M Music & Musicians‘ September/October issue is hot off the presses, featuring my Q&A with Sara Bareilles. I enjoyed her total candor about how nerve-wracking the process of following up a successful record can be, though I think the sophomore Kaleidoscope Heart more than lives up to her debut. And her live show last Friday at [...]

Jewel was one of the first celebrities I ever interviewed, way back in 2006 when I had just started freelancing. It was fun to talk to her again for this Q&A in the June issue of M. She’s incredibly articulate about her music-making process — which I appreciated then and now!

While the record industry struggles to make ends meet, the live music business continues to boom. I sifted through a wide variety of summer concert options — from fairs to festivals, folk to funk — to compile this guide for M Music & Musicians. Also included: a Q&A with Bonnaroo founder Ashley Capps.

I really dig the harmony-heavy alt-country that Jakob Dylan is doing these days, both on his outstanding new album, Women & Country, and in a sweet appearance dueting with Emily Robison on Dixie Chicks side project Court Yard Hounds (which I’ve reviewed for the next issue of M). And he couldn’t have been friendlier during [...]