It took a while, but Noah Kahan has finally taken his seat at the most famous desk in music. The Vermont singer-songwriter, whose 2022 breakthrough ‘Stick Season’ turned him into one of folk-rock’s most talked-about artists, delivered his Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music, and it’s exactly the kind of performance the format was built for. Raw, intimate, and built around the kind of songwriting that has been rattling around the internet for the better part of a decade, this is Kahan in the setting he deserves.
mgk and Fred Durst Unleash “Fix Ur Face” and Bring the Lost Americana Tour Back to the US With Wiz Khalifa
mgk and Fred Durst just dropped one of the most viscerally satisfying rock singles of the year. “Fix Ur Face” is out now, a hard-hitting fusion of 1990s nü-metal grit and mgk’s genre-bending alternative edge, with Durst delivering exactly the kind of peak performance that made Limp Bizkit impossible to ignore. The visual premiered on MTV Live, MTVU, and the Paramount Times Square billboards, and it hits as hard as the track itself.
Written and produced alongside longtime mgk collaborators SlimXX, BazeXX, RookXX, Nick Long, and No Love For The Middle Child, “Fix Ur Face” carries a cross-generational rawness that sits apart from virtually everything else out right now. Director Sam Cahill shot the black-and-white video across Berlin, Dublin, Düsseldorf, London, Prague, Cologne, Nashville, and Los Angeles during the lost americana tour, capturing unfiltered fan moments with no distance between artist and audience. Street artists Lugosis and Strato created the Berlin wall mural featured in the video, while Slawn Olaolu designed the character face and jackets. It’s a visual document of a tour that has been operating at full intensity.
The mgk and Fred Durst connection runs deep. They’ve shared stages and bills going back more than a decade, including mgk’s 2014 run with Limp Bizkit. “Fix Ur Face” is the natural product of that history, two artists with a genuine rapport making something that sounds like neither of them held back. mgk first teased the track during the European leg of the lost americana tour before performing a snippet on the Australian run, building anticipation the right way.
‘lost americana’ arrived last year as mgk’s third consecutive No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart. The album has produced a run of strong moments, from the inescapable “cliché” and its Jonas Brothers remix to the fan-favourite “times of my life” and music videos for “starman” and “goddamn” built from tour footage. “Fix Ur Face” adds another sharp entry to that catalog.
The lost americana tour returns to the US on May 15 with Wiz Khalifa on support. Dates and tickets are available now at mgk’s official site. After a European and Australian run that generated this much noise, the US leg arrives with serious momentum behind it.
Oklahoma Rockers Hillbilly Vegas Team Up With Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul Rodgers on New Single “Mr. Midnight”
Hillbilly Vegas just landed one of the more remarkable collaborations in recent rock memory. The Oklahoma rockers have dropped “Mr. Midnight,” the second single from their upcoming album ‘A La Mode,’ and it features Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Paul Rodgers on vocals. The track hits hard: heavy electric blues-rock with slinky guitar riffs that evoke late-night Beale Street energy, anchored by Rodgers’ unmistakable voice and the swagger that defined classic 1970s rock.
The song has a story behind it. Rodgers wrote “Mr. Midnight” during a prolific period that produced his ‘Midnight Rose’ album for Sun Records, but the track didn’t make the final cut. Inspired by a sleek black rescue cat named Jasper, belonging to his wife Cynthia, the riff came first and the song built around it. When Hillbilly Vegas recorded it, Rodgers was impressed enough to step in and deliver. His words cut to it: “Steve did such a great job, I felt they had it well covered. I did not want to disturb the flow, but I had made a promise to the boys in the band, so I sang some lines, and it turned out very well.”
Hillbilly Vegas frontman Steve Harris doesn’t understate what the collaboration means: “Being part of something like this with Paul, who’s had such an impact on how we all hear rock and roll, was an incredible experience that we still can’t quite believe happened. His voice, his phrasing and the way he approaches a song, that’s the blueprint.” The video, filmed in the band’s Oklahoma warehouse and directed by Jon Wright, features Rodgers on screen as well, adding another dimension to an already significant release.
The band’s lineup carries serious pedigree. Guitarist Geraldo Dominelli is a Loverboy and Paul Rodgers alumnus, while bassist Todd Ronning comes out of Rodgers’ solo band and Bad Company. That history gives ‘A La Mode’ a connective tissue to classic rock’s lineage that goes beyond a single guest appearance. The band is managed by David Spero, who has handled Joe Walsh, Cat Stevens, and Bad Company.
‘A La Mode’ arrives May 8 via Quarto Valley Records across digital, CD, and vinyl formats, featuring 11 tracks. Pre-orders are live now. Tour dates in support of the album kick off in August. With their first single “I Hope You Know” sitting at #20 on the Rock Radio charts and still climbing, and “Mr. Midnight” adding Paul Rodgers to the story, Hillbilly Vegas are building serious momentum heading into this release.
Lauren Graham and Amy Sherman-Palladino Are Finally Writing the Gilmore Girls Book Fans Have Been Waiting For
Lauren Graham and Amy Sherman-Palladino are writing a book together, and for anyone who spent serious time in Stars Hollow, that sentence lands like a shot of Luke’s coffee. Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, has announced the acquisition of an as-yet-untitled behind-the-scenes account of Gilmore Girls, written by the show’s creator and its lead. Publication is planned for Fall 2027.
This is the first time Graham and Sherman-Palladino have collaborated on the page, and the material they’re working with is genuinely uncharted territory. The book promises never-before-shared stories from both runs of the show, covering the creative partnership that brought Lorelai Gilmore and the world of Stars Hollow to life. Sharp wit and personal reflection are baked into the DNA of everything both women have produced, and that’s exactly what this project is built on.
Celadon Books President and Publisher Deb Futter didn’t undersell it: “This is THE book Gilmore Girls fans have been waiting for. Lauren and Amy are television legends and their stories, which have not been shared before, are what TV lore is made of.” Graham echoed that energy, noting her excitement about bringing readers the stories from both the original run and the revival.
Sherman-Palladino, characteristically, cut straight to the point: “I will jump at any chance to collaborate with Lauren Graham. On anything.” That the answer was yes to a book is good news for everyone. The deal was brokered by Cait Hoyt, Mollie Glick, and Esther Newberg at CAA.
Gilmore Girls ran from 2000 to 2007, returned for the four-part Netflix revival ‘A Year in the Life’ in 2016, and has never really left the cultural conversation since. A book written by the two people most responsible for that staying power, with stories that haven’t been told anywhere else, is exactly the kind of release that earns genuine anticipation. Fall 2027 can’t come soon enough.
Morrissey, Patti Smith, and Interpol Headline CBGB Festival 2026 at Brooklyn’s Under the K Bridge Park
The CBGB Festival is back, and year two arrives with a lineup that spans punk’s entire history in a single day. On September 26 at Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn, Morrissey, Patti Smith, and Interpol headline a stacked bill that reaches from the genre’s founding generation straight through to its current torchbearers. Presale tickets go live Thursday, April 23 at 10 AM ET, with public on-sale Friday, April 24 at 10 AM ET at AXS.com.
The supporting lineup is genuinely remarkable. Sex Pistols, with Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock, return alongside Frank Carter. Bikini Kill, Circle Jerks, Buzzcocks, and Agnostic Front represent the hardcore and new wave eras. Mannequin Pussy, Militarie Gun, High Vis, Bad Nerves, Panic Shack, Upchuck, and Violet Grohl carry the current generation. Fred Armisen’s Ramones tribute The Return of Jackie and Judy rounds things out in the most appropriate way possible.
CBGB Festival organizer Phil Sandhaus put it plainly: “No other festival on the East Coast offers that.” He’s right. The combination of founding-era legends, hardcore staples, and today’s most vital punk acts in a single-day format is genuinely rare, and Under the K Bridge Park’s industrial Brooklyn setting makes it the right room for exactly this kind of event.
The venue choice matters. Under the K Bridge Park was selected for its grit and its cultural weight in Brooklyn, and the festival leans into that fully. Beyond the music, the site will feature immersive CBGB installations including Hilly Kristal’s original office, the famous bar, and the actual stage from the original club. Vintage and new merch, expanded local food and drink, and 2 stages running all day complete the picture.
CBGB itself opened at 315 Bowery in 1973 and became the launch point for the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith, and dozens more. It closed in 2006 with Patti Smith performing the final concert on October 16 of that year. The fact that Smith headlines the festival’s second edition carries real historical weight, and this lineup honours that legacy without leaning on nostalgia alone.
CBGB Festival 2026 Lineup:
Morrissey
Patti Smith
Interpol
Sex Pistols (Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock) featuring Frank Carter
Bikini Kill
Sleater-Kinney
Circle Jerks
Buzzcocks
Agnostic Front
Mannequin Pussy
Militarie Gun
High Vis
Bad Nerves
Haywire
Panic Shack
Upchuck
Violet Grohl
The Return of Jackie and Judy (Fred Armisen’s Ramones tribute)
Suki Waterhouse Announces New Album ‘Loveland’ and Drops Second Single “Tiny Raisin” This Friday
Today, indie pop songstress Suki Waterhouse unveils her new album Loveland set for release July 10th via Island Records. Suki will release the album’s second single “Tiny Raisin” this Friday, offering listeners another glimpse into Loveland. Pre-save/Pre-order Loveland HERE.
Suki shares, “Loveland to me lives in the distance between a former self who felt most alive in romance, fantasy and momentum, and a present self reaching for something steadier, more intimate and more true. That split is deepened by motherhood, and by the strange feeling of becoming someone new while still carrying the shape of who you were before.”
Over the course of 14 tracks co-written by Suki, Loveland wrestles with that contrast and tension, while navigating the fractures in one’s identity. Suki created Loveland with some of music’s brightest luminaries including Amy Allen, Aaron Dessner, Joel Little, Dan Wilson, and her longtime collaborators Jules Apollinaire and Natalie Findlay.
Suki’s album announcement comes just a few weeks after releasing the album’s buoyant lead single “Back in Love,” which Harper’s Bazaar declared “a super joyful track made for late summer nights dancing around with friends” and NYLON praised, “The instrumentation is grand, luscious, and builds a world that perfectly supports Waterhouse’s self-respecting, life-affirming lyrics.”
Loveland follows Suki’s sophomore album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, which established her as an evocative storyteller, consummate creative, and a powerhouse live performer. The album was released to critical acclaim with Interview Magazine calling it “her most vulnerable body of work yet” to the Los Angeles Times praising how she “sparkles and shines” on the album, and SPIN hailing that it “marks an important milestone, solidifying her as an artist with a presence as enigmatic as it is captivating.” This summer, fans will get to hear Loveland live when Suki makes her return to the Lollapalooza stage in Chicago. Stay tuned for further tour dates.
Pitchfork Founder Ryan Schreiber Gets Candid in New Memoir ‘Weird Era’ About the Site That Rewired Music Culture
In 1996, a 19-year-old from Minneapolis named Ryan Schreiber launched a music zine from his family’s desktop computer and accidentally built one of the most consequential cultural forces in the history of recorded music. 30 years later, he’s telling the whole story. ‘Weird Era: How Pitchfork Changed Music Forever’ arrives December 1, 2026 via MCD, and it’s already one of the most anticipated music books in years.
Schreiber was present for all of it: the decimal rating system that made or broke careers overnight, the explosion of digital music media, the Pitchfork Music Festival he launched in Chicago in 2005, and the albums, artists, and meltdowns that defined an era. He writes about it with the kind of candor that only comes from someone who lived it without a roadmap, figuring things out in real time as the internet rewired everything around him.
The memoir covers Pitchfork’s evolution from bedroom blog to global tastemaker, and the tension Schreiber navigated as the site grew beyond anything he’d imagined. The name itself came from the assassin tattoo Tony Montana sports in Scarface. The decimal rating system, the one that turned a 6.8 into a cultural verdict, was just a gut decision from a teenager who thought a five-star scale wasn’t precise enough.
The arc of the book builds toward the site’s sale to Condé Nast in 2015, a moment Schreiber describes as shocking, and one that marked a clear turning point in the indie media landscape. What he built between 1996 and that sale shaped how an entire generation discovered, discussed, and argued about music. ‘Weird Era’ is the first full account of how that actually happened, told by the person who made every call.
For anyone who grew up refreshing Pitchfork on a Monday morning to find out what score their favourite album received, this memoir is essential reading.
Beck Drops Surprise Single “Ride Lonesome” and Announces 25-Date North American Tour
Beck dropped a surprise single yesterday, and it lands exactly the way his best work always does: quietly, beautifully, and with serious emotional weight. “Ride Lonesome” is out now digitally, produced by Beck and mixed by Nigel Godrich, and it reaches directly back to the sonic territory of ‘Morning Phase’ and ‘Sea Change,’ two of the most celebrated albums of his career. Several musicians who played on those records are on this one too.
From the opening acoustic guitar to the final chorus, “Ride Lonesome” carries the kind of haunting, open-air atmosphere that made ‘Morning Phase’ an Album of the Year GRAMMY winner in 2015. It’s the first new original composition Beck has unveiled in this direction in years, and it signals something larger taking shape. This isn’t a standalone release. It’s a statement of intent about where he’s headed next.
Today Beck follows the single with the announcement of the Ride Lonesome Tour, a 25-date North American run hitting theaters and amphitheaters from Vancouver to Nashville. The routing is exceptional: Red Rocks, the Greek Theatre in LA, the Santa Barbara Bowl, two nights each at The Masonic in San Francisco, Massey Hall in Toronto, and the Brooklyn Paramount. These are rooms that suit this music perfectly, intimate enough to let it breathe and iconic enough to give it the setting it deserves.
The tour kicks off September 16 at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre and closes October 31 at The Truth in Nashville. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24 at 10am local time at beck.com. Citi cardmembers have access to presale tickets now through Thursday, April 23 at 10pm local time via the Citi Entertainment program.
Beck has eight GRAMMYs and a catalog that has never stayed still. “Ride Lonesome” suggests the next chapter draws from his deepest creative well, and the tour is built to deliver it properly, night after night, in rooms where every note counts.
Beck: Ride Lonesome Tour Dates:
September 16 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
September 18 – Woodinville, WA – Chateau Ste. Michelle
September 19 – Portland, OR – Keller Auditorium
September 22 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
September 23 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
September 25 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
September 26 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
October 1 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
October 3 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse Omaha
October 4 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
October 6 – Milwaukee, WI – Landmark Credit Union Live
October 7 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre
October 9 – Chicago, IL – The Auditorium
October 12 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
October 14 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
October 15 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
October 17 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
October 18 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
October 22 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
October 23 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
October 25 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
October 27 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
October 28 – Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
October 30 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
October 31 – Nashville, TN – The Truth
FACTOR and Musicaction Drop $2 Million Into Canada’s Live Music Sector With New Promoter and Festival Programs
Canadian live music just got a serious shot of support. FACTOR and Musicaction have announced a combined $2 million investment in the sector through the return of the Promoter Program and the launch of a brand new Festival Program. Guidelines go live April 30 at factor.ca, with applications due by 5:00 PM ET on June 11, 2026.
The Canadian Live Music Association has been pushing for exactly this kind of investment, and their response to the announcement makes the stakes clear. CLMA Interim Executive Director Maddy Oliver put it directly: “Promoters and presenters are the purveyors of Canada’s cultural sovereignty.” That’s not rhetorical flourish. It’s a precise description of what’s at risk when live music infrastructure gets squeezed.
Both programs are built to share investment risk with Canadian-owned companies that have a proven track record of presenting Canadian artists. The design isn’t about writing cheques to anyone who applies. It’s targeted support for operators who’ve already demonstrated they know how to put homegrown artists in front of audiences, and who need resources to keep doing it at scale.
FACTOR President and CEO Meg Symsyk framed the timing plainly: “At a time of rising costs and increased competition from foreign-owned companies, this support will enable our promoters and festivals to continue bringing Canadian artists to stages across the country.” That competitive pressure is real, and this investment directly addresses it by backing the Canadian-owned side of the industry.
For promoters and festival operators, the window is open now. Guidelines are available April 30 at factor.ca, and the June 11 deadline gives the industry time to put together strong applications. The CLMA has indicated it’ll be actively supporting its members through the process. Two million dollars, two programs, one clear goal: keep Canadian artists on Canadian stages.
Swedish Symphonic Metal Architects Zornheym Open the Doors to ‘Descending Into Madness’ With New Single “Somewhere Far Beyond”
The asylum doors are opening again. Stockholm’s Zornheym have unveiled “Somewhere Far Beyond,” the first single and music video from their upcoming third album ‘Descending Into Madness,’ due October 2 via Noble Demon. It’s the band’s most ambitious chapter yet, and the track announces that immediately.
‘Descending Into Madness’ functions as a prequel to the existing Zornheim narrative universe, pulling the story back to the moment Dr. Bettelheim first arrives at the asylum, long before the full weight of the horror sets in. That concept gives “Somewhere Far Beyond” a specific dramatic gravity, and the band delivers. The choral arrangements push wider than anything in their previous catalog, and the orchestration lands with the kind of scale that earns the word cinematic without having to borrow it.
Zornheym was founded by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Zorn, formerly of Dark Funeral, with a clear mandate: build the ultimate concept band, one where music, narrative, and visual storytelling fuse into a single coherent universe. The debut ‘Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns’ introduced the Zornheim asylum in 2017. ‘The Zornheim Sleep Experiment’ expanded it in 2021. The acoustic EP ‘The Forgotten Inmates’ closed the first chapter in 2023. ‘Descending Into Madness’ resets the clock and goes deeper.
The band spent years on this record, and it shows. Their own words cut to it: “Every decision mattered. Every layer was earned. Nothing was rushed, nothing was accidental, until the vision stood complete.” That’s not promotional language. That’s a band describing a process, and “Somewhere Far Beyond” is the proof. Frontman Bendler’s theatrical command is already evident in the video, which continues the band’s tradition of producing music videos as short films rather than performance clips.
‘Descending Into Madness’ arrives October 2 and is available for pre-order now in multiple formats, including colored marbled vinyl, a limited Collector’s Edition CD, a Digipak, and an A5 book edition. For a band whose albums ship with graphic novels and visual concepts built to extend the story beyond the music, that format range makes complete sense.
‘Descending Into Madness’ Track Listing:
- Prologue: From the Depths of Sêlasee
- Deus Rex
- Somewhere Far Beyond
- Deep Below
- Anneliese
- Alone in the Dark
- Gallow’s Oak
- The Funeral March
- Descending
- Come Sweet Death
- The Foreboding (CD Bonus Track)
- None For All (CD Bonus Track)