Lyric Of The Day: “Tweeter And The Monkey Man”

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam And found out the hard way nobody gives [...]

Street Smarts: Bringing It to Nashville

The last issue of American Songwriter contained a very nice letter from Nicole Nikki Sullivan. Part of the letter dealt with the agonizing problem many songwriters face about the need to go where the music business is. I began writing about the business of songwriting nearly 35 years ago and, even then, I was constantly [...]

Great Quotations: Iggy Pop

“Bob was a good guy. I haven’t heard it myself, but I heard on a ‘dog’-themed radio show he actually played ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog.’ [Imitating Dylan] ‘Here’s one of the best dog songs ever written…’ That made my life.” – Iggy Pop

Spoon: The Power of Transference

In 1995, Spoon were often dubbed “the next Pixies.” The tag never quite fit, but the two did share a love for writing glorious pop songs and then shrouding them with walls of noise and mystery. Over 15 years, the Austin, Texas band have survived lineup shuffles and early record label neglect, finding their signature [...]

3-D Phish: Coming To A Theater Near You

Neil Young Brings Bert Jansch On The Road

Grunge godfather Neil Young is often thought of as a guitar hero. Now, he’s teaming with another six-string legend, Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, for a tour of the United States. Full dates will be revealed soon, but a handful have surfaced. Jansch and Young, who will be performing solo acoustic, will tour theaters in [...]

Beck And Friends Kick Out The Jams

Lyric Of The Day: “Bogusflow”

monkey see, monkey die laminate your face and paste it up into the sky ’cause it’s squalid and it’s solid and it’s completely rancid and beautiful like a forcefield of multiplying meat cut a hole in the floor to see just how close to hell we’re standin’ time shoots forward in your skull scattered to [...]

Daniel Johnston Gets Orchestrated On Beam Me Up!

New York Songwriters Circle Puts The Spotlight On Boston

On April 8, the New York Songwriters Circle will host its monthly showcase in Boston, in order to showcase the city’s most promising writers. The show will eminate from Berklee College Of Music’s Cafe 939, and will be headlined by  Reed Waddle (www.myspace.com/reedwaddle), the 2009 winner of the New York Songwriters Circle’s annual songwriting contest. [...]