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        Fantastic Negrito - Newport Folk 2018

        Fantastic Negrito

        Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

        News
        Fantastic Negrito On "Dark Windows" & More fantastic-negrito-studio-magic-chris-cornell-dark-windows-more

        Fantastic Negrito On Studio Magic, Chris Cornell, "Dark Windows" & More

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        The Bay Area modern-day blues sage talks inspiration and following his muse regardless of genre or accolades, revealing why he's one of music's most authentic artistic voices
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Oct 16, 2018 - 4:02 pm

        Equal parts rootsy bluesman and something from another time and planet, GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Fantastic Negrito returned earlier this year with his second full-length album, Please Don't Be Dead. The album is a wild ride from start to finish, showing the artist's many sides, talents and truths.

        Fantastic Negrito Talks "Dark Windows" & More

        We caught up with the Bay Area artist to ask about his new album, hear how "Dark Shadows" came together in the wake of the death of his friend, Chris Cornell, and what he has done with the GRAMMY he won for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th GRAMMY Awards for The Last Days Of Oakland.

        Hozier Opens Up About "Nina Cried Power," Reveals What's On His Playlist
         

        Leon Bridges and Jon Batiste

        Leon Bridges and Jon Batiste

        Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

        News
        Go Inside Newport Folk Festival 2018 go-backstage-us-newport-folk-festival-2018

        Go Backstage With Us At Newport Folk Festival 2018

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        Join us behind the scenes at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I., for the country's most historic folk festival
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Jul 27, 2018 - 8:05 pm

        This year's Newport Folk Festival was full of fantastic music, friendly faces and special surpises right up to Sunday night's spectacular festival-closing "A Change Is Gonna Come" revue featuring soul star Leon Bridges and masterminded by Jon Batiste with the Dap Kings. They were joined on stage by a host of incredible guests - collaborations that could only have happened at Newport. You had to be there to believe it!

        Newport Folk festival boasts an unmatched combination of tradition, innovation and good ole' fashion community. GRAMMY.com was on the ground in Newport, R.I., for one of the most eclectic — and electric — years in the festival's storied history. Take a look to see who rocked the stage and who dropped by to visit us backstage.

        Brandi Carlile

        Sunday headliner Brandi Carlile dropped in to discuss everything from the powerful messages of By The Way, I Forgive You to her love of fishing before she tore up the stage.

        John Prine and Margo Price

        Folk legend John Prine paid us a visit to talk about his wildly successful new album, The Tree Of Forgiveness, before rising star Margo Price dropped in to say hello. With a stellar album currently making waves in the americana music world and a recent cameo in Prine's "Knockin' On My Screen Door" video, we had plenty to talk about with the pair of master songwriters.

        Amanda Shires

        Photo: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

        The incredible Amanda Shires wowed the audience by performing songs from her upcoming album, To The Sunset.

        Lukas Nelson at Newport Folk Festival

        Lukas Nelson and his band, Promise Of The Real, rocked Newport hard on Saturday. After their set, he stopped by to chat about the many, many projects he's working on and snap some portraits with us.

        Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Newport Folk

        New Orleans musical institution Preservation Hall Jazz Band arrived in style, dressed fresh in white and bearing instruments. We sat down with bandleader Ben Jaffe to talk about the musical message they take with them everywhere they go. 

        JD McPherson

        We asked JD McPherson all about his latest album, Undivided Heart & Soul, focusing on his fuzz-heavy single, "Lucky Penny" and the soulful "Crying's Just A Thing That You Do," with he co-wrote with fellow Newport Folk performer Butch Walker.

        Bermuda Triangle at Newport Folk

        Meet Becca, Brittany and Jesse of Bermuda Triangle, a new trio from East Nashville who turned an impromptu jam into a real deal band. The ladies came by to tell us how they started playing music together and talk about their experience at Newport Folk.

        Mumford & Sons

        Photo: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

        Surprise! This year's suprise headliner on Saturday night of Newport Folk Festival was none other than Mumford & Sons. The band made their first ever appearance at Newport, and called up a host of guest including Maggie Rogers, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, and more.

        Jazz/folk duo Tuck And Patti stopped by after they kicked off day one of the festival to talk about what makes Newport so special, their upcoming projects and even drop some advice on making it as a musical duo and a married couple.

        Fantastic Negrito - Newport Folk 2018

        Hot off the release of Please Don't Be Dead, Oakland, Calif., neo-blues hotrod Fantastic Negrito had some wise words to share backstage about true artistry, the good vibes at Newport and where he keeps the GRAMMY he received for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th GRAMMY Awards for The Last Days Of Oakland.

        Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius showed up in stunning matching blue to talk about their latest "acoustic" album, Nudes, why they love coming back to Newport and what they're working on next.

        Paul Cauthen and Shakey Graves

        While we were chatting with Alejandro Rose-Garcia, aka Shakey Graves, his friend and ours, Paul Cauthen, dropped in to talk about the Newport hijinks he'd been getting into so far and how the festival is the perfect setting for connecting with all of their closest musical friends.

        St. Vincent

        Photo: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

        St. Vincent closed things down Friday night with a haunting set, proving Newport Folk is, and has always been, about pushing the limits.

        Rachael & Vilray

        Ever since college, Rachael & Vilray have shared a love for '30s and '40s traditional jazz. The duo came through to talk about the Newport experience, reveal what makes the music they love so enduring and pose for our cameras.

        Sidi Toure

        Photo: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

        Sidi Toure tears up the stage on day one, bringing the Newport Folk Fest crowd to their feet.

        Hot off the stage, New Orleans' Tank And The Bangas pulled up to take a quick snapshot and tell us how excited they were to share their music with the equally excited – and receptive – Newport crowd.

        Hiss Golden Messenger at Newport Folk

        MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger came through after his set to talk about the natural way his Halelujah Anyhow album came together and how being a father has meant everything to him as an artist.

        Valerie June at Newport Folk

        The ever-entertaining Valerie June stopped by to talk about the incredible vibes at Newport and breakdown one of her most cosmic songs, "Astral Plane."

        Thirty Tigers artist Tyler Childers shared his impressions of Newport Folk as well as some insight on his 2017 album, Purgatory.

        Lone Bellow at Newport Folk Festival

        The magnetic trio The Lone Bellow paid a visit to our corner of the fort to talk about Walk Into A Storm and tell the touching story of "May You Be Well."

        The Wood Brothers

        Apropos of being situated right on the water at Newport's Fort Adams State Park, the Wood Brothers discussed the various water themes and symbols that flow through their latest album, One Drop Of Truth.

        The musical journeyman Phil Cook swung by to see us and talk about why he loves Newport Folk Festival, his new - and first - solo album, People Are My Drug, and why now is a crucial time in music's history. 

        Stay tuned for much more to come from Newport Folk Festival 2018.

        Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

        John Prine

        Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

        News
        Exclusive: John Prine On 'The Tree Of Forgiveness' exclusive-john-prine-tree-forgiveness-protest-music-more

        Exclusive: John Prine On 'The Tree Of Forgiveness,' Protest Music & More

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        Riding high on the widespread success of his latest album, the folk icon reveals a songwriting secret or two backstage at Newport Folk Festival
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Jul 28, 2018 - 7:20 am

        John Prine may not be a household name – unless you're a songwriter. Since Prine released his groundbreaking self-titled debut album in 1971, he's written some of the most heartfelt, clever, quirky, and enduring songs of his generation. In April of this year, the 71-year-old unleashed his first new batch of original tunes in 13 years with The Tree Of Forgiveness. The songs feel as natural and essential as Prine's classics, and to no one's surprise — except maybe his own — the folk and country music communities have taken quite a shine to his new material.

        John Prine On 'The Tree Of Forgiveness'

        Prine stopped by backstage at the Newport Folk Festival to talk with us about how the album came together, the importance of imagery in lyrics, folk music's power of protest, and a few of his songwriting secrets.

        The new music video for "Knockin' On My Screen Door" features tons of all-star cameos, [including Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Dan Auerbach, and more]. How did the video collaboration with all of those folks come together?

        I'd worked with everybody in the video, and some of them were really good buddies of mine. It just felt like a normal day for me because I go to lunch with half of those people, and I co-own a studio with Fergie [David Ferguson] and that's where Sturgill cut his record, and we cut Tyler Childers over there, felt like old home week. The fact that we got a video out at the end of the day, I thought that was pretty good.

        Your latest album, The Tree Of Forgiveness, felt like a gift to your fans; to get all-new music from you was a real treat. How did it feel to write and record a new collection of songs for the first time in quite a while?

        It was actually one of the easiest records I've ever made. It wasn't that I didn't believe in all the songs, I just I thought I was going to the studio to get maybe four songs that I liked, get them recorded, then take a break and write some more. But things were going so good. I kept remembering songs I hadn't done ... and that would turn out great, one after another. But the big surprise for me is that my records usually get received by my audience really good, but this record is something that's crazy. It's got stardust on it or something. It just keeps [going]. It's got legs and it keeps on running around, and we do all 10 songs every night in our show. … It's just a great feeling.

        I've noticed a lot of younger songwriters are using tools out of your toolbox, and you can hear it in the songs of Kasey Musgraves and Margo Price, who both name you as an influence. What does it feel like to influence this next generation of songwriters?

        Both these people that you're talking about are so good anyway, and then when they tell me that they took certain things from the way I wrote, it's such a huge compliment. It takes me awhile to hear what it is that they think is like John Prine that they put in their song, but after a while, I can tell. And it's just a big compliment really.

        One of those devices I've always loved about your writing is your incredible use of imagery.

        Thank you. I try to include stuff that everybody can relate to. If you're talking about a subject or an emotion that's hard to put your finger on while you're talking about it. If you mention there's a chair and an ashtray in the song, then everybody starts relating to the ashtray and the chair, and pretty soon they get caught up in the emotion, and boom you got them.

        We're learning all the secrets here today.

        That's it. That's my one secret. [laughs]

        It's a good one. When we were driving to the festival today here in Newport, we saw a billboard with you and some lyrics from "Summer's End." Can you talk a little bit about writing that song?

        I wrote it with my good buddy Pat McLaughlin. Pat and I have been buddies for going on 35 years, and we didn't write together maybe the first five years we knew each other, we were just buddies. And then, with The Missing Years, we started writing together. By the time we got around to just writing "Summer's End," when we go to write, we almost finish each other's sentences. So, it's hard to tell even after you sing the song where my mind left off and Pat's came in or vice versa. ... On that particular thing, we were throwing images back and forth and we both liked them so much. The only thing we had to stop for was to see if they phrased or occasionally rhymed. We went for this general mood. We didn't talk about what we were going for, we just kept throwing images back and forth at each other to see if we were on the same plain, and it just worked out to be a really beautiful song.

        Folk music has always had a mainline into the protest sentiment. What does the song "Caravan Of Fools" mean to you?

        I wrote it with Pat McLaughlin, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and our good friend David Ferguson that has the studio that I was talking about. We wrote six songs in two days. We were just hanging out. ... They could have said, 'Come on over, we're gonna play cards.' Instead, they said, 'Come on over we're gonna write songs.' … I knew Dan Auerbach was getting ready to do his first solo record, and so I thought that the songs were supposed to be for Dan. And we wrote, like I say, six songs in nothing. I made everybody break for an hour to go get White Castle hamburgers, and then we went back to writing.

        The reason that I'm saying that about "Caravan Of Fools" being taken as a political song is to me when I sing it. But I never asked any of those guys if they were writing about anything [in particular] or what their politics were or anything. It's just that the song to me has a connotation I would say of what's going on. And it's got more verses then there are original members of Trump's cabinet too. … When I'm singing it, it's a protest song.

        Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

        Japanese Breakfast

        Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast

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        Japanese Breakfast On 'Soft Sounds…' & More japanese-breakfast-pressure-playfulness-behind-soft-sounds%E2%80%A6

        Japanese Breakfast On The Pressure & Playfulness Behind 'Soft Sounds…'

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        Michelle Zauner explains how she took her experimental pop project to a new level on 'Soft Sounds From Another Planet'
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Oct 24, 2018 - 5:56 pm

        Michelle Zauner is only beginning to reveal the breadth and depth of her talents. While she composes music for video games, directs music videos and is an accomplished writer, it's her work as Japanese Breakfast that has caught a buzz the past two years. Having released two albums under the moniker, her latest, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, expands the simple beauty and bite of her debut, Psychopomp, into new sonic – and personal – territory. As an emerging artist of many mediums, her work thus far is only the tip of a talent iceberg.

        Japanese Breakfast On 'Soft Sounds…' & "Boyish"

        We caught up with Zauner recently to talk about her musical evolution, dissect her song "Boyish," hear what music and art is currently inspiring her, and much more.

        How did you arrive musically in the direction of your second record?

        Soft Sounds From Another Planet is a super different record from Psychopomp. I wrote my first record for Japanese Breakfast two months after my mom passed away. I didn't have a label, and I didn't have a deadline. I didn't have a band. It was just a therapeutic art project for me to process what I was going through, and kind of compartmentalize what I was feeling. It was just a really great way to focus my time after something really hard had happened. And then after I finished it, I sort of sent it around to labels and no one wanted it, and then it came out on Yellow K Records and people started really paying attention to the project.

        Then I signed to Dead Oceans and all-of-a-sudden had a budget, and I had a deadline, and I had a fan base that we had made. And there was a lot more pressure, so I wanted to be really careful how I went about it. I didn't want to lose the kind of playfulness and the experimental quality of Psychopomp, I really wanted to go into the record and just play. And have a childlike, experimental time of making the record.

        But I also wanted it to have a way more hi-fi sound. So I reached out to my friend, Craig Hendrix, who plays drums in the live band and he co-produced the album with me, and together we played all of the instruments, and had a very concentrated one month period of time in our studio in Philadelphia. We just wanted to make something that was really dynamic and I also felt for this project, I wanted to go into the studio with the live band being an afterthought. I just wanted to be able to put on whatever kind of instrumentation and build up the songs however I wanted to, without thinking how is it going to translate into a live setting. I feel like you're able to be more ambitious with a project if you approach it that way.

        How have you approached translating these songs from the recordings, which are just so vast and nuanced, to a live stage show?

        I don't know, I guess it just takes time. You figure out what's important. We use backing tracks on some of the songs, but we have four players. We switch off on guitar and keys a lot, and it's just about figuring out what is the most important part of the song and how to bring it out.

        Can you tell us how "Boyish" was written and how it came together in the studio?

        "Boyish" was written a long time ago, maybe three or four years ago, and it was originally, I wrote it for my old band, Little Big League, and it kind of turned into this terrible raucous pop punk song. And I just always hated the arrangement, and I always hated the production and I felt like it was a real, a real shame that that's how it happened.

        And I feel like the lyrics are great and the chorus just lifts really naturally, And so I asked the band if I could revisit it on our next record and they said, "Go for it." So Craig and I really turned it into this Roy Orbison-esque, girl group, big Motown swelling chorus kind of song. It was really fun to put together. That was one of the most natural, quick to come together songs on the record, and I think the most beautiful collaboration between Craig and I.

        And actually, the drum set we recorded were scratch drums, and the vocal that we recorded was a scratch vocal on a [Shure SM]57 with the speakers playing the track back. And when we tried to redo the vocal on a different microphone, a more expensive microphone, and comp it, and rerecord the drums… There was something so special about the one take scratch vocal. And so that sometimes, you need to add all the extra stuff in order to realize what is absolutely essential. And it was maybe one of the first songs on the record that I made where I understood how important the take can be.

        I'm generally not a big analog buff and I like cheating. I like to comp stuff and do a million takes and multitrack, so for that, it was a really special moment where it's just like, "there is something really special about that take and no matter what, how many times we redo it, I can't recreate that." So it ended up just being the one vocal take. So that sound is really special to me, for sure.

        Your recent article in The New Yorker is an incredible snapshot of how a place can trigger a feeling. How has Korean culture influenced your music.

        I guess Korean culture – I don't know – I've always been Korean and written music so I don't really know what it's like to not be like that. I never really thought too much about it, it's just like writing anything else in my life. There are some things on my subconscious that filter their way into it. Like on Psychopomp, there's a voice recording of my mom who's talking to me on phone call, and she says a couple words in Korean, so that's on there. And on the first track of Soft Sounds From Another Planet, there is a song called "Diving Woman" which is written about these women on Jeju Island that are- it's kind of a matriarchal society where they do deep dives without equipment to collect abalone and shellfish, and they sell it at the market.

        https://twitter.com/Jbrekkie/status/1031631245346783232

        https://t.co/mvmCarpbbS my first piece in the @NewYorker 🙏 for my mother and for H Mart pic.twitter.com/rQtvxhpfNg

        — Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) August 20, 2018

        And I just thought that that occupation was really beautiful, to have that kind of regimen. Because when you're a musician, sometimes, it's really tainted by all this other stuff that you have to do. It's not this pure craft where you just make music and then that's all you do. You have to play a live show, you have to do interviews, you have to take photos, and all this stuff, and sometimes I just really romanticize this lifestyle where these women just dive. All day. And I think that I long for that in my life sometimes.

        What inspires you and what are you listening to now? What in either music or other art are you into at the moment?

        I am currently working on the soundtrack to an indie game called "Sable." So I've been listening, and also on tour, if I want to read or just have some solace, I really need to listen to ambient, instrumental music. So I've been listening to a lot of Japanese ambient music. Like Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Just because it's the only music that puts me in my chill place. Brian Eno, Nils Frahm, those kinds of [artists].

        What's next for you? Can you tease any projects for us?

        I'll probably start working on a new record, and I'm working on the soundtrack to the game, I might write a book. I'm directing music videos for a couple of different artists, so just staying busy.

        Hozier Opens Up About "Nina Cried Power," Reveals What's On His Playlist

        Khalid

        Khalid

        Photo: Jim Bennett/Getty Images

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        Backstage At Austin City Limits Festival 2018 inside-austin-city-limits-festival-2018-recording-academy

        Inside Austin City Limits Festival 2018 With The Recording Academy

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        Whether you made it to Austin for this year's ACL Fest or not, we'll take you backstage for an exclusive look at some of the festival's hottest artists
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Oct 7, 2018 - 11:22 pm

        Festival season comes to an official—and incredible—close each year with Austin City Limits Festival inTexas. For two weekends in October, Austin's Zilker Park is taken over by multiple stages featuring artists spanning a multitude of genres and styles for three days of great music and rich Texas culture.

        Backstage At Austin City Limits Festival 2018

        This year's ACL featured headliners Paul McCartney, Metallica and Travis Scott, but the weekend was also chock-full of special performances from all over the musical map, everything from great Texas artists to international artists and more. The Recording Academy is on-the-ground in Austin to bring you all the action right here on GRAMMY.com.

        Elle King On Self-Love & Individuality: "You Don't Get What You Don't Ask For"

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