Contemporary Christian music has become more mainstream in the last couple of decades due largely to artists like Matthew West. The four-time Grammy nominee has been creating music that’s been influential to the development of Christian artists since the late 90s. As a singer-songwriter, West has been blessed with the vocal skill and musical talent…
Tom Waits isn’t an artist who’s ever courted mainstream success. Which is just as well, as he’d have been bitterly disappointed if he had. With the odd exception, his albums have rarely made the slightest dent in the charts, while his singles have fared similarly poorly. But commercial success isn’t the yardstick by which to…
Work – we hate it, we need it, and if we didn’t have it, pop stars, country singers, and rockers would have one less thing to sing about than they do now. Over the years, the daily grind has inspired countless songs, surprisingly few of which have sung its praises. Whether it’s Johnny Pagecheck telling…
Bleta Rexha, professionally known as Bebe Rexha, is one of the few fantastic songwriters and vocalists we have in the industry today. In January 2012, she left the Black Cards group after six years with them and founded the Bebe Rexha brand to produce more personal material for fans all over America. A year later,…
1980’s popstar Debbie Gibson started writing songs as a kid, and by the time she was 17, she was making history as the youngest ever artist to write, produce and perform chart-topping hits. Her time at the top didn’t last long, but she’s continued to stay in the public eye with her starring roles on…
Mumford & Sons is a folk rock band from London in the United Kingdom. They have been playing for almost one-and-a-half decades. However, they have already managed to release four studio albums with a fair amount of success. In particular, it should be mentioned that Mumford & Sons won the Grammy for Album of the…
Seether started out as a rock band in South Africa at the turn of the millennium. They proved to be successful in spite of a unreceptive home market, so much so that they caught the attention of Wind-Up Records in the United States. It was a big step to take, but in the end, Seether…
Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Frank Zappa released over 60 albums both as a solo artist and with his band, Mother of Invention. In the process, he changed the face of music. He may not have enjoyed major critical or commercial success while alive, but he’s subsequently been recognized as one of…
In 1987, Tracy Chapman signed a record deal with Elektra Records. A year later, she released her self-titled debut album. Landing as it did during a time when hair metal and arena rock ruled, her introspective brand of acoustic folk-rock should have bombed. Instead, it soared, selling over a million copies in its first two…