For all his artistic achievements, Nilsson was always a screwball at heart, gleefully launching into deeply weird detours from the path of pop perfection. The man who made millions weep with his chart- …

If the measure of a major songwriter is that other top-shelf artists can't resist singing their tunes, Patty Griffin must cast a long, tall shadow. But it's her own recordings that deliver the purest,  …

If a musician can be measured by the size of his artistic footprint, then Al Jarreau's likely to leave subsequent generations some huge shoes to fill. Not only has he put albums on the charts in four d …

Think you know your Al Jarreau? The only singer ever to win GRAMMYr Awards for pop, jazz, and R&B has even more strings to his bow than you might've guessed. Bossa nova king Antonio Carlos Jobim himsel …

The ultimate independent-minded artist, Shelby Lynne has spent most of her career happily zigging at each music-biz zag. When the rest of Nashville was stocking up on headset microphones and practicing …

Before she started wandering all over the stylistic map, Shelby Lynne spent ten years torching it up as a roots-minded country chanteuse. The kick-up-your-heels title track from 1995's Restless  …

Forget the soft-spoken, well-read Marilyn Manson that humanized (or is it de-demonized?) himself in Bowling for Columbine. He's nowhere to be found within our decade-plus overview of his bloodle …

Eminem didn't tap Marilyn Manson for an industrial-strength version of "The Way I Am" in hopes of stealing his alt-rock audience; he borrowed Manson's ghastly scowl as a sign of solidarity, showing how …

While they may be the first signing to Elijah Wood's new label, Apples In Stereo have been indie pop icons for more than a decade. As a founding member of the Elephant 6 collective (Neutral Milk Hotel, …