RiYL

What does “maturity” mean for a rock band? The answer is, perhaps, a bit easier to answer when you’ve been together since age 18. For Naked Giants, it means grown up things – getting jobs, starting families. It’s not necessarily fodder for a band’s young punk days, depth of subject is in an important part of growing up as a band – and having a fanbase that grows along with you.

Last month, Mileage scored Sun Records’ first-ever Grammy nomination. It’s hard to believe for a 72-year-old label that was once home to Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. The album, Ruthie Foster’s latest, finds the musician reflecting on the ups and downs of a long career. It’s a journey that found Foster serving in the Navy, moving to New York and getting signed by a major label in the 90s, only to quit music to care for her mother back in Texas. It’s been a long road, but the singer won’t be slowing down any time soon.

Mighty Vertebrate hits different. In a world of sound a likes and slow burns, Anna Butterss' latest solo record makes itself known from immediately out of the gate. The album is as eclectic as it is fresh -- unsurprising, given the musician varied career, performing as the bassist for Jason Isbell's group, performing along side Phoebe Bridgers and Jenny Lewis, and serving as one fifth of improvisational group, SML.

During our conversation, FIDLAR frontman Zac Carper reminds me of band’s acronym, Fuck It Dawg, Life's a Risk. Spontaneity has been a driving force throughout the band’s 15-year existence, but time comes experience and – hopefully – a bit of reflection. Surviving The Dream -- the band’s first record in five years – offers up that introspection, into work. Life and Carper’s recent bipolar diagnosis.

Released in September, Dirt On My Diamonds Vol.2 finds Kenny Wayne Shepherd doing what he was put on Earth to do. With eight tracks spanning a collective hour, it's a tight set that packs a punch, while expanding the songwriting depth that has been a fixture at this stage of his career. Thirty-four years after signing to a major label at age 13, the guitarist has delivered staying power matched by few others in the industry.

Few who have walked the Earth can write a pop song like John Davis. That prowess catapulted his group, Superdrag to massive success on the back of its 1996 single, "Sucked Out." The group's trajectory from there isn't wholly dissimilar from other groups who released a hit during the decade. The music business took an aggressive turn, culminating in the muddy horror show that was Woodstock 99, all while Superdrag was releasing its best and most mature work on indie labels. His latest record, Jinx recaptures the Superdrag magic, while taking things in a different, more stripped down direction, owing to the circumstances around its recording. Transcript available here.

Plenty of musicians talk about 'leaving it all on the stage,' but few have offered as demonstrable an example as Samuel Herring. His live performance is a conduit for unbridled emotion, capturing mainstream attention as the frontman for Future Islands. As Hemlock Ernst, Herring's lyrics offer insight into life experiences, no better exemplified than on the hip-hop group's latest, Studying Absence. Transcript available here.

Released in October, It's Only Rock n Roll is a celebration that has formed the backbone of Michael Des Barres' life. The album's one dozen tracks find the singer paying homage to the biggest names of the glam era, from T. Rex to Roxy Music. Des Barres' own musical career spans more than half a century, including an appearance at Live Aid as the head of The Power Station. As an actor, Des Barres has appeared in more than 100 TV shows, including a notable turn as MacGyver villain, Murdoc.

Tom Petty's unexpected death in October 2017 effectively marked the end of the Heartbreakers. The band reunited a handful of times to pay tribute to the late singer, but its members have otherwise used the unfortunate opportunity to explore life beyond its confines. For Mike Campbell, the event marked the beginnings of a second career. His guitar playing and songwriter were foundational to the Heartbreakers' massive success, and he'd cowritten with Don Henley and Stevie Nicks, including the Billboard topping "Boys of Summer." But now it's his name on the band, performing as Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs. This June, the group released Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, its third full-length since 2020.