Music – Page 172 – 105.7 WDNY

Brent Smith hopes sprawling ‘EI8HT’ album proves that Shinedown is ‘everyone’s band’

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

As Brent Smith sings on Shinedown’s song “Three Six Five,” a lot can happen in a year. Well, a lot can also happen on 18 songs.

So you’ll discover on EI8HT, the aptly titled eighth studio effort from the “Second Chance” outfit. The de facto double album takes many twists and turns along the way to proving, as Smith sees it, that “Shinedown is everyone’s band.”

“I really do believe that there is something for everyone on this record,” Smith tells ABC Audio.

Unlike Shinedown’s previous two records, 2018’s ATTENTION ATTENTION and 2022’s Planet Zero, Smith says that EI8HT is not a concept album.

“These songs all belong on the same body of work, but … they don’t relate to one another,” Smith says. “Every song is its own story.”

While EI8HT might not adhere to a specific narrative, it does weave a number of related themes together throughout, including fatherhood, family, growing up and, ultimately, taking control of your own destiny.

Different sounds are used to evoke certain themes: the theatrical opener “At the Bottom” reflects the Broadway background of bassist Eric Bass’ family, while the closer “The Pilot” is a sonic representation of Shinedown’s long-running relationship with songwriter and producer Dave Bassett.

Meanwhile, the country-ish “Searchlight” soundtracks Smith’s advice to his son, and the gothic “Deep End” brings him back to being a teenager watching The Crow in theaters.

In naming such a sprawling work, Smith says he and his bandmates kept a notebook full of “ethereal” and “highbrow” potential titles, but were struck by inspiration upon seeing a piece created by art director Mark Obriski featuring the Shinedown logo combined with the word “eight.”

“I was like, ‘Let’s just call it EI8HT, ’cause that’s what it wants to be,'” Smith says.

EI8HT is out now.

Wyclef Jean teams with G Herbo for ‘Clef Notes’ lead single, ‘Mr. October’

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Mr. “Gone Till November” is now “Mr. October,” according to his new song. Wyclef Jean has released the lead single to his upcoming album, Clef Notes. The track features G Herbo and finds Clef returning to his hip-hop roots, a genre that once served as a means of survival for him.

“G Herbo represents the voice of a generation. We’re living in an era where we must amplify reform over violence and believe in the possibility of a better future for underserved communities,” Wyclef said in a statement.

In his own statement, G Herbo reflected on collaborating with one of his longtime inspirations.

“Working with Wyclef who I call ‘Unk’ now inspired me to focus on delivery. I can’t just get on a song with him and not focus on bars and punch lines,” he said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to work with him, and now we’re on song # 2, so I must be doing something right.”

Wyclef previously appeared on G Herbo’s “Emergency,” which reworked his song with Mary J. Blige, “911.”

“Mr. October” is the first of seven tracks on the hip-hop-focused Clef Notes, which kicks off Wyclef’s ambitious Quantum Leap series. Over the next year, he plans to release a total of seven albums with seven tracks each, with every project centered on a different genre that helped shape him as an artist.

“Mr. October” is now available on streaming services.

Play me your favorite song: Corinne Bailey Rae’s ready to launch 20th anniversary tour

May 29, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Corinne Bailey Rae launches a tour Friday in celebration of the 20th anniversary of her 2006 self-titled debut album, which spawned the hit “Put Your Records On” and earned her four Grammy nominations. As Corinne told ABC Audio, she wanted to mark the milestone because that album everything for her.

“Going from playing in a bar to a hundred people to sort of getting a phone call from Stevie Wonder, or Prince coming to our show, or Elton John sending me champagne,” she recalls. “Those things — really that song in particular, ‘Put Your Records On’ — and the popularity of that record, it really changed my life and my work.”

“And so I knew the anniversary was coming but I wanted to do something special for it,” she adds.

As for the set list, Corrine says she plans to play the album in its entirety, adding, “We’ll maybe do like a catch-up on the end, and I’ll probably say, ‘If you have to leave for your babysitter, that’s fine. But we’re also gonna play a what you might have missed kind of thing.'”

Some parents, however, won’t have to worry about babysitters because they’re bringing their children along. According to Corrine, “Put Your Records On” has found a whole new generation of listeners.

“I’m so grateful for that,” she says, adding that she’s “so moved” that there are 7- and 9-year olds in the audience even if they don’t always make it through the whole show.

“You definitely have a lot of lovely sweet kids on the front row who are just nodding off by the time you get to ‘Put Your Records On,'” she says. “And their mum’s, like, poking them: ‘This is why you came!’ And sometimes they wake up and sometimes they don’t.”

Evanescence announces virtual ’Sanctuary’ listening party ahead of album release

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Here’s how you can hear Evanescence’s new album, Sanctuary, a bit early.

The “Bring Me to Life” rockers have announced a virtual album listening party via the platform Volume. It will take place June 3 at 2 p.m. ET, two days before Sanctuary officially drops on June 5.

The playback will be followed by a live Q&A with the band.

You can now claim a free ticket to take part via Volume.com.

Sanctuary is the follow-up to 2021’s The Bitter Truth. It includes the singles “Afterlife” and “Who Will You Follow.”

Evanescence will launch a U.S. tour on June 11 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Spiritbox and Nova Twins will also be on the bill.

One of Taylor Swift’s opening acts confirms she’s going to Taylor’s wedding

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

People who you’d assume would be invited to Taylor Swift’s wedding have been cagey about whether or not they’re actually attending. Talk show host Graham Norton has joked that he had to sign an NDA, for example, and Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he’d “probably” been invited and would go “if I don’t outgrow my tuxedo.” But now we’ve got our first case of a celebrity confirming that she’s actually attending the nuptials.

Model, actress and singer Suki Waterhouse, who opened for Taylor during the Eras Tour in London, tells Variety, “I’m gonna go to Taylor’s wedding, and maybe I’ll get some inspiration. It will be amazing.” Suki was talking about her own wedding to her partner, Robert Pattinson. The two share a 2-year-old daughter.

Sadly, Suki didn’t reveal where and when the wedding is taking place. But she did say of Taylor, “Knowing her as a friend, she’s actually been through so much. And I think the thing I always see in her is how she pulls herself through every time, and how everything that’s ever happened to her becomes another piece of art that becomes part of the legacy. That’s so inspiring — that’s the artist that you want to be.”

Suki’s third album, Loveland, comes out July 10. Her collaborators include Taylor’s frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner and legendary Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood. Suki starred in Daisy Jones & the Six, the Prime Video series about a band loosely based on Fleetwood Mac.

Latto announces pop-up shows ahead of ‘Big Mama’ release

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

With a new album arriving Friday, Latto has announced pop-up shows featuring exclusive merch, CDs and vinyl.

The Big Mama Pop-Up, named after her upcoming album, Big Mama, is a three-day event, kicking off with a hometown stop in Atlanta on release day. It will then stop in LA on June 1 before making its way to New York on June 3. Items will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Latto has been teasing her album on social media, recently releasing a series of images on her Instagram, alongside posts tagging artists Doja Cat, Jelly Roll, Sexyy Red, Teyana Taylor, Wizkid, Mariah the Scientist and 21 Savage, who will seemingly feature on the project.

Big Mama is Latto’s fourth studio album. It arrives shortly after she appeared to confirm the arrival of her first child, officially stepping into her Big Mama era.

Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop playing Chicago’s Riot Fest

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

There’s gonna be a riot in Chicago in September and you’re invited.

The Windy City’s 2026 Riot Fest takes place Sept. 18-20 and features an eclectic lineup of artists, including three Rock & Roll Hall of Famers: Elvis Costello & the Impostors, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.

Also on the bill are Alanis Morissette, Morrissey, Social Distortion, Sugar, the reformed Sex Pistols — now featuring Frank Carter on vocals — and former Sex Pistols frontman John Lyndon’s band, Public Image Ltd.

Tickets are on sale now. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit RiotFest.org.

Patti Smith, Morrissey and the Sex Pistols are also playing the 2026 CBGB Festival, taking place Sept. 26 in Brooklyn, New York.

Buy Olivia Rodrigo’s mini hospital room from ‘the cure’ video

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

At the end of Olivia Rodrigo’s video for “the cure,” we see that the operating room Olivia ends up in is actually a diorama made of cardboard and string, which the “real” Olivia crushes with her foot. If you want to reenact that scene in real life, now you can — thanks to Etsy.

Olivia has teamed with an Etsy creator called Macy Mae Designs, who has created a diorama of the operating room. It comes unassembled with all the pieces you need to recreate it, including the wallpaper, checkered flooring, two tiny shelving units with bottles, a hospital bed and an itty-bitty heart made of felt resting on a medical tray.

The project, described as “part collectible, part craft project, and part display piece,” is perfect for that Livvie in your life, or, as the maker’s webpage notes, “anyone who appreciates a tiny world with a little heartbreak, healing, and imagination woven in.” Each room costs $149.

In the video, Olivia is a nurse in the cardboard hospital who tries to cure her heart by injecting it with various antidotes, but she ends up on the operating table, hooked up to multiple hearts.

Barry Manilow addresses whether he’s had ‘work done’: ‘I’m as vain as anybody else’

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Barry Manilow will be 83 in June, and he still looks pretty good, but he admits that he’s had some help in that department — sort of.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times to promote his new album, What a Time, Barry says, “I look fantastic, but I’m a hundred years old, right? I don’t know how that happened, by the way — I don’t get Botox or anything.”

When the interviewer asks him directly, “You’ve had no work done?” Barry responds, “No!” but then continues, “I must say: There was one time when we lived in LA that I did do a facelift. But after that it’s just been a little here, a little there.”

When the interviewer protests that that’s not exactly having “no work done,” Barry argues, “‘Work’ is like a facelift, and I only had one of those. The rest of it — I see something falling down, sure, I’ll do that. I’m as vain as anybody else.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Barry, who’s had to postpone a number of concerts while he recovers from lung cancer surgery, says it’s been “agony” being off the road.

“Make an album, go on the road, come back, make an album, go on the road — that’s what my life’s been for years,” he says. “And I like it. Now I just have to get better and do what the doctors are telling me. It’s the only way out.”

Heart’s Ann Wilson screens new documentary ‘In My Voice’ in NYC

May 28, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Heart’s Ann Wilson is currently promoting her new documentary, In My Voice, by traveling to different cities with director Barbara Hall. On Wednesday night they hosted a screening at New York’s City Winery, followed by a Q&A with fans.

In the documentary, Ann tells her story “in my own voice,” hence the film’s title. “It’s about time people understood who I am,” she says in the movie, which features contributions from some of her former Heart bandmates, KISS’ Paul Stanley, Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, pop star Chappell Roan, Paul Shaffer, Ann’s husband, Dean Wetter, and her son, Dustin Wilson.

One person who’s absent from the film, though, is Ann’s sister and bandmate Nancy Wilson. “Nancy declined to participate in this film, and I’m OK with that,” Ann says in the movie. “She’s a full-fledged person, and so am I.”

Using archival footage, home movies and new interviews, the movie follows Ann from her childhood to her stardom in Heart, her solo career, her experiences as a single mom, her role as a den mother to the Seattle grunge rockers of the ’90s, her “miraculous” recovery from cancer and her life today, recording and touring with her band Tripsitter. As she notes in the movie, “Being successful means that I love what I do.”

During the Q&A, Ann shared her favorite Heart song to perform — “Mistral Wind” — and her least, “All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You,” which she says “kinda grosses me out.” She confirmed that the script for a Heart biopic is being written and that she’d love for Florence Pugh to play her.

Asked to name the greatest sacrifice she’s made for her art, Ann said, “Everything.”

There’s no word yet on when the movie will be widely available.

+ More