Cass McCombs is a working artist whose material has as many faces as there are "fat cities" that he's called home. Think of a parade of troubadours. Some of them are young, fresh-faced and mischievous, weaving fairy tales of innocence and idealism. Others are ragged, weathered poets, whose hearts in contrast are comforted more by religious ballads and bittersweet songs of betrayal. Nevertheless they forge ahead together, singing as one, united, all part of the same parade. Since getting...

THE LADY & THE LEGEND She was an original "rocker" in the sixties.. A true superstar in the seventies ... Her talent topped the country charts in the eighties ... She became a living legend in the nineties. It seems like Brenda Lee has been around forever... It certainly does seem that way. . .! It could be because her hit records have become timeless standards... It could also be simply because she has been performing since she was 7 years old. When she was 12, she was on the ...

Full circle: a theme that eagerly resonates with each member of multiplatinum survivors, Our Lady Peace. As the band approaches the release of their seventh studio album, a feeling of renewal and excitement washes over Toronto's favorite sons in a manner not felt since their earliest days. Self-produced in lead singer Raine Maida's Los Angeles home studio, the 10-track Burn Burn (in stores July 21), marks the longest period between studio albums for Our Lady Peace. It also signifies a soni...

Andy Hull knows the fears that accumulate with miles, having spent the last two years on the road as the front-man for Manchester Orchestra. It is with those fears that he has channeled the second installment of Right Away, Great Captain! , his solo side project in which Hull continues to tell the ongoing saga of a 17th century sailor who catches his wife in an act of betrayal with his very own brother. Entitled The Eventually Home (Favorite Gentlemen Recordings) , which is part two of a thre...

"There's a tendency in our time, subscribing to the idea that anything 'authentic' or 'honest' is automatically good," says Sondre Lerche. "I find that depressing. You have to actually create something. There has to be a process. I try to avoid just singing my diary over a couple of chords." Fighting words? Not quite. Lerche, an award-winning singer-songwriter, newly minted Hollywood go-to man and frequent sighting on critics' year-end "best albums" lists, simply believes there's a lot of ...