
"Ask anyone in L.A. where the craziest people are, and they'll say Laurel Canyon," Joni Mitchell said of the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles where she once took residence—a counterculture haven for like-minded musicians during the 1960s. It was in Mitchell's own home that then boyfriend Graham Nash first jammed and harmonized with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. The legendary neighborhood, whose address belonged to far out musical minds like Jim Morrison and Frank Zappa, is now—according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Time Magazine —being revived by North Carolina musician [...]

Before you head off on the long 4th of July weekend of merriment and BBQs (mostly for my US readers, but heck, it's a good idea wherever you live), I have finally completed my annual summer mix for 2009: " Late Nights and Longboards "! I don't surf, I just pretend I'm one of those girls in the picture up there - with the especially foxy swimsuits. These are twenty tunes that will be soundtracking my summer, the porch swings and lemonade (okay, Fat Tire), the volleyball and sunburns, the roadtrips with the windows down because [...]

My girl Jenny Lewis made a stop by the WXPN studios last week to talk about her latest album "Acid Tongue" and the influences behind it. Naturally, she also played a session that included cuts from the album, along with one cover. This is, for the most part, an electric set, and many of the songs sound much as they do (and should) on the record. For "Carpetbaggers," and the acoustic Everly Brothers cover of "Love Hurts," Ms. Lewis was joined on vocals by her boyfriend (boo) and frequent collaborator Johnathan Rice. So while Elvis Costello may appear on the [...]
Jenny Lewis se encuentra actualmente promocionando su nueva producción Acid Tongue en una especie de gira por todos los programas de televisión de los Estados Unidos. Para su presentación en The Late Show with David Letterman , la cantante invitó al maravilloso Elvis Costello para cantar el tema "Carpetbaggers" , escrita por el novio de Lewis, Johnathan Rice, y grabada a dueto para la nueva placa de la cantante. Aquí les dejo el vídeo de la presentación, [...]

Former actress and Rilo Kiley singer turned indie starlet Jenny Lewis will release her sophomore solo effort on September 23rd. Acid Tongue features guests Elvis Costello, Johnathan Rice , Zooey Deschanel and M Ward of She & Him , Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Benji Hughes, Farmer Dave Scher, Jason Boesel, Jason Lader, Jonathan Wilson, and Vanessa Corbala. There are several tracks that stand out on the album. Most notable is the bluesy stunner "Pretty Bird", whose melody caresses Jenny's voice to [...]

Last night in Denver, the Unconventional '08 shindig took over a madhouse-packed Manifest Hope Gallery amidst the brick warehouses on Larimer Street. Earlier in the evening a free concert featured Silversun Pickups , Nada Surf , DJ Z-Trip , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids . Starting around 10pm, a late-night supergroup performance brought together [...]

Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis is set to release her new solo album, ' Acid Toungue ' is September. The album, the follow-up to 2006's ' Rabbit Fur Coat ', features collaborations with several artists among them Johnathan Rice , Farmer Dave Scher , Jason Boesel , Jason Lader and M Ward as well as a duet with Elvis Costello . Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes and actress/singer Zooey Deschanel of She And Him also contributed to the record which [...]
I had huge enjoyment sorting out this mixtape. There are so many songs I own with a girl's name in the title. Hopefully I have included an interesting mix for you the reader to enjoy! Paw were a revelation to me when I discovered the band in 1994. I was still in my Eddie Vedder is God phase when Paw and singer Mark Hennessy came into my life. Paw are a grunge outfit with the most beautiful melodies as coruses or bridges amongst the raging guitar rifts! 1. Paw - Veronica MP3 2. [...]

For the next 3-5 days all you'll be reading about and seeing is Coachella . Someone's pictures, someone's recap, someone's half-drunk, heat stroke induced reminiscing of the prior day's sets. It's annoying for those of us who aren't there and don't really care about seeing pictures of bands playing music (ya know, like we do at CMJ, SXSW, Bonnaroo, Lolla, and every other minor festival), so this is for us. [mp3] Johnathan Rice - We're all Stuck Out in the Desert [mp3] Bright [...]

Day 4: We're All Stuck Out In The Desert by Johnathan Rice [See post to listen to track] We're All Stuck Out In The Desert.mp3 (right click to save as) well I took a camera on vacation to fit Miami in a frame she didn't mind, she blew me kisses said, "well what's your name?" I plan my dinner at the hotel but then my dinner plans got wrecked an investment [...]

Photo by Touch And Go I feel quite fortunate in that my list of (active) bands that I still need to see live gets shorter and shorter every year, and many of those that remain unchecked are probably not very realistic prospects unless I go to them, on account of them being mostly smaller international acts who will probably never make their way to Toronto. Not so for The New Year , however. I appreciate that with members scattered geographically around the United States that logistics can be an issue, but the [...]
EAR FARM's Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted each week. This week - three from the bands opening for R.E.M. (that aren't named Dead Confederate - previous EF BoW ) on Wednesday @ Stubb's in Austin. Click on the artist name to go to their site, click on the song name to listen to the song. Listen: Summerbirds in the Cellar - "Wicked World" Johnathan Rice - "We're All Stuck Out In The [...]
HOT ROAD TRIP: INDIE ROCK DYNAMIC DUO Two of today's most exciting young singer-songwriters have embarked on a two-month-long, coast-to-coast tour together. Don't miss Johnathan Rice (a part-time actor) and Matt Costa (a part-time skateboarder) when they play near you! Proving, again, that multi-tasking is easy for the talented: The tour started in Chicago last week - the remaining dates on tour are listed below along with some new rock videos and mp3s. Definitely check these out: [...]

It's been forever since we've run an interview here on herohill, so now is as good a time as any to throw one to you. We sat down with Johnathan Rice today, and this young man has a great perspective on the music industry and was a really interesting interview. HH :: Hey Johnathan, how's it going today? JR :: It's going great. It's raining here in LA, but it's nice. HH :: It's actually sunny up here in Vancouver and we are usually nothing but rain. Maybe [...]

Hey Chicagoans/people willing to travel longer distances! The kind folks at Filter have been kind enough to hand me a pair of tickets to give away for the Johnathan Rice/Matt Costa show at the Double Door THIS FRIDAY, FEB. 22ND . So, if you would like 2 tickets to the show and happen to live in or around Chicago, I'm going to ask you to do something simple. Create an anagram using either Johnathan Rice or Matt Costa. For those who don't know/remember what an anagram is, here's a brief re-explanation: An anagram [...]

Truth be told, when I got Jonathan Rice's record in the mail I had to ask my wife if this was the guy she liked (which it wasn't; her favorite Rice is Damien, where as mine is Jim). Sometimes being unbiased is a good thing as before I gave this disc a listen or two, I had no idea Rice's first record was largely considered to be a John Mayer knock off or that he was dating the impossibly attractive Jenny Lewis. If there are two thing hipsters hate, it's people sounding like someone in the mainstream [...]
You could say this week's mix is brought to you by pedal steel and the number 8. (All but one song is the 8th track on their albums) Or you could just call this a well rounded and country influenced Friday Mix. Whichever you choose. I've sworn off the "blogging about blogging" post so I'll just end with this, there are changes a comin'. Jonny Greenwood – Proven Lands [...]

A few short minutes ago, 2008 arrived here on the east coast. My goal was the write about all the old albums that I was going to before the ball dropped. Since that didn't quite happen, I'm going to cheat a little and give you one big mass of music that you can listen to while thinking about how long your resolutions are going to last. Here goes: Some really off-the-wall rockabilly/blues/punk via Denmark: Powersolo - Baby, You Ain't Looking Right : It's Raceday ...And [...]

Another Sunday, another short mix of what I've been listening to. I would say I'm going to do this every Sunday but we all know that making promises on the internet is like a 3 year old saying he won't wet the bed anymore. On a more up to date note I have just returned from the beach where one day was beautiful and the next was something close to doomsday. Needless to say I escaped with only a busted forehead and a dislocated knee, but seriously, that's how intense my family vacations are. 1. " Is There [...]

I was recently talking to a merch guy at the Bluebird, and was stoked to find out that CU Denver has a neat-looking degree program in Music Industry Studies with their very own student-run record label. Equally cool are the breadth of courses offered at Berklee (not Berkeley) School of Music . I always thought Berklee (in Boston) was just a high-falutin music performance school, like if you're really really good on the cello, you go there. But they also have courses in songwriting, music business, music production, film scoring etc that you [...]