessig. Mia is sleeping downstairs, and Leo is munching on the cuff of my sweater. When my son calls twice during our chat, Wolfe and Laessig encourage me to pick up, and I do.

Lucius have joined forces with The War on Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel for their new song “Old Tape.” They’ve also shared a video for the track, which features comedian, actor, and musician Fred Armisen.

The song arrives as a standalone single ahead of Lucius’ tour opening for The War on Drugs and The National, which kicks off on the East Coast in early September (get tickets here). Built on a quick tempo and some signature yearning guitar from Granduciel, “Old Tape” is a towering, anthemic offering from Lucius. “And once in a while/ you turn up the dial/ to an old tape playing in my head,” Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig sing in unison, before belting “I’ll tune it out and live instead.”

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“We wrote ‘Old Tape’ while working on new music at Danny’s studio in LA; we were discussing the loops we get stuck in,...

Joni Mitchell has shared her new live album At Newport, commemorating her surprise appearance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival.

Co-produced by Mitchell along with fellow Newport performer Brandi Carlile, the album features 12 live recordings. Throughout the performance, Mitchell and Carlile were accompanied by artists including Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. The setlist includes Mitchell classics like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “A Case Of You,” and “Both Sides Now.”

Not only was Mitchell’s Newport set her first live performance in over 20 years, but it also marked a rare public appearance since she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015. Mitchell’s longtime friend, filmmaker Cameron Crowe, wrote about the magic of her return in the live album’s liner notes. (You can get the physical version of the album here.)

“Mitchell emerged from the side of the stage,...

If Joni Mitchell’s Joni Jam at the Gorge Amphitheater Saturday were to become a scene in the upcoming Cameron Crowe biopic on the iconic troubadour, Mitchell just taking the stage to a standing ovation eight years after she nearly died of an aneurysm would have been a glorious Hollywood ending.

Mitchell simply being back on stage was already the triumph of the human spirit we all desperately craved as fans of her music and tougher than nails image. At one point during the show, Brandi Carlile, who acted as host/interviewer for the night,...

Joni Mitchell has officially announced At Newport, a live album immortalizing her surprise appearance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. The project arrives on streaming services, CD, and 2xLP on July 28th.

Mitchell’s first live performance in 20 years came during Brandi Carlile’s set at the festival, so it’s only fair that Carlile would co-produce the live album with Mitchell herself. Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes also performed with the artists during the set, which featured Mitchell classics like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “A Case Of You,” and “Both Sides Now.” Mitchell even performed a solo instrumental version of “Just Like This Train” on guitar.

At Newport also features liner notes from Cameron Crowe, who contextualizes Mitchell’s set — which followed a brain aneurysm she suffered in 2015 — with the earnest prose we’ve come...

We were quick to report Jenny Lewis’ yacht-rock era back in 2021 when she released the lovely pedal steel-filled ditty “Puppy and a Truck.” But Lewis has moved on — to Nashville, to be exact.

The singer-songwriter dropped the new single “Psychos,” the opener to her upcoming album Joy’All, out June 9 via her new label Blue Note/Capitol Records. “There are no hard feelings,” she casually announces in the blissful chorus. “How I can help you?/It’s time I get away.”

Joy’All marks Lewis’ fifth solo album, following the excellent On the Line,...

Sheryl Crow performs and gets her flowers in the upcoming second half of the 48th season of Austin City Limits, which returns Jan. 7, 2023. The special episode of the long-running live-music program will feature Crow’s induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame and is highlighted by a duet on “Every Day Is a Winding Road” with recent Saturday Night Live musical guest Brandi Carlile.

Backed by the Acl All-Stars band including Lloyd Maines and David Grissom, plus Crow’s guitar player Peter Stroud, the performance begins with Carlile...

In April 2015, documentarian brothers Turner and Bill Ross went to Dayton, Ohio, with David Byrne to witness the Color Guard World Championships, an annual competition that finds costumed teams blending interpretive dance with an acrobatic use of flags, sabers and rifles. Byrne had been fascinated by the event – equal parts balletic art and rigorous sport – ever since a team asked to license one of his instrumentals and sent him a DVD of their performance. But for the Rosses, who grew up 30 minutes from Dayton, the event might as well have been on Jupiter.

David Byrne is all smiles as Bill Ross lV and Turner Ross' Contemporary Color captures two awards Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Contemporary Color, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne's color guard extravaganza, has scored twice at this year's Tribeca Film Festival awards.

Us Narrative Competition winners

Dean, directed by Demteri Martin; Actor Dominic Rains in Ian Olds' The Fixer; Actress Mackenzie Davis in Sophia Takal's Always Shine; Cinematography - Michael Ragen for Justin Tipping's Kicks; Screenplay - Ingrid Jungermann for her Women Who Kill. The Nora Ephron Prize - Rachel Tunnard for Adult Life Skills; Albert Maysles Award - David Feige for Untouchable. Best New Narrative Director - Priscilla Anany for Children Of The Mountain.

David Byrne conceives Contemporary Color by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Of Horses And Men director Benedikt Erlingsson's latest The Show Of Shows (Storyville); Ferne Pearlstein's The Last Laugh with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Robert Clary, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Jeffrey Ross, Alan Zweibel, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Larry Charles, David Steinberg, Susie Essman, Lisa Lampanelli and Hanala Sagal (co-writer of Liza Johnson's Elvis & Nixon); Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Maryann Plunkett, Kathryn Hahn and Marin Ireland in Jason Bateman's The Family Fang, screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire; Contemporary Color, with camerawork by Jessica Oreck, Sean Price Williams, Michael Palmieri, Robert Greene, Wyatt Gerfield, Amanda Rose Wilder, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne...