One of the more unexpected mainstream success stories of the 2000s was Modest Mouse. More than a decade after the arty Pacific Northwest indie-rock band formed, its sixth album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, reached Number 18 on the Billboard 200, thanks in part to its Number One Modern Rock single “Float [...]

Five years ago, Brett Dennen was a camp counselor who played guitar, wrote songs and performed fireside. With a self-made album, he began playing coffee shops along the West Coast and a devoted following formed. A modest independent record deal led first to his 2006 break-through album, So Much More, then to the attention of [...]

Michael Franti is a very big man who has always dared to say very big things through his joyous and passionate music during an unusually diverse and highly impressive career.
Yet for all the wide-ranging, yet consistent excellence of his body of work, what’s most impressive about Michael Franti as a recording artist and live performer [...]

This South Carolina-based indie-rock band’s swirling, dreampop-like musical backing, ragged Neil Young influences and tenor vocals initially drew comparisons to fellow Southern-based indie rockers My Morning Jacket. Multi-instrumentalists Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke formed the group in Seattle in 2004 after their slow-core band Carissa’s Wierd broke up due to mounting financial problems. After releasing [...]