Nicole Pajer is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor.
Music may be largely male dominated but there is plenty of room for women to break through. The industry is filled with women who possess a keen ability to go outside of the box, shake things up and set a new example for their colleagues. Whether it's developing an alter ego and letting their music speak over their image, not…
Twenty-seven studio albums into his career and Alice Cooper is a songwriting pro. In fact, the famed shock rocker jokes that at this point in his life, you could challenge him to write about practically anything -- and he’d definitely take you up on that. “I can pretty much write what you want me to write. I try to find…
Trisha Yearwood got her start opening up for Garth Brooks in the early 90’s. “I learned so much from being on the road with him, it was unreal,” she tells GRAMMY.com Twenty-six years later, the GRAMMY-winning songstress is still looking to the country crooner as her music career muse. The duo, who married in 2005, are constantly collaborating with one another. “We always sing on…
Kelsea Ballerini’s debut album, The First Time, spawned three No. 1 consecutive singles – “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs,” and “Peter Pan” -- making her the first female artist to accomplish the feat since Wynonna Judd, in 1992. It also earned her a GRAMMY nomination and an initiation into CMT’s Next Women of Country club. Two years after the release, she performed across the globe,…
If you want be successful in the music industry, be prepared to pour your blood, sweat and tears into your craft. This was the message that legendary 25-time GRAMMY winner Stevie Wonder shared during his keynote speech April 15 at the ASCAP I Create Music Expo in Los Angeles. In a special onstage interview with GRAMMY-nominated R&B singer/songwriter Janelle Monáe,…
GRAMMY.com caught up with KT Tunstall to discuss pushing past her musical comfort zone on KIN, teaming up with James Bay on a track called “Two Way,” and what she loves most about writing music for film. <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OLTi_Eu5mtM" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> You recently released your fifth studio album, KIN. There was an interesting personal journey that you…
GRAMMY.com caught up with Billy Duffy to hear about how The Cult is navigating the modern world of digital streaming, and how putting out new music at this stage in his career is like receiving a “blood transfusion.” <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ERYVZiEOicQ" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Cult is currently on the road for a stint of US dates after…
After four decades of making music with Aerosmith, Steven Tyler wanted to try something new. For years, the GRAMMY-winning frontman has dreamed of crafting a solo record. And after meeting Big Machine Records President and CEO Scott Borchetta at a MusiCares event, Tyler decided it was the right time. <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d0n40GVcj64" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> He hit pause…
Depending on creativity to make a living can become an issue when working up against a block. Sometimes artists get into the zone and crank out an entire album in a week, while other times it can take years. The same can go for producers who are helping to piece together a project or a composer working on a movie…
On April 6, 2016, the music community lost country icon Merle Haggard. The legend touched the lives of artists and fans alike, influencing musicians across many genres and generations. To honor Haggard’s musical contributions, GRAMMY-nominated rising star Sam Hunt paid tribute to the country king with a cover of his 1980 single “The Way I Am” and Dwight Yoakam, Eric Church, Jake…
Jess Glynne won her first GRAMMY Award before she had ever released a studio album. The British songstress caught her first big break when she lent her voice to Clean Bandit’s track, “Rather Be,” which took home the GRAMMY for Best Dance Recording in 2014. The next year, she released her debut LP, I Cry When I Laugh, and quickly…
Typically when a fan attends a concert, they are treated to a pre-constructed array of songs that an artist has planned ahead of time, give or take the occasional on-the-fly request. That is not the case with a live Jewel show. “I don’t do a set list,” she tells us. “I really prefer to feel out the crowd and see what…
At last year’s NAMM show, nearly 100,000 people hit the floor of the Anaheim Convention Center to peruse the booths of 1,621 exhibiting companies and check out products from over 5,000 brands. With that many people and vendors milling about, a music conference like NAMM can be overwhelming. Ahead of the fast-approaching 2016 installment of the convention, we compiled the…
Beyond the beats, DJs are entertaining audiences with light shows and pyrotechnics that accompany their well-choreographed set lists. How do some of today’s premier electronic dance music artists learn their recipes for delivering cutting-edge visuals to enhance their live shows? <iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IcrbM1l_BoI" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> Let's go straight to the sources. Avicii's ight show is a collaboration between him and…
Alexandra Patsavas is arguably the most recognizable name in music supervision. Her credits include popular series “Mad Men,” “Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Scandal” and blockbuster films such as the Twilight series, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The GRAMMY-nominated music supervisor has helped expose an ever-growing list of indie artists to…
In early 2015, just two years after taking home the Best New Artist GRAMMY Award, Fun. formally announced plans for an indefinite hiatus. The band explained to fans that the time off was scheduled to give the three members a chance to focus on their own individual endeavors. Andrew Dost set off to try his hand at scoring films, Jack…
Joe Perry just added “author” to his ever-expanding list of artistic endeavors. The co-founder of Aerosmith decided that it was time to finally share his side of the story. The esteemed guitarist has gone through a variety of record labels, management deals, and turmoil with his four founding bandmates — he even left Aerosmith for a stint in the late ‘70s…
Composer Aaron Zigman’s big break stemmed from the on-screen love between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook. While their chemistry was moving movie-goers to tears, Zigman’s score was pulling at the audience’s heartstrings. Ten years after scoring The Notebook, Zigman was approached to provide a musical landscape to Sparks’ latest film, The Best of Me. <iframe…
New Found Glory has learned a thing or two in their 17 years of making music. Performing since the late ‘90s, the band is a major player in the pop-punk scene. They’ve toured the globe, bounced between major and independent record labels, and have shared the stage with some of the biggest alternative rock acts on the planet. Currently, the…
Explore the ins and outs of collaboration with GRAMMY-winning pop artist Kimbra. The New Zealand native recently released her second album, The Golden Echo, after her successful debut, Vows, and a star-making turn in Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”. While in the studio with producing mastermind Rich Costey (Foster The People, Interpol, Muse), she wrangled the help of some top-notch…
