"Beautifully moody, or riotously rocking, Allison Crowe creates piano-based music of transcendent quality."

U.K. pop-rock phenomenon James Blunt was an officer in the British Army (serving four years in Kosovo) before taking the British music world by storm with his 2005 single "You're Beautiful." Blunt's shimmering, piano-based singer-songwriter approach …

Ashlee Simpson, younger sister of singer Jessica Simpson, is one of the most fascinating pop-culture phenomena of the early 2000s. Following a stint on the squeaky-clean television drama "7th Heaven," the prefabricated sensation's singing career was …

A giant both artistically and physically, Barry White had a basso profundo voice and lusty, soulful songs that are probably responsible for more procreation than a thousand fertility clinics. Songs like "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Can't Get …

Influenced by classic rock and the best of today, The Stack's sound can best be described as somewhere in between The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead. As melodic, rocking, and creative as anyone out there today, The Stack is going places. <…

Smog is Bill Callahan, the quintessential lo-fi auteur. He started out recording his desolate, grimly poetic songs by himself on a home four-track machine, and this approach was the basis of his eccentric but gripping early-'90s albums. Subsequently,…

(see Middleton, Tom)

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2004

Melodic rock that is a blend of fringe and mainstream.

Bright Eyes is the brainchild of Omaha, NE singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, around whom the band (which has at times consisted solely of Oberst) revolves. Part of an Omaha indie scene centered around the Saddle Creek label, Oberst learned at the feet …

Led by depressive pop prince Robert Smith, the Cure have taken their legions of fans on a journey from post-punk to gothic to new wave to art rock, stopping only for refills of hairspray along the way. An amazing band both live and in the studio, the…

This US rock band was formed in the mid-80s at high school in Santa Barbara, California, by friends Dean Dinning (b. 9 June 1967; bass, keyboards), Randy Guss (b. 7 March 1967; drums), Todd Nichols (guitar, vocals) and Glen Phillips (b. 29 December 1…

This contemporary rock act is a phenomenon: no UK act with such an indifferent reception in their homeland has experienced such success elsewhere. Formed in west London, England, their initial success in the USA was thanks to college radio, which pic…

Even if singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood's career began with his solo recordings, he'd still be regarded as a major musical figure. The fact that the spent most of the '60s and '70s making history with the Spencer Davis Group, Tr…

The late 1990s saw the emergence of several notable female singer/songwriters, including Beth Orton, Jewel, and Dido. Combining elements of folk, pop, and alt-electronica, Dido scored a surprise hit with her debut effort NO ANGEL, which raced up the …

Civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta GA on January 15 1929 progressing through Morehouse College Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University he grew increasingly influenced by Mahatma Ghandis non-violent strategies fo…

Joni Mitchell emerged as a darling of the late 1960s folk scene as a lyrically gifted songwriter and honey-voiced golden girl. In the '70s, she went on to incorporate jazz and confessional pop-rock into her musical vision, ultimately creating a poeti…

Beginning as a side-project, the experimental USA alt-rock outfit Rachel's eventually became a full-time proposition for its members, Jason Noble (guitar/bass), Christian Fredricksen (violin), and Rachel Grimes (piano). The Louisville, Kentucky, USA-…

When she first emerged in the '80s, Canadian singer k.d. Lang was heavily inspired by the swooping, crystalline vocal style of country queen Patsy Cline. She quickly showed herself to be a writer of considerable depth, simultaneously forward-looking …

b. 16 September 1954, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Jazz guitarist Klugh has an unorthodox style in that when he sits down he rests the guitar on his right knee instead of the left. After studying piano and nylon string guitar as a child, Klugh settled on …

Celtic vocalist Enya first gained notoriety as a member of the group Clannad in the 1980s, but became a superstar as a solo artist by fusing traditional music from the British Isles with dreamy new-age textures. Enya is a true crossover artist: her m…

Hard rockers Saigon Kick formed in Miami in 1988 with a lineup including Matt Kramer Jason Bieler Tom DeFile and Phil Varone The band played around the region and signed with Third StoneAtlantic in 1990 Saigon Kicks self-titled debut LP did okay but …

Chicane is the group name for British trance musician and remixer Nick Bracegirdle who first attracted attention under the name Disco Citizens with the Top 40 UK hit Right Here Right Now in 1995 Changing to Chicane he reached the British Top 20 in la…

A fusion of Soul, R&B and modern Pop/Rock.

Glasgow, Scotland's Travis started off as an alt-rock band in 1997 (look no further than the early track "All I Want To Do Is Rock"), but transformed into Britpop songcrafters for their massive sophomore release, THE MAN WHO. Praised by Oasis' Noel G…

Glasgow-via-Belfast indie-rock ensemble Snow Patrol have played everything from shambolic noise-pop a la Pavement, to a slightly droney post-rock in the vein of Mogwai, to epic lovelorn anthems modeled after Coldplay. While the band's influences are …

Bursting on to the U.K. music scene seemingly out of nowhere in 2005, KT Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter who blends the earthy pop sensibilities of Sheryl Crow with the darker leanings of Cat Power and Beth Orton. Her debut album, EYE TO THE…