Lauren Boisvert

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Lauren Boisvert

On Monday, April 14, heavy metal band Judas Priest shared the news that their former drummer, Les Binks, had died. Binks was 73. The band shared a joint statement on social media breaking the news and sending condolences to Binks’ family. “We are deeply saddened about the passing of Les and send our love to his family, friends and fans,” the statement reads. “The acclaimed drumming he provided was first class—demonstrating his unique techniques, flair, style and precision.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Lauren Boisvert

Late composer Alvin Lucier died in 2021, but his brain is still creating music as part of an Australian art installation called Revivification. How is this possible? It all comes down to a sample of Lucier’s blood, a lab-grown “brain,” and continual electrical impulses. Lucier was a master of experimental compositions and often explored psychoacoustic phenomena in his work. Psychoacoustics is the study of the way the human auditory system perceives sound.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Lauren Boisvert

Elton John‘s third studio album, Tumbleweed Connection, was released in 1970 and written by John and his creative partner, Bernie Taupin. It was based on Americana and country-western music. But at the time, neither Elton John nor Bernie Taupin had set foot in America. John finally had a breakthrough in April 1970 with his self-titled second album. He was gearing up to release his third in October.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Lauren Boisvert

April Fool’s Day has passed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still listen to joke songs. Or, at least, songs that sound like they would be total fever dreams but were actually very real. Here are three songs that, on first listen, sound like jokes, but have huge cult followings regardless. Released in 2018, this song is about a guy who meets a girl in an online chat room, falls in love with her, and then realizes that she’s an actual gargoyle. That’s not a metaphor, she’s a literal gargoyle.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Lauren Boisvert

Green Day fully broke into the mainstream with albums like Dookie and American Idiot, but before that, they were dabbling in skate punk and emulating The Buzzcocks on their debut studio album 39/Smooth. Their debut dropped in April 1990. The year before, the trio—which, at the time, included drummer John Kiffmeyer—released their debut EP, 1,000 Hours, which introduced them to the world. At the time of its release, 39/Smooth garnered praise from Green Day’s contemporaries in the punk scene.