Lucinda Williams: Last News

Americana is undeniably one of music’s fastest-growing scenes. Whether you’re a recent recruit or consider yourself an aficionado, there are always new learnings as Americana evolves; with what was once a niche pocket of artistry constantly citing new inspiration and adopting more mainstream artists keen to explore its roots.

Rolling Stone, his family said: “It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley. The ‘Godfather of freak folk’ was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Let’s go to WeHo in the meantime” doesn’t have the same ring to it, but legendary singer-songwriter and longtime Tennessean resident John Hiatt returned to his old haunts in L.A. to be serenaded by a parade of boldface admirers Saturday at a benefit show at the Troubadour.

Elvis Costello and Sharon Van Etten have all come together to cover Bob Dylan tracks at a recent anniversary show. Find out footage of the gig below.The event took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma last Friday (January 24) at the Cain’s Ballroom venue, in celebration of ‘Blood On The Tracks’ turning 50.Shared back in January 1975, the LP marked the 15th studio album from iconic singer, songwriter and guitarist Bob Dylan and remains one of his most famous releases.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides services and financial assistance for career musicians and professionals, will pay tribute to legendary singer Joan Baez with a benefit concert at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on Feb. 8.

Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman have released a cover of Lucinda Williams‘ ‘Abandoned’ – listen to it below.The singer-songwriters teamed up to perform the song by the country veteran, who will co-headline a show with Waxahatchee – real name Katie Crutchfield – in March 2025.Crutchfield recorded the song as part of ‘Apple Music Nashville Sessions’, a three-track EP issued exclusively on Apple Music on Wednesday (December 4).The EP also features a rendition of ‘Right Back To It’, her Lenderman collaboration featured on this year’s ‘Tigers Blood’, which also saw the ‘Manning Fireworks’ musician play in her backing band through its twelve tracks. Listen to the ‘Apple Music Nashville Sessions’ EP on the streaming platform here.Crutchfield has also announced a one-day concert at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch on March 14, 2025 – it will see a personally-curated line-up of acts that include co-headliner Williams, Futurebirds, Bill Callahan, Kam Franklin, and Brennan Wedl, with more acts to be announced down the line.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music If there’s a patron saint of New York City’s rock scene, it’s Jesse Malin. The frontman for the bands Heart Attack (a punk outfit he formed when he was 14) and D Generation, as well as a prolific solo artist, he’s been a vibrant presence on the city’s venues, rocker bars — some of which he’s owned — and extended social scene for nearly four decades, and seems to know everybody.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Here’s who wasn’t taking a load off: the house band at Thursday’s tribute to Robbie Robertson at the L.A. area’s Kia Forum.

Martin Scorsese is set to direct the filming of a tribute concert in honour of The Band‘s Robbie Robertson.Robertson died in August 2023, aged 80, and previously Scorsese documented The Band’s farewell show in The Last Waltz, which was released in 1978 and is widely considered an all-time classic music documentary.He scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf Of Wall Street The Irishman and Killers Of The Flower Moon.Now, it has been confirmed that Scorsese will direct the ‘Life Is A Carnival: A Musical Celebration Of Robbie Robertson’ tribute concert, which is due to take place at LA’s Kia Forum tonight (October 17), for a future release.Scorsese will also serve as one of the executive producers of the concert, along with Jared Levine, Keith Wortman and Scooter Weintraub, reports Variety.Among the artists expected to perform at the show are Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, U2 producer Daniel Lanois, Mavis Staples, Margo Price, My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James, Trey Anastasio, Eric Church, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Taj Mahal, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Allison Russell, Bobby Weir and Lucinda Williams.The house band will also feature Ryan Bingham, Jamey Johnson, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Don Was, John Medeski, Dave Malone, Terence Higgins, Cyril Neville, Mark Mullins and the Levee Horns.You can find further information on the concert here and tickets can be purchased here.The format in which a film of the Robertson concert might come out has not yet been revealed.Meanwhile, Scorsese is also producing a new Beatles documentary coming to Disney+ next month.The film, titled Beatles ’64, is set to arrive exclusively on the streaming platform on

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Martin Scorsese will direct the filming of a Robbie Robertson tribute concert in L.A. Thursday night for a future release, it was announced Tuesday morning. The filming of “Life Is A Carnival: A Musical Celebration Of Robbie Robertson,” a Blackbird Presents production, may provide a kind of bookend to the the first movie Scorsese did with Robertson, when he directed the concert film “The Last Waltz,” which commemorated the last concert the singer-songwriter-guitarist did with his group the Band in 1976.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Bruce Springsteen has covered veteran New York rocker Jesse Malin’s song “She Don’t Love Me Now,” the latest single from the benefit album “Silver Patron Saints. The Songs of Jesse Malin.” The triple-vinyl album, which is out Sept. 20, on Glassnote Records, will benefit Malin’s Sweet Relief artist fund.

Barack Obama has unveiled his annual summer playlist, this time featuring Charli XCX and more – check out the full playlist below.Last night (August 12), Obama took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his summer playlist, which consist of over 40 songs from artists such as Billie Eilish, Shaboozey, Beyoncé, Tyla, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and much more.Obama wrote: “With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately – and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix. I hope you find something new to listen to!”You can stream the playlist below.This year’s summer playlist comes after the former President confirmed last year that his famous playlists are actually curated by him, refuting claims that the compilations are pieced together by someone else.Speaking to comedian Hasan Minhaj, Obama said when asked if he listens and chooses himself: “I do! Listen.

‘Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson’ concert, in honor of the recently deceased Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.Icons set to take part inthe star-studded, Martin Scorsese-produced affair include ’60s and ’70s icons Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Bobby Weir, Mavis Staples and Taj Mahal.Noah Kahan, Elvis Costello, Eric Church, Nathaniel Rateliff and Margo Price will also pay their respects to The Band founder.We’re still just getting started.Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, My Morning Jacket singer Jim James, Lucinda Williams, Warren Haynes and Bruce Hornsby are slated to perform as well.In total, 23 artists have been confirmed for ‘Life Is a Carnival’ with more on the way.As for what to expect, “the concert promises to include work from Robertson’s solo career, which began in 1987, as well as selections from the Band’s recordings, which ran from 1968’s “Music From Big Pink” through 1977’s ‘Islands,'” according to Variety.Fans can purchase tickets for ‘Life Is a Carnival’ on sites like Vivid Seats; the official on-sale is Friday, Aug.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Some of the most illustrious names in rock — and other genres — will pay tribute to Robbie Robertson in a celebratory concert at the L.A.-area Kia Forum on Oct. 17, with the musician’s longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese among the executive producers. The lineup for “Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson” includes some contemporaries who came up with the Band‘s late songwriter-guitarist in the ’60s.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Lawrence Rothman has been knocking around the music scene for two decades, but not until this year would anyone have likely pegged them as primarily an Americana artist. The L.A.-based performer didn’t necessarily come off as someone begging to set up a secondary base in Nashville — not with a list of collaborators or production clients that included Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Girl in Red, Empress Of, Alison Mosshart and members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Guns N’ Roses.

Keith Richards has covered Lou Reed‘s ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ ahead of the release of a new tribute album in honour of the NYC icon.Richards’ cover of ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ comes a day before Reed’s birthday on March 2. The track is one of Reed’s earliest works which appeared on The Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut, ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’.Speaking about the former Velvet Underground frontman in a statement (per Consequence of Sound), Richards said: “To me, Lou stood out.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Even amid the literally thousands of Lou Reed cover versions that have emerged over the past half century — by everyone from David Bowie to Patti Smith to R.E.M. to Beck , it’s hard to imagine a more fitting musical tribute than Keith Richards covering “Waiting for the Man,” the 1967 song that heralded not just the Velvet Underground’s arrival, but a whole new realm of ultra-real, novelistic songwriting in rock music.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Of the many premature deaths from the wave of great ‘60s musicians, Gram Parsons is one of the most tragic. A deeply gifted singer and songwriter, he’s universally (if not entirely accurately) regarded as the patron saint of Americana music.

Ethan Shanfeld When it came time to write Slow Pulp’s sophomore album, in early 2021, Emily Massey decided to isolate herself in a cabin up in northern Wisconsin. “The first day, I full-body cried for hours,” the singer tells Variety. “I realized when I got there that I’d never been that alone.

Lil Uzi Vert's conflicted relationship with fame has only grown with the rapper's success and influence. In 2019, as fan demand for their long-delayed album Eternal Atake was at its peak, Lil Uzi announced their retirement and claimed that they had deleted all of their music. "I wanna be normal...

It’s a sad day for Hugh Bonneville as he has confirmed the end of his marriage.

Actor Hugh Bonneville, star of Downton Abbey, has split from his wife after 25 years.