Movie Web : Kris Kristofferson's Best Performances, Ranked (BY FATIMA ALI IDRISOGLU) →

Kris Kristofferson is a retired singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the most legendary people in Hollywood, who has had success in both singing and acting in his stellar career, up to the day he retired. He has also received a lot of huge songwriting hits for writing songs like “Help Me Make It Through The Night”, “Me and Bobby McGee”, and “For The Good Times.” His rugged looks, gravelly voice, and love for country music made him an instant fan favorite and hotshot crush of his generation.

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The Urban Music Scene : Blind Boys of Alabama & Black Violin Release New Single “The Message” | LISTEN! →

Blind Boys of Alabama have teamed with Black Violin for “The Message”, an electrifying call-to-action rallying listeners to stay positive and rise above fear mongering, divisiveness and injustice. Over a spirited drum beat, anthemic string arrangement from Black Violin and blistering electric guitar (performed by Marcus King), “The Message” finds the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award recipients dipping into contemporary instrumentation while reminding us of a classic and timeless truth: “we’re all in this together.”

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AM NY : Billy Porter, Angélique Kidjo join NYC Global Citizen Festival lineup (by Emily Davenport) →

Presented by Citi and Cisco, the Global Citizen Festival is calling on world leaders, major corporations and philanthropic foundations to take to the Global Citizen Festival stages and announce new commitments to End Extreme Poverty NOW. “The future of the continent of Africa, and indeed the planet, depends on the empowerment of women and girls,” said Kidjo. “I am proud to collaborate with Global Citizen to send a clear message to governments and leaders: it’s time to listen to the next generation. The young women and girls of Africa are not silent – they deserve to be heard. It’s time for the world to take notice.”

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Bristol Herald Post : Rosanne Cash to make first appearance in Bristol Sunday - 'It's time' (by TOM NETHERLAND) →

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NPR : Fresh Air, Rosanne Cash →

We continue our weeklong series of great music interviews from the archive with singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash. When she was 18, her father, Johnny Cash, gave her a list of 100 essential country songs he thought she should know. After recording many great songs of her own, in 2009 she made an album in which she performed a dozen songs from that list. She spoke with Terry Gross about that record.

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American Songwrighter : Review: Kris Kristofferson—A Songwriter for All Seasons (by Lee Zimmermann) →

At age 86, Kristofferson is getting up in years now and he’s no longer the young insurgent he once was. Yet his resolve remains intact—in the music he’s shared and the spirit that he brings to bear here. One can almost feel the electricity that was evident in the room that night, and it’s to the credit of New West Records that they chose to preserve it for posterity. Clearly, this was—and remains—a particularly inspiring encounter.

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Houston Press : BOOKS Reelin' in the Years (and Peelin' Back the Layers) of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen (by Bob Ruggiero) →

The Steely Dan co-founder has long been wary of the press and gave relatively few interviews during the band’s prime. And when he did deem to do so, sometimes answered in riddles (albeit pretty humorous ones). Even his own memoir, Eminent Hipsters, is less revealing than even Bob Dylan’s Chronicles Vol. 1, with much of it is carping in his trademark curmudgeonly voice. But despite not having the participation of his subject, Jones' Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen (368 pp., $30, Chicago Review Press) is an insightful, detailed, heavily researched and wonderfully well-written tome.

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Classic Rock History : Best SongsTop 10 Jimmy Barnes Songs (by Eric Kamau) →

Our top 10 Jimmy Barnes songs list digs deep into the music of an Australian rock and soul artist famed for his successful music career both a solo artist and a member of Cold Chisel. The 1956-born artist has a broad catalog of rock and soul classics, with his career spanning almost five decades.

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Highway 81 Revisited : TAJ MAHAL’S LONGTIME PHANTOM BLUES BAND HONORS LATE KEYBOARDIST ON ‘BLUES FOR BREAKFAST’ (by Michael Lello) →

The anecdote illustrates why the Phantom Blues Band — who got their start backing Taj Mahal and continue to play with the septuagenarian on occasion — was missing more than a keyboard player when they began work on what would become their new CD on Little Village records, “Blues for Breakfast,” which bears the words “In Memory of MF” on its cover.

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Hot Press : U2 share reflections on Ukraine's Independence Day →

"Today is the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, and we stand with them," the Irish band have stated. Today is Ukraine's Independence Day – but it also marks six months since the Russian invasion of the country began. U2 are among those sharing their thoughts and reflections today, with a post on social media that considers the role of creatives during times of war and conflict.

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Provincetown Independant : The Blind Boys of Alabama Have a Vision The celebrated gospel singers believe you can be what you want to be (by Eve Samaha →

Eric McKinnie, who is known as Ricky, has been a member of the Blind Boys of Alabama since 1989. But the renowned gospel group launched 50 years before that. Clarence Fountain and his friends at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind formed the group in 1939. For more than eight decades, the Blind Boys have persevered and thrived in the music industry. They will perform at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro on Saturday, Aug. 20.

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Distorded Sound : Anti-Flag release new music video for ‘THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES’ (by Ellis Heasley) →

The new music video, for the track THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES, is taken from the American political punk band’s upcoming album LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN, which is scheduled to be released in January next year via Spinefarm Records. It features guest appearances from RISE AGAINST‘s Tim McIlrath and BAD RELIGION‘s Brian Baker. Speaking about the new song, the band comment, “To us, this song is a unique demonstration of the power of community.”

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Forbes Africa : THE PLAYLIST: An Exclusive Interview with Five-Time Beninese Grammy Award Winner Angélique Kidjo on Closing The Cultural Gap (by Renuka Methil) →

The winner of five Grammys with 14 albums to her name, Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today. Time Magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva” and she has cross- pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. She recently released Queen of Sheba – it’s on Spotify – with Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon. In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA from Paris, Kidjo says she is right now, in a moment where “things are blooming in her inspiration zone”. She talks life, work and the road ahead for her – and African music.

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Rolling Stone : Série musicale de l’été : Lucile Commeaux raconte Marianne Faithfull sur France Culture →

Cap sur la culture pop et rock cet été sur la radio publique. Jusqu’à la fin août, France Culture propose, en partenariat avec Rolling Stone, une série hebdomadaire déclinée en épisodes quotidiens. Cette semaine, Lucile Commeaux revient sur l’icône rock par excellence, Marianne Faithfull.

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Wisconsin Public Radio : 'Not precious about it at all': Patti Smith's legacy of work (by Steve Gotcher) →

Author Caryn Rose shares Patti Smith’s contribution to the arts in her book, 'Why Patti Smith Matters'. Patti Smith is a poet, writer, musician and visual artist. But, if you ask her, she will say she's a worker.

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Euronews : 'I fear new famine,' Live Aid relief organiser Bob Geldof tells Euronews (By Yorgos Mitropoulos) →

The Sani music festival in northern Greece is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month. In the balmy night air, big crowds turned out to hear Irish rock star Bob Geldof and his band the Bobkatz strum through some Boomtown Rats classic hits. Geldof is famous for his fundraising activities fighting famine, and he used his appearance to warn about the impact of the war in Ukraine on world food supplies.

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The Ringer : “Rappers Don’t Fall Off”: Lupe Fiasco on Aging in Hip-Hop, Drill Music, and the Audience (by Paul Thompson ) →

Now 40, the Chicago MC has just released his best album in a decade and a half. The Ringer spoke with him about the project, his upcoming MIT course, and subverting the listeners’ expectations.

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The Mercury News : Esperanza Spalding brings her healing music to Stanford Live (by Andrew Gilbert) →

Step by step, note by note, and spell by spell, Esperanza Spalding seeks to break down the walls that keep music contained in clubs and concert halls. The bassist, composer and vocalist won her fifth Grammy Award in March for her Concord album “Songwrights Apothecary Lab,” a set of tunes, or as spalding and her lab-mates call them, “formwelas,” that evolved out of her ongoing research into “the study healing strategies drawn from a diverse range of music-based creative and therapeutic practices”.

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NPR : New Music Friday: The best releases out on July 8 →

WBEZ and Vocalo Radio's Ayana Contreras joins contributors Christina Lee and Cyrena Touros, along with Radio Milwaukee's Tarik Moody and host Robin Hilton to share their picks for the best albums out on July 8.

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